Refusal to redirect all pages of errors 404 to homepage: Google Recommendations
Publication date:19.08.2025
Blog category:
SEO and Promotion
The well -known Google developer, Martin Splitt, answers the user's questions about the possible negative impact of the bug pages 404 on the main page. He gives the answer without ambiguity: "Yes, and it also annoys me as a user."
404 Errors serve as a signal for users and search robots that the URL is no longer existed or broken. It helps people understand what they are dealing with, not being unexpectedly redirected to an unrelated page.
🚀 Splitt argues that the efficiency of search robots can be broken if they are constantly redirected to the main page. This creates a mix for robots that try to index your site.
- 📌 If content is moved to a new page, use redirection to this particular new URL
- 📌 If content no longer exists, keep the status code 404
- 📌 Do not redirect to the main page or to what you consider the "closest" coincidence
🧩 Summary: These Google Recommendations mean maintaining the exact HTTP status codes to help users and search work to understand the structure of your site.
🧠 Your own considerations: It is important to emphasize that although 404 errors may seem negative to users, they are important for search robots that try to understand the structure of your website. Inadequate redirection can lead to a deterioration of the site's recognition in search engines.
✍️ Автор: Володимир Катюшин, експерт у сфері вебтехнологій.
Статтю згенеровано з використанням ШІ на основі зазначеного матеріалу, відредаговано та перевірено автором вручну для точності та корисності.
Літературні джерела!
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/googles-martin-splitt-warns-against-redirecting-404s-to-homepage/541549/
