Custom 404 Page Checker

A custom 404 checker requests a URL that should not exist and reports the status code and page content. A missing page that returns 200 is a soft 404, which wastes crawl budget and confuses search engines.

This tool fetches the address you enter once, from our server, and reports what a crawler would receive. The URL is not stored; only a short-lived rate-limit counter is kept. Results show the page at the moment of the check and can differ from what a logged-in browser or a bot with different headers sees.

How to read the result and act on it

The key result is the status code returned for a URL that should not exist. A correct setup returns 404 or 410 together with a helpful error page. If you see 200, you have a soft 404 problem: the server says the page exists while the content says it does not. Fix it in your CMS, theme or server rules so missing URLs return a real error code. Then review the page itself. A good 404 explains what happened, offers a search box and links to key sections, and keeps the site navigation so visitors can continue. Check that it loads quickly and is not redirected to the homepage.

Common mistakes to avoid

Redirecting every missing URL to the homepage or a generic page is the most common mistake, since it confuses visitors and search engines and is often reported as a soft 404 in Search Console. Another is a custom error page that sends a 302 to a separate error URL, which then returns 200. Some frameworks render the not-found view but forget to set the status. Blocking the error page in robots.txt is unnecessary. Do not mistake a pretty design for a correct response; the status code must be right. Test with a random made-up path as well as with a real removed URL, because rules can differ.

What is a soft 404?

A page that tells users it is missing but returns a 200 status. Search engines may treat it as an error or waste crawl effort on it.

What should a good 404 page include?

A clear message, a search box, links to key sections and the site navigation.

How do I fix soft 404 errors?

Make removed or empty pages return a real 404 or 410, or redirect them to a closely related page if one exists. For pages that should exist, add proper content. Then validate the fix in Search Console.

Do 404 errors hurt my SEO?

Normal 404s for pages that do not exist are not penalised and are expected. Problems arise when important pages return 404 by mistake, or when many linked URLs are broken. Fix those by restoring or redirecting them.

• HTTP Status Code Checker: Check the HTTP status of up to 10 URLs at once: 200, 301, 404, 500 and more.
• Broken Link Checker: Scan a page's links and report the ones that return errors or redirect.
• Redirect Checker: Trace every redirect hop from a URL to its final destination, with status codes.

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