Understanding Soft 404s (and Why They Matter More Than You Think)

In last week’s note, we talked about why you shouldn’t 301 redirect every 404 to your homepage, one of the main reasons being that it can create something called a soft 404.

Soft 404s are one of those sneaky technical SEO issues that can quietly eat away at your site’s performance without you even realizing it. They don’t break your site, but they confuse search engines, waste crawl budget, and can make Google think your content isn’t worth indexing.

I see soft 404s show up in almost every technical audit I do. They’re so common because they often look fine to users. The page loads. There’s no error message. It might even have a polite note that says, “Sorry, we couldn’t find that product.” But under the hood, the site is returning a 200 OK status, which tells search engines the page exists, even though it doesn’t.

This mismatch between what the user sees and what the crawler reads is exactly what makes a soft 404 so tricky.

In this note, we’ll break down what a soft 404 actually is, why it matters for SEO, how Google identifies them, and what you should do to find and fix them on your own site.

What Is a Soft 404?

A soft 404 happens when a page looks like it’s missing or empty but technically tells search engines it’s fine.

In other words, the server returns a 200 OK status, the same response code used for working pages, even though the content clearly says something like “Page not found,” “No results,” or “This product is unavailable.”

To a crawler, that’s confusing.

It’s like someone asking for your address, you saying “Sure, come over,” and then when they arrive, your house doesn’t exist. The response and the reality don’t match.

Here are a few common examples of soft 404s:

• A “Sorry, we couldn’t find that page” message that returns a 200 status instead of a 404.
• Empty category or product listing pages with no content or internal links.
• Redirects from missing URLs to irrelevant destinations, such as the homepage.
• Placeholder pages created automatically by a CMS or plugin that have no real value.
• Search results pages on your own site that display “0 results found” but still load as valid URLs.

From a user perspective, these pages don’t seem broken. They load and show something. But to Google, they create noise in the index and make it harder to tell what’s valuable versus what’s just filler.

Soft 404s are essentially ghost pages. They exist in your site’s response code but not in any meaningful way for searchers or crawlers.

Why Soft 404s Are a Problem

Soft 404s might seem harmless, after all, the page loads and doesn’t throw a scary error. But for SEO, they’re quietly toxic.

Here’s why they’re a problem:

1. They Waste Crawl Budget

Google allocates a limited crawl budget to every site. When your server tells Google a page exists (200 OK), the crawler assumes it might contain useful content and keeps revisiting it.

But if that page is empty, irrelevant, or a dead end, those crawl resources are wasted. That’s time that could’ve been spent discovering or refreshing valuable pages.

2. They Confuse Google’s Indexing Logic

Google expects a missing page to return a 404 or 410. When it sees a 200 but finds little to no content, it starts second-guessing the signals your site is sending. That confusion can lead to pages being dropped, misclassified, or treated as low quality.

3. They Dilute Site Quality

Google’s quality algorithms (especially the Helpful Content System) look for consistency across your site. A large number of thin or “empty” pages tells Google your site may not offer reliable value. That can drag down the perceived quality of your entire domain.

4. They Break Relevance and Link Flow

If a high-authority link points to a soft 404, the link equity doesn’t flow where it should. Instead of reinforcing relevant content, that authority gets stuck on a page Google doesn’t trust enough to index.

5. They Hurt User Experience

Users who land on thin or placeholder pages feel misled. Whether it’s a “product unavailable” notice with no alternatives or a redirect to the homepage, they leave unsatisfied, and those user signals (like pogo-sticking and short dwell time) reinforce to Google that your site missed the mark.

Soft 404s don’t cause an immediate penalty, but over time, they can lead to crawling inefficiencies, poor indexing, and weaker trust signals across your entire site.

How Google Detects Soft 404s

Google doesn’t rely solely on HTTP status codes to understand a page. It also analyzes the content, layout, and intent. That’s why even if your server says “200 OK,” Google might still classify the page as a soft 404 if it looks and behaves like one.

Here’s how Google figures that out:

1. Content Analysis

Google scans the text and structure of the page to see if it includes phrases like “page not found,” “no results,” or “error.” If it resembles a 404 template but doesn’t send the right response code, it’s flagged as a soft 404.

2. Visual and Layout Similarity

If the page design closely matches your site’s real 404 page (same layout, same message, same minimal content), Google assumes it’s the same thing, just mislabeled.

3. Thin or Placeholder Content

Google measures how much unique, indexable content exists on the page. If it’s nearly empty or filled with generic placeholders, the page is treated as non-valuable, even if it technically works.

4. Redirect Mismatch

When a missing URL redirects to a destination that doesn’t match user intent (like your homepage), Google often classifies it as a soft 404. This is one of the most common causes I see during audits.

