Soft 404
A URL that returns 200 but looks empty or erroneous to Google.
Soft 404 in plain English
A soft 404 is a page that tells the browser everything is fine, with a 200 status, but looks to Google like an error or an empty page. Examples are a "product not found" message, an empty search results page or a category with no items. Google reports these in Search Console because they waste crawling and make poor results.
How to check a soft 404 on your site
Open Search Console's page indexing report and look for "Soft 404". Inspect a few examples. Decide for each whether the page should have real content, should redirect to a better page or should return a genuine 404 or 410. Empty category and tag pages are worth checking too.
A worked example
An online plant shop shows "Sorry, this item is sold out" on discontinued product pages but still returns a 200 status with almost no content. Google flags them as soft 404s. The shop redirects discontinued products with close replacements, and makes the rest return a proper 404 with links to similar plants.
Where it usually goes wrong
- Showing an error message with a 200 status.
- Keeping thousands of empty filter or tag pages live.
- Redirecting unrelated missing pages to the home page, which Google may also treat as a soft 404.
- Ignoring the report because "the pages work". They may not be working for search.
Why a small site should care
Soft 404s are common on shops and directory-style sites. They can drag low-value pages into the index or confuse Google about which pages are worth showing. They also suggest a site that isn't well maintained, which doesn't help visitors.
Connected technical terms
- 404: Page not found response that should be fixed or thoughtfully redirected.
- Thin content: Pages with little original value, a common problem with mass-produced pages.
- Index: The searchable database of pages a search engine may show in results.
Start with a free SEO audit
Your whole site, audited free. No card and no obligation.