How to Fix 404 Errors on Your Website?

You might have seen many times when you click on a URL and a “404 Not Found” message appears on the screen. This means that the page you’re trying to access has been deleted, moved to a different location, or you’ve entered the wrong URL.

404 errors can negatively impact both user experience and search engine crawler efficiency. As a user, you might be frustrated when you click on a link to find the information on the page but encounter a “404 Not Found” message. Similarly, When search engine crawlers discover a significant number of 404 errors while crawling a website, they may perceive it as a site that is not well-maintained and does not prioritize user experience.

To improve user satisfaction and search engine optimization, it’s crucial to address 404 errors. I’ll share a straightforward method to fix these errors that’s easy to implement and follow.

Common Causes of 404 Not Found Errors.

There can be multiple reasons why a 404 error might show up on your website. Let’s take a look at the common reasons.

1. Broken links.

This is one of the most common causes of 404 errors. This occurs when a link on your website points to a page that no longer exists, has been moved, or is misspelled. When a user clicks on a broken link, he will encounter a 404 error.

2. Deleted Page.

When you remove a page from your site, you have not removed the links pointing to it. In that case, when a user clicks on the anchor text, where you place the link. He will find the code 404 error. If you want to delete any of your web pages, make sure to check that no links are pointing to them.

3. Moved Pages.

When you move a page to a new location or change the URL of that page, the old URL still exists. In that case, if a user tries to access the page, he will encounter a 404 response code.

4. Incorrect URL/ Typo.

When a user types the URL and adds something mistakenly, in that case the user will face a 404 not found message.

5. Server Configuration.

Sometimes, a 404 error shows up because of a problem with the server (where you hosted your website). If the server is not working properly or it is not set up correctly. In that case, if a Users trying to access a page, they will face 404 errors not found. To fix this error, you need to check the server and make sure everything is set correctly.

How to fix 404 not found errors?

Fixing 404 Not Found errors is easy, but first you have to identify how many 404 errors your website has. To find out, you can use different tools. My personal favorites are Screaming Frog and Google Search Console to find 404 Not Found errors.

How to find 404 with the Google search console?

To find 404 errors using Google Search Console, follow these steps:

Google Search Console is a free tool that shows data about our websites. It also highlights technical issues related to our sites. To find 404 “Not Found” errors, follow these steps:

Open Google Search Console, which is connected to your site.
Click on “Pages.”
Look for the section titled “Why pages are not indexed.” Here, you can find any “404 Not Found” errors. You may also see “Soft 404” errors if there are any.

How to Find 404 Errors with Screaming Frog and Fix Them.

This is one of my personal favorite methods to find 404 errors and their root causes. Screaming Frog can crawl your entire site and help you track everything on each page, such as links, anchor text, and more. To find 404 errors, follow these steps:

Crawl your site using Screaming Frog.
Click on “Response Codes.”
Then click on “All” and select “Client Error 4xx.”

Here, you will find all the “404 Not Found” errors on your site.

How to Find Out the Root Cause of the 404 Error?

To determine why a page is showing a 404 error, follow these steps:

Click on the URL that has the status code “404 Not Found.”
Scroll to the bottom of Screaming Frog and click on “Inlinks.”

Here, you will see which pages link to the 404 page and what anchor text is used to link to it.

Copy the link from this section and open it in your browser.
Then, copy the anchor text. Go to the browser where you opened the page, press “Control + F,” and paste the anchor text. This will highlight the anchor text on the page. Click on the highlighted anchor text, and you will be directed to the page showing the 404 error.

Finally, check the link that is used with the anchor text. You can either remove the broken link or update it. It’s entirely up to you.

By repeating the process described earlier, you can identify the reasons for the 404 errors on your site. You may notice that some links need to be updated because errors often occur due to incomplete URLs. For example, the link might be missing “https://” or a trailing slash.

After completing this process, you’ll likely discover that some pages no longer exist—either because they were deleted or their URLs were updated. These types of pages need special attention. Here’s a simple way to fix these issues:

If your website is built on WordPress, you can install a plugin called “410 Gone.” After installing the plugin, add the list of “404 Not Found” pages to it. Before adding this list, make sure no valid pages are linking to the 404 pages. Once done, all pages that previously had a 404 status will now show a status of “410 Gone.”

When a search engine crawler sees this “410 Gone” status, it understands that these pages are permanently gone and no longer exist.

That’s the process for finding and fixing “404 Not Found” errors for any website. I hope you’ve understood the process. Now, it’s your turn—go ahead and check your Google Search Console, and then crawl your site with Screaming Frog. Afterward, check if there are any errors or if everything is in good shape.

How to Fix 404 Errors on Your Website?