What Is a 404 Error, and How Do You Fix It?

A 404 error means a requested page doesn't exist at the URL that was requested — either because it never existed there, it was moved, or it was deleted. The right fix depends entirely on which of those situations is actually true, and treating all 404s the same way (as either "ignore it" or "always redirect it") misses that distinction.

Genuinely broken links need investigation, not automatic dismissal

If a page that used to work is now returning a 404, something changed — a URL was altered without a redirect being set up, or the page was deleted without checking what still linked to it. Checking Search Console's list of 404 pages that search engines have found periodically catches these before they accumulate.

A moved page needs a redirect, not a fresh 404

If content moved to a new URL (a renamed slug, a reorganized site structure), setting up a redirect from the old URL to the new one preserves any accumulated ranking signal and sends visitors (and search engines) to the right place automatically, rather than leaving them at a dead end.

A genuinely removed page can be left as a real 404

If content was intentionally removed and there's nothing equivalent to redirect it to, a real 404 (rather than a redirect to an unrelated page just to avoid the error) is the honest, correct response — redirecting everything to a homepage "just in case" actually creates a worse experience and a confusing signal to search engines than an honest 404 does.

A helpful custom 404 page still matters

For genuine 404s, a custom error page with clear navigation back to working parts of the site (rather than a bare, generic error message) keeps a visitor who hit a dead link from simply leaving the site entirely.