Error 404: Page Not Found is one of the most commonly encountered HTTP status codes on the internet. When you see this error, you’ve accessed the wrong URL, tried to access a page that has been moved or no longer exists, or run into a server issue.
In most cases, a 404 error means that the requested page cannot be found because the URL is incorrect, the page has been removed or changed, or the site’s having problems.
In this article, we will discuss what the 404 error code really means, why it occurs, how to fix it, and some best practices to prevent it from happening again.
What Does Error 404 Mean?
A 404 error is an HTTP status code that indicates the server of the website is working, but the particular page you are looking for is unreachable. In other words, you successfully connected to the website, but the resource tied to the URL you are searching for does not exist at that location.
This error might appear in different formats such as “404 Not Found”, “HTTP 404 Not Found”, “404 Page Not Found”, “The requested URL was not found on this server”, or “File or directory not found”. All these error messages convey that the requested webpage is unavailable.
Why Am I Getting a 404 Error?
There are a few reasons why you’re running into an error 404, all relating to the missing resource at the accessed URL. These include:
How to Fix 404 Error
Depending on the context, an error code 404 doesn’t always mean that the content is permanently lost. If the URL is definitely correct, then you can probably still find the content you’re looking for. Let’s go through the fixes for both users and site admins.
As a user:
As a site admin:
Overall, you can prevent most of the 404 errors by having a good checklist to follow for keeping the internal and external links of your website up to date when changing pages. Check your site regularly for broken links and fix them as soon as possible.
When you move a page to a new location or remove a page entirely from the website, update those URLs or redirect users to the correct page. Pay extra attention whenever you redesign or make big structural changes to your website. If you can, update internal links to point directly at the correct page rather than relying on redirects. Give you have little to no control over backlinks, redirects are important.
As a normal user, there is not much you can do to get content behind a 404 error that is truly gone beyond checking the URL, trying to find the page elsewhere online, or checking the Wayback Machine. If the website is not maintained properly, the users will end up facing the error.
Conclusion
You run into a 404 error when you’re trying to access a page that doesn’t exist on a website that is working correctly. The error itself doesn’t tell you why the page is gone, but there are steps you can follow.
For users, an error 404 can mean a treasure hunt to find out whether the page has been moved to somewhere else on the website or, if it really doesn’t exist anymore, looking up an old archived copy.
Key takeaways:
Depending on the size of the website, site admins want to try to avoid having any 404’d pages on their website where they can help it. Setting up redirections is how you can make that possible. There are tools available that can help you audit your website to track down dead links and pages, many of them free. Internal links, which you have complete control over can be pointed in the right direction, while backlinks leading to your site can be redirected to a new appropriate page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a 404 error?+
A 404 error is an HTTP status code that indicates the server is reachable, but the requested page cannot be found. This usually happens when the URL is incorrect, the page has been deleted, or moved to another place without proper redirection.
How to fix the 404 not found error?+
As a user, check the URL for typos, refresh the page, clear browser cache, or search the page using relevant keywords. As a site admin, identify broken or outdated links, restore or recreate missing pages, or set up proper (301) redirects to send users to the correct page.
How to fix a 404 error in Google Search Console?+
To fix a 404 error in Google Search Console (GSC), log in to your GSC account and select the website property you want to analyze. In the Index menu, navigate to Coverage, and filter the report by ‘Not found (404)’ to see the affected URLs.Prioritize URLs that previously received traffic or had important backlinks.
How to fix a 404 error on a website?+
To fix a 404 error on your website, check and update internal links so they point to valid pages, set up redirects for pages that were moved or renamed, restore deleted pages if they were removed unintentionally, and regularly check your website using crawlers or SEO tools to detect and fix broken links early.