5. Search Console Signals

You’ll often find these flagged in Google Search Console → Pages → “Not indexed” → “Soft 404”.

That’s Google’s way of saying:

“This page loads fine, but it doesn’t offer enough value or content to justify indexing.”

Google’s goal is to maintain a clean, high-quality index. So when a page doesn’t provide meaningful value or misrepresents its existence, it simply excludes it, labeling it as a soft 404 instead.

Common Causes of Soft 404s

Most websites don’t try to create soft 404s. They happen by accident. Over the years, I’ve seen the same patterns appear again and again across audits.

Here are the most common culprits:

1. Returning a 200 Instead of a 404 or 410

The most frequent cause. A missing page still returns a “200 OK” status, often because of how the CMS or server handles missing URLs. From the user’s side, it looks normal. To Google, it’s misleading.

2. Redirecting to Irrelevant Pages (Usually the Homepage)

This one ties back to last week’s note. Redirecting every missing page to the homepage or an unrelated section is a quick fix that backfires. Google recognizes that the destination doesn’t match the intent and marks it as a soft 404.

3. Empty or Thin Category and Product Pages

E-commerce sites are notorious for this. A category page with no products or a product page for an out-of-stock item that has no related suggestions can easily trigger a soft 404.

4. Auto-Generated Low-Value Pages

Internal search results, tag pages, and dynamically generated URLs often create duplicate or empty pages. If there’s no substantial content or user value, Google treats them like non-existent pages.

5. Custom “Not Found” Messages That Don’t Return the Right Status

Many sites display a friendly “Sorry, we can’t find that page” message but forget to send the proper 404 header. It looks like a helpful error page to visitors but reports as a normal page to crawlers.

6. CMS or Plugin Misconfigurations

WordPress, Shopify, and other platforms sometimes have themes or apps that override default error handling. These can silently convert missing pages into live ones without proper response codes.

7. Deleted or Expired Pages with Leftover URLs

When content is removed but the old URL remains accessible (returning a blank or stub page), it becomes a soft 404.

The key takeaway: soft 404s usually happen when your content logic and server responses don’t align. Google expects clear signals. Either a page exists and provides value, or it doesn’t. Anything in between just causes confusion.

How to Identify Soft 404s on Your Site

The good news is that soft 404s are easy to find once you know where to look, and most of the tools you already use can surface them.

Here’s how I typically uncover them during audits:

1. Google Search Console

This is the easiest place to start.

• Go to Indexing → Pages.
• Look under “Not Indexed” → “Soft 404.”
  This report lists all the URLs Google has crawled and decided weren’t valuable enough to index, even though they returned a 200 status.
  Check these regularly. They’re often the first sign of a deeper problem.

2. Crawling Tools (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, JetOctopus)

Run a crawl of your site and filter for:

• URLs returning a 200 status that contain phrases like “not found”, “error”, or “no results”.
• Empty pages (low word count, no indexable text, or zero internal links).
  Many crawlers even flag these automatically under a “soft 404” or “low-content” category.

3. Log File Analysis

If you have access to your server logs, look for patterns like:

• Googlebot repeatedly crawling the same “thin” URLs.
• High crawl frequency on pages that get no impressions or clicks.
  That’s a strong indicator of wasted crawl budget tied to soft 404s.

4. Search Queries in Google

A quick manual check:
Run a search like

site:yourdomain.com "page not found"
site:yourdomain.com "sorry"

You’ll often uncover custom error messages or placeholder pages that are returning 200 responses instead of 404s.

5. Monitor Redirect Behavior

If your site uses automatic redirects (especially from 404s to the homepage), test a few random broken URLs with a header checker. If they all return 301 → 200 on the homepage, you’ve got soft 404s.

6. Third-Party Indexation Tools

Platforms like Ahrefs, Semrush, or JetOctopus sometimes detect soft 404s indirectly by identifying URLs with impressions but no indexation or low-value content scores.

Finding soft 404s isn’t about spotting errors. It is about spotting mismatched intent. The goal is to find every page where your server says “everything’s fine,” but Google and users know it’s not.

How to Fix Soft 404s

Fixing soft 404s isn’t about cleaning up “errors.” It’s about making sure your site sends clear, consistent signals, to both users and crawlers, about what exists and what doesn’t.

Here’s how to handle them properly:

1. Return the Correct HTTP Status Code

If a page truly doesn’t exist and there’s no appropriate replacement, it should return a 404 (Not Found) or 410 (Gone) status.

• 404 tells Google, “This page doesn’t exist.”
• 410 tells Google, “This page used to exist, but it’s permanently gone.”
  Both are valid. What matters is that the response matches reality.

