Every time a browser or crawler requests a URL, the server replies with a three-digit status code. These codes tell Googlebot whether the page is fine, has moved, is gone or the server failed. Reading them is a daily skill in technical SEO.
2xx: success
200 OK means the page loaded normally. Every page you want indexed should return 200.
Watch for soft 404s: pages that show “not found” or are nearly empty but still return 200. Google flags them in Search Console and treats them as errors.
3xx: redirects
- 301 Moved Permanently: the page has a new home. Signals are passed to the new URL. Use this for most moves. See our 301 redirects guide.
- 302 Found / 307 Temporary Redirect: a short-term move. Google keeps the original URL indexed at first, but treats a long-lived 302 like a 301.
- 308 Permanent Redirect: like a 301, preserving the request method.
- 304 Not Modified: tells crawlers the page has not changed since the last visit, saving resources.
4xx: client errors
- 404 Not Found: the page does not exist. Normal for deleted content. Fix internal links that point to 404s and redirect URLs that had backlinks or traffic.
- 410 Gone: the page has been removed on purpose. Google drops it slightly faster than a 404.
- 403 Forbidden: access denied. If Googlebot gets 403s, check firewall and security plugin settings.
- 429 Too Many Requests: the server is rate-limiting. Google slows its crawling.
5xx: server errors
500, 502, 503 and 504 mean the server failed. Short outages are tolerated; persistent 5xx errors cause Google to crawl less and eventually drop pages. Use 503 with a Retry-After header for planned maintenance.
How to find status code problems
- Check the Pages report in Google Search Console for not found, server error and redirect issues.
- Crawl the site with Screaming Frog or Sitebulb and filter by response code.
- Review server logs to see exactly what Googlebot received.
Should you redirect every 404?
No. Redirect a 404 only when there is a relevant replacement page and the old URL had links or traffic. Sending every dead URL to the homepage creates soft 404s and confuses users. A helpful custom 404 page with search and popular links is the better default.
Frequently asked questions
Do 404 errors hurt my rankings?
Not on their own. They become a problem when important pages break or internal links lead nowhere.
How do I check a page’s status code?
Use the Network tab in Chrome DevTools or a browser extension that shows HTTP headers.
Related terms
See crawling and indexing, crawl budget and the SEO encyclopedia.
Mr. SEO
Mr. SEO is the webmaster at SEO TT - SEO tips and tricks, a publication about all things SEO related.