A 404 error tells visitors "this page does not exist." It is the most common HTTP error on the web, and one of the most damaging if left unfixed. Every 404 error on your site is a dead end: a visitor clicked a link expecting to find content, and instead got nothing. They leave, and most never come back. Beyond user experience, 404 errors directly harm your search engine rankings. When Google crawls your site and encounters 404s, it wastes crawl budget on dead pages instead of indexing your real content. External sites that link to your 404 pages are sending you valuable "link equity" that gets wasted. If you recently redesigned your site, changed your URL structure, deleted old content, or migrated platforms, you likely have dozens or even hundreds of 404 errors that you do not know about.
Fix This Error Now →404 Page Not Found Error can be caused by several issues. Here are the most common.
The most common cause. A page, product, or blog post was deleted but internal links, external backlinks, bookmarks, and search engine indexes still point to the old URL. Without a redirect, every visitor following those links hits a 404.
Changing your URL format (for example, from /blog/2024/post-title to /post-title) without setting up 301 redirects breaks every existing link to your content. This is one of the biggest SEO mistakes a site can make.
Moving from one platform to another (WordPress to Shopify, Wix to WordPress, etc.) almost always changes URL patterns. If the migration does not include a complete redirect map, hundreds of pages can suddenly return 404 errors.
A misspelled URL in your navigation, footer, sidebar, or content creates a 404 that every visitor to that page encounters. These are easy to fix but hard to find without a crawl tool.
Other websites, directories, social media posts, and email campaigns may link to URLs that were never correct or have since changed. You cannot fix their links, but you can redirect the URLs they point to.
Editing a page's URL slug or moving content between categories changes the URL. Most CMS platforms do not automatically create redirects when you do this, leaving the old URL as a 404.
Pages for past events, expired promotions, discontinued products, or seasonal content that was removed without redirects. Visitors from old search results or cached links still try to access these pages.
On Linux servers (which host most websites), /About-Us and /about-us are different URLs. If links use inconsistent capitalization, some will 404. Windows servers are case-insensitive, which can cause surprises when migrating.
70-80% of our customers have WordPress sites. Here are WordPress-specific causes for this error.
WordPress generates rewrite rules based on your permalink structure. If you change permalink settings (Settings > Permalinks) and the .htaccess file does not update correctly, every page except the homepage returns a 404. The fix is usually as simple as saving permalink settings again or manually regenerating .htaccess.
WordPress depends on the .htaccess file for clean URLs. If this file is deleted, overwritten by a plugin, or corrupted during an update, all pages return 404 errors even though the content is perfectly intact in the database.
If a plugin that registers a custom post type (like a portfolio, events, or products) is deactivated or updated, the URLs for all content of that type immediately 404 because WordPress no longer knows that URL pattern exists.
Running multiple redirect or SEO plugins (like Yoast, Rank Math, Redirection, and All in One SEO simultaneously) can create conflicting redirect rules that loop, block, or misdirect traffic. The result is often widespread 404 errors that seem random.
Setting a published page to "Draft" or "Private" makes it return a 404 for regular visitors, but internal links to it remain in your menus, sidebar widgets, and other page content. These invisible 404s frustrate visitors and hurt SEO.
Changing the number of posts per page, altering category structures, or modifying archive settings changes pagination URLs (/page/2, /page/3). Old pagination URLs from search engine caches and external links become 404s.
Run a full site crawl to identify every 404 error, including pages linked from other sites, search engine caches, and your own internal links
Cross-reference 404 URLs with Google Search Console data to prioritize high-traffic and high-value broken pages
Set up 301 redirects from every broken URL to the most relevant live page, preserving SEO link equity
Fix all internal broken links across your site navigation, content, sidebar widgets, and footer
Restore accidentally deleted content from backups or web archive caches when the content is still valuable
Repair WordPress permalink and .htaccess configuration if that is the root cause
Create a helpful custom 404 page that guides lost visitors to popular content instead of showing a dead end
Submit an updated sitemap to Google Search Console and request re-indexing of fixed pages
Set up ongoing 404 monitoring so new broken links are caught immediately
A 404 error means the requested page does not exist. While a custom 404 page helps, too many 404s hurt your SEO and user experience. This guide shows how to find and fix them.