Many CMSs let you customize this directly in their settings or via plugins. If not, your developer can configure it in your .htaccess file or server rules.

2. Redirect Only When It Makes Sense

If the page has a relevant alternative, use a 301 redirect, but only to a page that satisfies the same user intent.

• Old blog post about keyword research? Redirect it to your new “Complete Keyword Research Guide.”
• Product discontinued but you sell similar ones? Redirect to the parent category or an equivalent product.
  Avoid blanket redirects to the homepage. They are the #1 soft 404 trigger.

3. Improve Thin or Empty Pages

If Google flags a live URL as a soft 404 but the page should exist, it’s a sign the content is too thin.

• Add useful copy, FAQs, or internal links.
• Include structured data, images, or related products.
• For e-commerce, use messaging like “Out of stock. Check these alternatives” instead of showing a dead page.

When Google sees more context and relevance, it’ll reclassify the URL as a valid page.

4. Handle Filter, Search, and Faceted URLs Properly

Pages that show “no results found” are classic soft 404 traps.
If those URLs aren’t valuable:

• Add noindex tags to prevent indexing.
• Use canonical tags to point to the main category.
• Or return a proper 404/410 if there’s no value in keeping them.

For internal search pages that do serve users, make sure they display helpful results or fallback options, not empty templates.

5. Monitor in Google Search Console

After fixing soft 404s, check Search Console → Pages → Not Indexed → Soft 404 over the next few weeks.

You’ll start to see those URLs drop off as Google re-crawls and reclassifies them.

If they persist, verify that the pages are returning the correct status codes, or that they contain enough content to be seen as valuable.

The fix always comes down to one rule:

The technical response should match the intent of the page.

If it’s gone, say it’s gone.

If it exists, make sure it’s worth indexing.

Best Practices to Prevent Soft 404s

Once you’ve cleaned up your existing soft 404s, the goal is to make sure they don’t creep back in. Most sites generate them accidentally through automated systems, CMS quirks, or well-meaning “fixes” that send mixed signals.

Here’s how to keep them from coming back:

1. Align Technical Responses With Content Reality

Make sure your server, CMS, and content logic all agree.

• Missing pages should return 404 or 410.
• Moved pages should return 301.
• Live pages should return 200 OK only when they actually have value to users.
  This alignment is the foundation of a clean technical SEO setup.

2. Use Smart Error Templates

Your 404 and 410 pages should be functional and clearly identified as errors.

Include site navigation, search, and helpful links, but make sure they still send the correct status code in the header.

3. Avoid Auto-Generated Low-Value Pages

Don’t let your CMS create endless tag, author, or filter pages that add no user value.

• Use canonical tags or noindex for thin templates.
• Disable automatic page generation for empty categories or internal searches.

4. Monitor Changes After Site Updates or Migrations

Soft 404s often spike after redesigns, CMS updates, or content migrations.

• Crawl your site before and after major changes.
• Watch for sudden increases in “Soft 404” reports in Google Search Console.
• Check redirect logic and page templates for misconfigurations.

5. Keep Thin Pages Useful

If you must keep pages that sometimes go empty (like product categories or search results):

• Add recommendations, top sellers, or related articles.
• Provide filters or CTAs that guide users somewhere valuable.
  This keeps engagement high and signals that the page still serves a purpose.

6. Audit Regularly

Schedule a quarterly or biannual audit focused on 404s and soft 404s.

They’re easy to fix once identified, but left unchecked, they multiply quietly over time.

The key to preventing soft 404s is consistency. When your technical setup, content, and redirects all tell the same story, Google understands your site better, crawls it more efficiently, and rewards you with cleaner indexing.

Summary / Key Takeaways

Soft 404s are one of those issues that can quietly drain a site’s SEO performance without ever throwing a visible error. They don’t break pages. They break communication, both between your site and users and between your site and search engines.

They happen when your server says “everything’s fine” but your content says “this page doesn’t exist.” That mismatch confuses Google, wastes crawl budget, and weakens your site’s trust signals.

Here’s what to remember:

• Soft 404s are silent index killers. They look fine on the surface but get ignored by Google.
• Returning the correct status code (404 or 410) is always better than faking a valid page.
• Redirect only when relevant. A redirect to something unrelated, especially the homepage, is just another form of a soft 404.
• Fix thin content. If a page should exist, make it valuable enough to deserve indexing.
• Monitor regularly. Google Search Console’s soft 404 report is your early warning system.

The simplest rule:

If it’s gone, say it’s gone.
If it exists, make it worth indexing.

Clean handling of missing and low-value pages helps Google crawl smarter, index faster, and trust your site more. It’s one of those behind-the-scenes SEO improvements that compounds quietly over time, but it makes a measurable difference.