Will a large percentage of 404 links negatively impact SERP performance?
-
We discovered a broken link and issue with a dynamically generated sitemap that resulted in 9,000+ pages of duplicate content (namely there was not actual 404 page, but content for a 404 page that populated on the broken page).
We've corrected that issue so the 404 page is working correctly now and there aren't any more broken links on the site. However, we just reviewed our Google crawl report, and saw that now there are 9,000+ 404 links in the Google index.
We discovered the initial error when our SERP performance dropped 60% in a month.
Now that we've corrected all the duplicate content pages, will vast number of 404 pages negatively impact SERP results? If so, do you recommend doing 301 redirects to the page it should have gone to, and do you know of any automated tools performing the 301's (it's a standard HTML site, no CMS involved).
Thanks for your help!
-
Thanks for your response. Does it seem probable that this issue caused the 60% drop in SERP performance? The only other variable near the same time was changing hosting providers. We have moved to this provider for other clients, and never saw this kind of change, but that was usually at the beginning of the SEO campaign, not in the middle.
-
Give it a bit of time and it should fix itself. Google will crawl it and find that it is no longer broken.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How does the footer links impact the the pages SEO quality?
Hi, i want to ask a question. Does this kind of internal links will affect the SEO post quality? Please open the attachment (image) KskOg3U
On-Page Optimization | | joshuaong0 -
Listing and Linking Brands from Homepage
We have the popular brands that we sell listed on our homepage. We currently have them in just plain text at the moment but we want to know if it would be best to: Leave them in plain text Link each to the most relevant page on our website Link each out to the actual brands website Link some to internal page, others out to brands website, some blank Not have a list of brands We do have a webpage that lists all of our brands but there are hundreds we carry so we narrowed down the 40 most popular known brands that people will be looking for on the homepage. Thanks for your help!
On-Page Optimization | | petsofoz0 -
301 twice redirect (no negative)
Can i made twice 301 redirect, because i got "droped" domain and i dont want negative effect to new website. Can i redirect users some other way with no negative effect for fresh website?
On-Page Optimization | | cerar0 -
Will ReDesigning my website negatively affect SEO?
I currently have a one page website which lists all the company information on one page [domain name is www. bwd . co . za]. It uses javascript for navigation. My challenge is that the layout is outdated and I would like to update it with a high quality WordPress theme which will not be a one-pager. Currently on Open Site Explorer the website has a domain authority of 30/100 and page authority of 41/100. I've worked hard to push the numbers to get to where they are hence I'm a bit concerned. Will re-designing my website negatively affect SEO?
On-Page Optimization | | bonganig0 -
Too Many Links On Internal Search Pages
A client has a too many link warning being flagged in SEOmoz. The problem is that most of the pages on the site are lists of tickets for an event etc. Is there a good way to fix the site from having too many links on pages like this http://www.easyseat.com/venue/yankee-stadium-tickets-for-sale.aspx when the user experience requires a long list of links so people can find an event?
On-Page Optimization | | TimFlint0 -
Nofollow all outgoing links?
If nofollow keeps link juice from leaking from a site, why not use nofollow on all external links? What would be the benefit of an external link that does not use nofollow? Best, Christopher
On-Page Optimization | | ChristopherGlaeser0 -
Is anchor text link juice passed in internal links?
Let's say I have www.bobswidgets.com. If I have "widgets for sale in tuscon arizona' be the anchor text on an internal link on www.bobswidgets.com/page1 which goes to www.bobswidgets.com/page2 - does the value of the anchor text (widgets for sale in tuscon arizona) get passed internally? External links pass the value of the anchor text but do internal links?
On-Page Optimization | | qlkasdjfw0 -
Page title in SERP question
Has anyone typed in a phrase in Google and seen their listing on the SERP, but the page title on the Google SERP is not what the CMS is set to ? Ie the page title in the SERP is not what is expected? Something related to the company, but not what is set on the CMS… Very odd – has anyone seen something like this before? What could be causing it? Is there a way to change it?
On-Page Optimization | | inhouseninja0