A good 404 page returns the correct HTTP 404 code and immediately shows the customer a way forward. The visit does not end there. If Search Console suddenly shows a long list of errors after changes to your offer or after a migration, don’t panic, because not all of them need fixing. Most are just a normal trace of removed content. Only some of them mean a real loss of traffic. Below I explain how Google treats the 404, 410 and soft 404 codes, when to redirect a URL and how to design an error page that keeps the visitor on your site.
Table of contents
Does a 404 error on a site hurt you in Google?
A URL with a 404 code drops out of the index. But nowhere does Google’s documentation describe this as a penalty for the whole site. According to Google’s documentation on HTTP status codes, all 4xx errors except 429 are treated the same way: a previously indexed URL disappears from the index, newly discovered 404 URLs are not processed, and crawlers visit them less and less often over time. What follows from that? If the page is really gone, 404 is the correct state. Not a failure, not a fire to put out.
Which 404 URLs should you fix and which should you leave?
You fix the URLs that have a successor or that attract traffic and links. You leave the rest with a 404 or 410 code. In my opinion a URL deserves attention if it meets at least one of these conditions:
- the site has a page with similar content,
- links from other websites lead to it,
- internal broken links in the menu, the content or the sitemap point to it,
- users actually land on it.
Typos in manually typed addresses and junk URLs produced by bots? Ignore them, there is no point spending time on them. Fix broken internal links at the source, meaning in the content or the menu, and not with a redirect alone (a redirect on a broken link is a band-aid, not a repair). A product withdrawn from the store can be pointed to its successor or to a category. But only when they really match what the customer was looking for.
404 or a 301 redirect after changes to the offer and a migration?
A 301 redirect makes sense only when the new page meets the same need. Otherwise leave a 404 or 410. Google’s guide to crawling errors gives the same advice: if you removed a page and have no replacement with similar content, you return one of those two codes. And redirecting everything in bulk to the home page? A bad idea. The customer lands in a place where nobody answers their question and simply leaves. When rebuilding a site, the foundation is a redirect map for a redesign. And after a hosting change, for example when you are moving WordPress to a new server, check whether the old URLs return the codes you expect.
Soft 404: when the error page pretends everything works
A soft 404 is a page that is empty or shows a message about missing content, but returns 200 instead of 404, meaning “everything OK”. Google recognizes it by its content and flags it in the Page indexing report in Search Console. In online stores the culprit is usually an empty category, a search with no results or a template that politely displays an error message while the server still responds with a 200 code.
It can also go the other way. A perfectly decent subpage gets flagged like this. The reasons? Resources blocked in robots.txt, too many files to load, server errors, slow loading. The URL Inspection tool helps with the diagnosis, because it shows the rendered content and the returned code. You can also check the response code yourself, it takes a minute: on web-systems.pl a non-existent URL returns the correct 404 code (as of September 25, 2026).
How do you design a 404 page that keeps the customer?
An effective error page looks like the rest of the site. The same navigation, a clear message, a few ways forward. In practice I recommend putting on it:
- a short, human message without technical jargon,
- a search box,
- links to the main categories or services,
- the most popular products or content,
- contact details.
According to Google’s guidelines, such a page is created for people only. That is why the server has to return 404, so that it does not end up in the index. And one more thing: do not link from it to sections that do not exist or do not work (a 404 leading to another 404 is a classic). A polished error template is part of what website design for companies covers. In a store it is best to lead from the 404 to a place where the customer can buy something, and a good store product page is exactly that kind of place.
The 404 error page in WordPress: where to change it and what to check
In WordPress the look of the error page depends on the theme. In classic themes you edit the 404.php template, in block themes you work in the template editor. After making changes, check that plugins or page builders are not swapping the response for a 200 code, because it happens more often than you would like. Avoid extensions that redirect every error to the home page. They produce soft 404s themselves. From time to time review the indexing report in Search Console and your internal links, and for a larger site consider an audit of your live company website.
A 404 page is an ordinary part of a site, not a reason to panic. It needs the correct code, redirects only where there is a replacement, and a design that gives the customer a way forward. The order of work is simple: response codes first, then internal links, then redirects, and the look at the very end.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a 404 and a 410 code?
Both say the page is not there. According to Google’s documentation, 4xx errors, with the exception of 429, are treated the same. But 410 better reflects a deliberate, permanent removal of content.
Do you have to remove all 404 errors from Search Console?
No. Deal only with the URLs that have a successor, external links or traffic. The rest can safely stay in the report.
How do I check that my 404 page is not a soft 404?
Type a non-existent address on your domain and look in your browser’s developer tools, in the Network tab. You can also use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console. Do you see 200 instead of 404? The error template needs fixing.
