404 Errors Cause a Penalty?

September 25th, 2008, 8:10 pm

I have a site with many pages that are regularly updated. Often a page needs to be replaced with entirely new content because the old content expired. In this case, the title, content and URL all need to change. Because there are so many new pages being added, the 301 redirects would really pile-up.

I have an XML sitemap that is updated every time new content is added or replaced. There aren't any internal links with 404 errors and it doesn't make sense to leave expired content live, but I also don't want to cause a penalty by removing pages that are no longer valid. Would having regular 404 errors from expired pages that have been removed cause a penalty with Google for the pagerank on the site?

October 17th, 2008, 10:26 pm

404 page has a negative seo value this page should be redirected to home page.

October 20th, 2008, 3:46 am

You need to redirect your all 404 to your home page.

October 20th, 2008, 8:45 pm

Not penalty, but bad effect. You can put the guide link of Homepage into 404 page. The link will be better than redirect ULR directly, That's looks friendly.

FYI, thx,

[joebert]

October 20th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Do not redirect 404 errors to the index using 301 or 302 HTTP status codes.

When a search engine, browser, etc receives a 3XX class status code it assumes the destination URL is a new location for the requested page.
It wouldn't take long for what should be multiple 404 errors to make the index look like duplicate content because of all of the 3xx redirects pointing to it.

Ironicly, anyone telling you to redirect 404 errors to your index is basically telling you to go #*&$ yourself, whether they realize it or not.

Return an HTTP 404 status & a page with links either to the index or possible other relevant pages.
Alternatively you can return a 410 status to indicate the server is aware of the content requested, but no longer has it nor knows where a copy can be found.

Here's a list of HTTP status codes and what they're meant for.
http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html

October 21st, 2008, 3:07 am

Could you leave the old page live rather than removing it and add something to indicate it has expired so that you don't lose the indexed content?

Not sure what type of site it is you are talking about

Paul

October 21st, 2008, 9:05 am

I agree with joebert.

If you don't like/want the classic 404 page, you can always make yourself one (http://www.onyx-design.net/weblog2/othe ... -404-page/) with links to relevant pages or a site map or something. You will not get any penalties because of that. The worst thing that can happen is that old content is removed from google's index because it isn't there any more. But that's what you want isn't it?

October 21st, 2008, 5:00 pm

Error 404: Decrease of traffic and unique visitors might happen gradually, you must fixed it right away

October 24th, 2008, 12:39 am

IF you have this one you may expect a negative SEO result from your rankings but if you know what to do next then you'll be back at no time!

November 12th, 2008, 9:23 pm

Yeah, it's not really a penalty but a minus cute points for you. Ranking might be affected.

November 13th, 2008, 10:43 pm

minus traffic and minus earnings

November 18th, 2008, 3:42 am

create a custom made page explaining the visitor that the page he is looking for is already moved or deleted. Then add a link to your websites primary pages with little description about their content to give your visitor an idea on where should he/she go. Add also a link to your minor pages at the bottom of all major pages then redirect all 404 errors to this page.

December 9th, 2008, 1:51 pm

Agree with Greatone nice looking page with links to other areas of your site

Happy-Hunting