Expected 404s do not impose a site-wide ranking penalty. Google says plainly that "404s don't harm your site's indexing or ranking." An important page that disappears accidentally can still be removed from search results, so distinguish that problem from URLs that should no longer exist. What does cost you is a broken link that a real person clicks: a dead menu item, a service page that moved without a redirect, or an old page other sites still link to. The job isn't to get your 404 count to zero. It's to fix the 404s that people or important links actually hit, and leave the rest alone.
What a 404 is, and the codes it gets confused with
When a browser or Googlebot asks for a page, your server replies with a status code. These are the ones that matter here:
| Code | What it means | How Google treats it |
|---|---|---|
| 404 Not Found | The page doesn't exist | Indexed URLs that return it are removed from the index over time. Newly found 404 URLs aren't processed |
| 410 Gone | The page has been removed on purpose | Google says "all 4xx errors, except 429, are treated the same", so 410 works like 404 in Google Search |
| 301 / 308 | Moved permanently | A "strong" signal that the new URL should be used instead |
| 302 / 307 | Moved temporarily | A "weak" signal. The old URL may stay in results |
| 5xx | Server error | Googlebot slows down crawling. URLs that keep returning errors are eventually dropped |
| "Soft 404" | The page says "not found" or is empty, but the server says everything is fine (200 OK) | Flagged in Search Console. Usually a sign something is set up wrongly |
Source: Google: How HTTP status codes affect Google's crawlers, last updated 4 February 2026, checked 27 October 2026.
A broken link leads to a destination that fails or no longer provides the intended resource, often returning a 404. A working redirect is not a broken link. Internal links point to another page on the same site; external links point to another website. Links on other websites can also lead to missing pages on yours.
Which 404s to fix and which to leave
Google's 404 errors help page (checked 27 October 2026) gives a simple rule of thumb. Here it is as a decision table:
| Situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| A page you moved or renamed | Add a permanent redirect from the old URL to the new one. Google says that if content has moved, "add a redirect" |
| A page you deleted with no replacement | Leave it as a 404 (or 410). Google calls this "the right thing to do" |
| A URL that's in your sitemap but returns 404 | Fix it. Either restore the page or remove the URL from the sitemap. Google says a submitted URL that 404s "is worth fixing" |
| A URL that never existed on your site, such as a typo on another website or a bot guessing | Usually ignore it. Google says "you probably don't need to worry about it" |
| A commonly mistyped version of a real URL that gets visits | Redirect it to the right page |
| Your own links pointing to a 404 | Always fix the link itself, even if you also add a redirect |
The last row is the one most worth your time. A redirect patches the problem, but updating your own menus, buttons and in-text links removes it.
Don't redirect every 404 to your homepage
It's tempting to send every missing page to the homepage so visitors "never see an error". Google advises against it. Redirecting missing pages to the homepage tends to get reported as a soft 404: Google treats the redirect as if the page doesn't exist, and visitors land somewhere that doesn't answer what they were looking for.
Redirect only when there's a genuinely relevant replacement, such as the new version of the same service page or a closely related guide. If nothing fits, an honest 404 is better.
How to find broken links and 404s for free
You don't need paid tools for a small website. Use these in order.
1. Search Console's Page indexing report
In Google Search Console, go to Indexing > Pages and look for these reasons in the "Why pages aren't indexed" table:
- Not found (404). Google's help notes that "404 responses are not necessarily a problem, if the page has been removed without any replacement" (Page indexing report help, checked 27 October 2026). Click the row to see example URLs, then work through the decision table above.
- Soft 404. These usually need attention: an empty page, a "no results" page, or a redirect to an unrelated page.
Search Console shows examples, not necessarily every affected URL, and it can lag behind recent changes.
2. URL Inspection for individual pages
Paste a complete URL from your selected Search Console property into the URL Inspection bar. The initial result describes Google's indexed or last-crawled version, not necessarily the page as it is now. To check a recent change, select Test live URL. A successful live test does not guarantee indexing. For a redirect, also check the HTTP response and destination directly, or ask your developer to do so. Google's URL Inspection guide explains the difference between indexed data and live testing.
