This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung →
HTTP status codes: does the page even respond with 200?
The check establishes whether the address responds with HTTP 200 at the end of all redirects. Anything else — 404, 410, 500, or a timeout — means there's nothing there for search engines and visitors to get.
- The most unpleasant case is the error page with code 200, often called a "soft 404": the visitor sees "page not found", the search engine gets "everything's fine". The result is an index full of empty pages that nobody ever weeds out.
- Server errors in the 500 range are especially tricky, because they can occur sporadically. A measurement is a snapshot — the report states when it was measured.
- 403 also occurs when a protection mechanism mistakes the check for an attacker. In that case, the report states the status code, not a fabricated content finding.
FAQ
What is a soft 404?
A page whose content says "not found", but that responds with status code 200. For search engines, that makes it a valid page — and it ends up in the index.
Should deleted pages return 404 or 410?
404 means "not found", 410 means "permanently removed". Both are correct; 410 is the clearer statement when the page is intentionally and permanently gone.