Why Soft 404s Are Worse Than Real 404s for SEO

A soft 404 is a URL that returns 200 OK while its content says there is nothing there: a removed product left up with a “no longer available” message, an empty pagination page, a filter combination with no results. Google’s page on HTTP status codes says that when a 200 response’s content suggests an error, such as an empty page or an error message, Search Console shows a soft 404. The status claims success and the content contradicts it. A real 404 states the fact directly, and Google treats it as one. Make the status code match what is true about the page.

What Google does with each response

The same page sets out how Google treats each status:

• 200: Google passes the content on for processing, and indexing may or may not follow.
• 4xx: Google doesn’t use the content. All 4xx errors except 429 are treated the same way: the crawler tells the next system the content doesn’t exist, and a previously indexed URL is removed from the index.
• New 404s: the page says newly encountered 404 pages aren’t processed, and that crawling frequency for them gradually decreases.

Two things follow. First, 404 and 410 are the same signal to Google; choose between them for your own records, not for search. Second, a 404 doesn’t stop crawling at once. Google’s crawl budget guide separates the two cases: a known URL is never forgotten, but a 404 is a strong signal to stop crawling it, while soft 404 pages keep being crawled.

That is the difference in one line: a real 404 asks Google to back off, and a soft 404 invites it back.

Find them

• Page indexing report. Search Console groups these URLs under “Soft 404”. Start there.
• The raw status. Request the URL directly, for example with curl -I, and read the status line. A soft 404 reports 200 for a page that is plainly empty.
• What Google saw. In the URL Inspection tool, look at the crawled page and ask whether a person arriving from search would find anything of value.

A URL that returns 200 and shows nothing is a soft 404 whether or not the report has listed it yet.

Where they come from

Look for the systems that produce them before the one-off cases:

• Deleted items left as placeholders. The product or article is gone, but a template still renders “no longer available” with a 200.
• Empty pagination. A page number that used to have items now renders an empty list.
• Empty filter combinations. A filter that matches nothing returns an empty results template.
• Abandoned AMP versions. AMP URLs still reachable after the AMP setup was dropped, rendering broken or empty.

Fix by cause

• Gone for good, no equivalent: return 404 or 410.
• Moved or replaced: redirect permanently to the page that replaces it.
• Empty pagination: return 404 for page numbers that no longer have items.
• Empty filter combinations: Google’s faceted navigation guide says to return a 404 when a combination has no results, rather than redirecting to a shared “not found” page.
• Abandoned AMP: Google’s AMP removal guide says to remove the rel="amphtml" link from the canonical page and return a 301 or 302 from each removed AMP URL to its canonical non-AMP page. That is a real equivalent, so a redirect is the right answer here.

The principle is the same throughout: the status code is a statement of fact about the resource. A 200 on an empty page is a false statement.

The home page redirect trap

Redirecting every dead URL to the home page to avoid showing 404s can trade one soft 404 for another. Google’s site move guide names the pattern: many old URLs pointed at one unrelated page, such as the home page, can confuse users and might be treated as a soft 404. A visitor who wanted a discontinued blue running shoe hasn’t been helped by the home page, and neither has Google.

Redirect only to a page that does the same job: the discontinued product to its direct replacement, the moved article to its new address, the merged category to the one that absorbed it. When nothing equivalent exists, return the error.

Fix in order of harm

1. Soft 404s with impressions or clicks. They are reaching people now and sending them to dead ends.
2. The generators. Each one produces soft 404s continuously, so fixing the template or the URL logic stops them at scale.
3. The stragglers that no generator produces.

Frequently asked questions

Is a soft 404 a penalty?

No. It is a status mismatch. Google keeps crawling soft 404 pages, which costs crawling time, and the pages sit outside the index anyway. Returning the true status fixes the mismatch and lets crawling taper off.

Is 410 stronger than 404?

Not for Google. Its status code page says all 4xx errors except 429 are treated the same way. Use 410 if it helps your own records.

Should I redirect dead pages to the home page?

No. Google warns that sending many old URLs to one irrelevant page, such as the home page, might be treated as a soft 404. Redirect to a true equivalent or return 404.