3. Your analytics, to see which 404s real people hit
Search Console tells you what Google found. Your analytics can show recorded visits to missing pages. In Google Analytics 4, open Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens, switch the dimension to Page title and screen class (or Page title and screen name), and filter for your 404 page's title, often "Page not found". Add Page path and screen class as a secondary dimension to see the requested paths. Report navigation can differ between properties. See Google's Pages and screens report guide.
This method needs more than a recognisable title: the 404 template must load GA4 and send a page_view with the original requested URL. An untracked server error page or a redirect to a generic /404 address may not reveal which URL was requested. Blocked tracking can also leave gaps, so this is not a complete count of all 404s or visitors. Google's page-view measurement guide explains how page titles and URLs are collected.
4. A site crawl
Free crawler tools can check your site for technical issues. Microsoft confirms that the free Bing Webmaster Tools Site Scan detects broken links. To check links from your site to other websites as well, choose a crawler that explicitly supports external-link checks. Free tools may limit the number of pages they scan, so check that the limit covers your site.
5. Clicking through your own site
On a site with a few dozen pages, ten minutes clicking every menu item, footer link and button on your phone often finds the problems that matter most.
How to fix them, step by step
- List the broken URLs in a spreadsheet: the URL, where it's linked from, and whether people visit it.
- Fix your own links first. Update menus, footers, buttons and in-text links to point to the correct live page.
- Redirect moved pages with a permanent (301 or 308) redirect to the closest equivalent page. Avoid chains, such as old page to newer page to newest page. Point straight to the final URL.
- Leave genuinely deleted pages as 404 or 410, and remove them from your sitemap.
- Check the fix with Test live URL in URL Inspection, and verify redirects separately. In the Page indexing report, use Validate fix, where available, after resolving all instances of the issue in scope. Do not try to make intentionally deleted pages indexable just to clear a report. Google's validation guidance explains the process; remaining instances can cause validation to fail.
- Ask for important external links to be updated if a partner, directory or supplier links to an old URL, even if you've added a redirect.
If you're about to restructure your site, plan redirects before launch rather than after. Our guide to keeping your Google traffic through a redesign covers building a redirect map.
What a good 404 page includes
Even well-run sites have some 404s, so the page people see matters. This is our recommendation, not a Google requirement:
- A plain message that the page couldn't be found, in your normal brand voice.
- Useful next steps: links to your main services, your contact page and, if your site has one, a search box.
- Your normal header and footer, so visitors aren't stranded.
- The correct 404 status code. An error page that returns "200 OK" can be treated as a soft 404. Check the HTTP response directly or ask your developer to verify it; Test live URL can also help check Google's current fetch.
Hypothetical example: [Business name], a physiotherapy clinic, renamed its "/sports-massage" page to "/services/sports-massage-therapy". Its own footer still linked to the old address, and a local running club's website linked there too. Search Console listed the old URL under "Not found (404)". The fix was to update the footer link, add a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one, and ask the running club to update their link. Meanwhile, the 404s for a promotion page deleted two years earlier were left alone. (Illustrative example, not a client result.)
What's in your control, and what isn't
In your control: your own links, your redirects, your sitemap, your 404 page and its status code, and how quickly you fix pages people actually use.
Out of your control: links on other websites, typos and bots requesting URLs that never existed, and how long Google takes to recrawl and update its reports. Fixing broken links improves the experience for visitors and helps Google crawl your site cleanly. It isn't a ranking boost in itself, and no one can promise one.
A 15-minute monthly check
- Open Indexing > Pages in Search Console and look for new "Not found (404)" or "Soft 404" URLs.
- Check your 404 page title in GA4 for missing URLs people actually visited.
- Fix your own links, add redirects for moved pages, and leave deleted pages as 404s.
- Note what you changed, so next month's figures make sense.