404 Errors flaring on nonexistent or unpublished pages – should we be concerned for SEO?
-
Hello!
We keep getting "critical crawler" notifications on Moz because of firing 404 codes. We've checked each page and know that we are not linking to them anywhere on our site, they are not published and they are not indexed on Google. It's only happened since we migrated our blog to Hubspot so we think it has something to do with the test pages their developers had set up and that they are just lingering in our code somewhere.
However, we are still concerned having these codes fire implies negative consequences for our SEO. Is this the case? Should we be concerned about these 404 codes despite the pages from those URLs not actually existing?
Thank you!
Chloe -
If the errors are detected by Moz's crawler and Google Search Console (both at the same time) then I'd be much more concerned. It does also depend on the volume of them, if there are like three then it's probably not worth your time to sort it out. If there are hundreds or thousands, you might want to think about that
If you have hidden links in the coding which Moz is picking up on (that's how Moz's crawler works, by following links) then you can't really say: "We've checked each page and know that we are not linking to them anywhere on our site" - the fact that the crawler found the links means they exist and are there (even if you can't see them or find them). That is of course, unless your site is on one of the unusual architecture that Rogerbot (Moz's crawler) has difficulties with. That shouldn't be your first assumption, though - he usually knows where he's going
Where you say this:
"since we migrated our blog to Hubspot so we think it has something to do with the test pages their developers had set up" - pull them up on it! If their developers coded a load of errors into your site, that's their fault not yours and it should be their expense (not yours) to fix it
This is the page regarding their CMS:
https://www.hubspot.com/products/marketing/content-management-system
It does say "A Content Management System Built for Professional Marketers" - so migrating to it, shouldn't cause loads of SEO problems, as SEO is still the largest chunk of most site's online marketing and traffic. That should be nailed down, no problems, fewer problem than your prior system
In-fact, HubSpot know that SEO is important for a CMS: https://www.hubspot.com/cms-and-seo - "Every marketer has been told that they need to consider SEO when creating content. But what makes SEO a unique marketing strategy that marketers should prioritize? And why should your CMS have tools that help you execute your SEO strategy?" - I would argue that a load of 404 errors, could not be considered "tools that help you execute your SEO strategy"
Whether their developers messed up or their CMS is at fault is not really relevant. The main point is, the responsibility to sort it out should be on their side (not yours, IMO)
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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
-
Ecommerce SEO: Shared content on product pages
Hi Guys, I am wondering what the best practices are for avoiding duplicate content on product pages that have shared content. For example, say I have a 3 different product pages for each of the following: Verizon IPhone 5 16GB, AT&T IPhone 5 16GB, AT&T IPhone 5 32GB. Obviously each product is for the most part the same (all are IPhone 5). The only differences lie in the carrier of the phone and the storage capacity. I want to write product descriptions for each page to target a variety of different keywords, but I don't want to get penalized for duplicate content. Does anybody have any experience in what the SEO best practices are for product pages that have shared content like this? Thank you!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Cody_West0 -
Looking for SEO advice on Negative SEO attack. Technical SEO
please see this link https://www.dropbox.com/s/thgy57zmmwzodcp/Screenshot 2016-05-31 13.25.23.png?dl=0 you can see my domain is getting tons of chinese spam. I have 410'd the page but it still keeps coming.. 7tnawRV
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | mattguitar990 -
What are the SEO issues we should consider on a plug in that creates a custom home page based on zip code or GPS location.
We are developing a plug in the changes the home page relative to a users location or zip code. We believe this will provide users with a more personalized experience. We are concerned about how this might affect SEO. We are also wondering if we should partner with one of the SEO ply in developers. We were thinking about Yoast. Is there another partner that might be better? I would appreciate any feedback people can give.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Ron_McCabe0 -
The SEO effect of adding a front page to a website?
I have a client that wants to add a front page to a website so that when a user visitors the site for the first time a full page advert/message/page appears before they enter the site. The client wants this to be cookie controlled so they only see this on the first visit to the website. I am concerned that even if I put links to a sitemap or xml sitemap on this page that it will affect how well the site performs in search engines. Any ideas/suggestions or experiences? I found an interesting page on Quora about using pop ups.... Anyone who comments can you link to some good research and a clear simple explanation I can use to explain to the client why this is a bad idea..... https://www.quora.com/Search-Engine-Optimization-SEO/How-would-a-pop-up-ad-on-a-websites-home-page-affect-SEO And for the record I tried the usability argument....
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JohnW-UK0 -
WIll Splash Page Triggered Only for iPhones Hurt SEO
Background We are in the process of launching a website where ticket inventory and processing are handled by a third party. Our primary means of traffic generation (at least at first) will be through SEO traffic. One of the things that they require of us is a script that will detect people with an iPhone and, upon entering the site, display a page giving people the option to call for help or continue to the site. (see attached screenshot) We will still get credit for the transaction (tracked through the phone #) and they say that this increases conversion rate, so it is something that we would like to use, unless it will affect our ability to rank in mobile. Problem My concern is that we will be penalized by Google (or rank poorly in Mobile search) because the page that iPhone users (not iPad users) are served is hosted on a different domain and not optimized at all for the keywords people are searching for. This is obviously a non-issue if Google never sees the page, but I have heard that Google will emulate different devices when crawling pages. Question Can anyone provide any insight about this? I feel like we are adding value to customers by giving them the option to speak to customer support, but I'm afraid that Google will think we are cloaking or at best providing the same page to anyone entering with an iPhone. Here is a link to the soon-to-be-launched website:http://dev.concerttickets.com.vhost.zerolag.com/ -- so you can check it out on your iPhone. Is there a possibility that this could effect SEO traffic from other devices? Any suggests will or advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! EP1nA EP1nA EP1nA.png
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | highlyrelevant0 -
Crawling error or somthing else that male my page unvisible ( Simple problem, no solved yet )
Hi, my problem isn't solved and nobody was able to answer my question: why isn't my page poltronafraubrescia.zenucchi.it indexed for the keyword poltrona frau Brescia? The same page on another domain was four on the ranking reluts... And now it redirects to the new one... An you explain me how to proceed? I trust you... Help me...
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | guidoboem0 -
Google Filter? Drop from top first page to bottom second page?
My site has dropped from the first page top spots to the bottom second page, about 2 month ago. From time to time it reappears in the first page, is this some kind of google filter? How do I solve this issue?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Ofer230 -
How do I fix the error duplicate page content and duplicate page title?
On my site www.millsheating.co.uk I have the error message as per the question title. The conflict is coming from these two pages which are effectively the same page: www.millsheating.co.uk www.millsheating.co.uk/index I have added a htaccess file to the root folder as I thought (hoped) it would fix the problem but I doesn't appear to have done so. this is the content of the htaccess file: Options +FollowSymLinks RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^millsheating.co.uk RewriteRule (.*) http://www.millsheating.co.uk/$1 [R=301,L] RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /index\.html\ HTTP/ RewriteRule ^index\.html$ http://www.millsheating.co.uk/ [R=301,L] AddType x-mapp-php5 .php
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JasonHegarty0