Use Google Search Console under Coverage > Excluded > Not found (404). Also use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to crawl your site. Check your server logs for 404 responses.
Some 404s are correct (deleted products, old content). Others are mistakes. Decide if each 404 URL should be redirected, recreated, or left as 404.
In WordPress, go to Settings > Permalinks and click Save Changes (even without changing anything). This regenerates the .htaccess rules and fixes many 404 issues.
For pages that moved or were deleted, create 301 redirects to relevant pages. In WordPress, use the Redirection plugin. Or add to .htaccess: Redirect 301 /old-page /new-page
Update links on your own site that point to 404 pages. Use a plugin like Broken Link Checker (WordPress) or crawl your site with Screaming Frog to find them.
Your 404 page should help visitors find what they need. Include a search box, links to popular pages, and clear navigation. Do not just show "Page not found."
After fixing 404s, regenerate your sitemap and submit it in Google Search Console. This helps Google recrawl and update its index faster.
DIY is great, but sometimes you need expert help. Consider calling us if:
You have hundreds of 404 errors to sort through
Fixing permalinks causes other things to break
You need complex redirect rules (regex patterns)
Your 404s are caused by a site migration
The errors are hurting your search rankings significantly
Fixed in 2 hours or your money back. We do not waste time.
No hourly billing. You know the price before we start.
Cannot fix it? You do not pay. Zero risk to you.
Our Broken Pages & Error Repair team has fixed thousands of sites with this exact issue. 2-hour turnaround, guaranteed.
404 errors hurt your website in three ways. First, every 404 is a lost visitor who will likely leave and never return. Second, Google uses "crawl budget" to index your site, and 404 errors waste that budget on pages that do not exist. Third, any backlinks pointing to 404 pages pass zero SEO value to your site, which means you are losing the ranking power those links would otherwise provide.
Most site owners are surprised by the answer. A typical small business website has 20-50 broken links. Sites that have been through a redesign or migration can have hundreds. We run a full crawl that finds every 404, including ones hidden in search engine indexes and external links that you cannot see by browsing your site normally.
A 301 redirect is a permanent instruction that tells browsers and search engines: "this page has moved permanently to a new URL." When you set up a 301 redirect from an old URL to a new one, visitors are seamlessly sent to the right page, and roughly 90-99% of the old page's SEO link equity transfers to the new URL. Without the redirect, that SEO value is completely lost.
Yes, directly. If Googlebot encounters 404 errors on pages that used to rank well, those pages are removed from search results. Any backlinks pointing to those pages stop passing SEO value. Over time, Google may also reduce your overall crawl budget if it keeps finding 404 errors, meaning your working pages get crawled and indexed less frequently too.
Absolutely. This is one of the most common issues we fix. We create a complete redirect map from your old URLs to your new ones, set up all the 301 redirects, fix internal links to point to new URLs, and submit an updated sitemap to Google. If done quickly after a redesign, you can recover most of your SEO rankings within 2-4 weeks.
For most sites with 20-50 broken links, the fix costs $49-$99. This includes a full site audit, setting up all necessary 301 redirects, fixing internal broken links, and submitting an updated sitemap. Sites with hundreds of 404 errors from a major migration may cost $99-$149. You get a firm quote before we start.
No. If a URL ever had traffic, backlinks, or rankings, you should redirect it to the most relevant live page using a 301 redirect. Only truly worthless URLs (like random query string variations or spam attempts) should be left as 404s. We help you determine which URLs have SEO value and which can be safely ignored.
Never delete a page without setting up a redirect first. When changing URL structures, always create a redirect map before making the change. Use a broken link monitoring tool that alerts you to new 404 errors. When deactivating WordPress plugins that create custom post types, set up redirects for that content first. We can set up ongoing monitoring as part of our fix.
This is almost always a permalink or .htaccess issue. Go to Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress admin and click "Save Changes" without changing anything. This regenerates the .htaccess rewrite rules. If you cannot access the admin panel, renaming the .htaccess file via FTP will temporarily restore pages (but with ugly URLs). We fix this in under 30 minutes.
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