If you are checking Google Search Console → Page Indexing and see “Not found (404)”, it means Google tried to access a URL on your website, but your server returned a 404 HTTP status code.
In simple words: the URL does not currently point to a page that exists.
A 404 is not automatically an SEO problem. In fact, if a page has been permanently removed and there is no suitable replacement, returning a 404 is often the correct response. The problem usually starts when an important page accidentally returns 404 or when your website has internal links pointing to broken URLs.
Why Does “Not Found (404)” Happen?
Common reasons include:
- A page was deleted.
- The URL was changed without setting up a redirect.
- The URL was typed incorrectly.
- A product, post, or category was removed.
- Internal links still point to an old URL.
- An old URL remains in your sitemap.
- Another website is linking to a URL that no longer exists.
- A website migration changed the URL structure.
For example:
example.com/seo-guide
may have been changed to:
example.com/seo-basics-guide
The old URL can then return a 404.
Is a 404 Bad for SEO?
Not necessarily.
You don’t need to fix every 404 URL reported in Search Console.
If the page was intentionally removed and there is no relevant replacement, leaving it as a 404 can be perfectly normal.
However, you should investigate 404s when:
- The missing page is important.
- The URL receives organic traffic.
- The page has valuable backlinks.
- Other pages on your website link to it.
- The URL was accidentally deleted or changed.
- A useful page was replaced by a new URL.
How to Fix “Not Found (404)”
1. Check the URL
Open the URL reported in Search Console and confirm whether the page should exist.
You can also use URL Inspection in Google Search Console to check the current status.
2. Restore the Page
If the page was accidentally deleted, restore it using the original URL.
Make sure the page returns a normal 200 OK response.
3. Add a 301 Redirect
If the old page has been permanently moved to another relevant page, redirect the old URL to the new one.
For example:
/old-seo-guide/ → /seo-guide/
Use a 301 redirect when there is a genuine replacement.
Don’t redirect every broken URL to the homepage. A redirect should lead users to a relevant alternative.
4. Fix Internal Links
Check your website for links pointing to the 404 URL.
Update them to the correct URL.
This is especially important for:
- Navigation menus
- Blog posts
- Category pages
- Footer links
- Breadcrumbs
- HTML sitemaps
5. Remove 404 URLs From Your Sitemap
Your XML sitemap should contain URLs that you actually want Google to crawl and index.
If a deleted URL is still included in your sitemap, remove it.
6. Check for URL Changes
If you recently redesigned your website, changed your permalink structure, or migrated to a new domain, check whether multiple old URLs have become 404s.
A proper URL migration should include redirects from important old URLs to their new equivalents.
What About “Soft 404”?
A soft 404 is different.
This happens when a page looks like an error page to users but the server returns a successful response, such as 200 OK, instead of a proper 404 or another appropriate status.
For example, a page might display:
“Sorry, this page doesn’t exist.”
but still return a 200 status code.
Google can identify these situations and may treat the URL as a soft 404.
The solution is to return the correct HTTP status or provide useful content at that URL.
Should You Request Indexing After Fixing a 404?
If you restore an important page or replace the content with a new URL, you can use URL Inspection → Request Indexing after making the change.
For a redirected URL, make sure the redirect works correctly first.
Google may need time to recrawl and process the change, so the Search Console report may not update immediately.
Quick 404 Checklist
Before considering the issue fixed, check:
- Does the URL need to exist?
- If yes, restore the page.
- If it moved, create a relevant 301 redirect.
- Fix internal links.
- Remove unwanted URLs from the sitemap.
- Check backlinks to important deleted URLs.
- Make sure the server returns the correct HTTP status.
- Recheck the URL in Google Search Console.
Final Thoughts
Seeing “Not found (404)” in Google Search Console doesn’t mean your website has a serious SEO problem.
The important question is:
“Should this URL exist?”
If the answer is yes, restore it or redirect it to the most relevant replacement. If the answer is no, and there is no useful replacement, a proper 404 is often exactly what you want.
The goal isn’t to eliminate every 404 from Search Console. The goal is to make sure valuable pages are accessible and users aren’t being sent to broken URLs.
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