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The Hidden Cost of Soft 404s: More Than Meets the Eye
When managing a website, it’s easy to overlook pages that don’t seem to cause immediate problems. However, a recent clarification from Google reveals that soft 404s—pages that display a status of 200 OK yet provide little to no value—consume crawl budget inefficiently and create long-term visibility issues for your site. Gary Illyes from Google emphasized this during a session at Search Central Live Asia Pacific 2025, shedding light on a crucial aspect of technical SEO that many webmasters may not fully understand.
Understanding Soft 404s: What Are They?
A soft 404 page typically returns a 200 OK status code, suggesting that the page was successfully loaded when in reality, it may say something like "page not found" or "this product is no longer available." By generating a false sense of content availability, these pages can slip through initial technical inspections, leading to wasted crawl budget and potential issues with site indexing.
How Crawl Budget Works in SEO
Crawl budget refers to the number of pages a search engine bot can and wants to crawl at one time. Every time a bot encounters a soft 404, it exhausts part of that budget without indexing useful content. This inefficiency can significantly hinder larger websites that rely on timely content indexing. Understanding this is essential for any site aiming for optimal performance in search engines.
Identifying and Fixing Soft 404s
Google Search Console's Index Coverage report provides webmasters with a dedicated space to locate soft 404s effectively. Some common causes include product pages labeled “out of stock” yet still returning a 200 OK response, empty search results, expired event listings, or deleted user profiles. Ensuring that your pages return the correct status codes—like 404 or 410 for non-existent content—is crucial. Implementing 301 redirects for permanently moved content also enhances crawl efficiency while maintaining user experience.
Best Practices to Enhance Crawl Efficiency
To prevent unnecessary consumption of crawl budget due to soft 404s, consider the following best practices:
- Return Correct Response Codes: For any content that is permanently removed, always return a 404 or 410 status code. This clear signaling helps search engines understand that the content is indeed unavailable.
- Implement Redirects Wisely: Utilize 301 redirects for pages that have been permanently relocated to maintain link equity and improve user experience.
- Utilize Structured Data: For products that are out of stock, consider using structured data to convey that information rather than displaying an empty product page that could confuse users and search engines alike.
Final Thought: The Importance of Technical SEO
Addressing soft 404s isn’t just a technical necessity; it’s a strategic move toward enhancing your website’s overall performance and visibility. By aligning server responses with page content and eliminating inefficiencies, webmasters can ensure that their sites remain competitive in the evolving landscape of search engine optimization. As such, soft 404s should be a top priority for anyone serious about improving their site's SEO health.
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