You update a service page, change its URL, and everything appears to work normally. A few weeks later, you notice that the old page is still appearing in Google, while the new one isn’t performing as expected.
Or perhaps a product page disappears from search results even though you can still open it in your browser.
Problems like these often begin with something most website owners never see: an HTTP status code.
Every time a browser or search engine requests a webpage, the server sends back a response. Part of that response is a three-digit status code that explains what happened to the request.
For visitors, these codes usually remain invisible unless something goes wrong. For technical SEO, however, they can reveal important information about redirects, missing pages, server errors, and crawlability.
Let’s look at the status codes worth understanding and how to handle them on a real website.
What Are HTTP Status Codes?
An HTTP status code is a response sent by a web server when someone requests a URL.
For example, when Googlebot visits your homepage, your server might return:
HTTP/1.1 200 OKThat means the request was successful.
If the page has moved permanently, the server might respond with:
HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Location: https://example.com/new-page/Instead of returning the old page, the server tells the browser or crawler where to go next.
HTTP status codes are grouped into categories:
| Code Range | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1xx | Informational responses |
| 2xx | Successful requests |
| 3xx | Redirects |
| 4xx | Client-side request errors |
| 5xx | Server-side errors |
Not every code affects SEO in the same way. Some are perfectly normal, while others may indicate problems that need attention.
200 OK: The Response You Usually Want
A 200 OK response means the server successfully handled the request.
For a normal, publicly accessible webpage, this is generally the expected response.
Imagine you publish a new article at:
When someone visits the URL, the server returns the article along with a 200 status.
That is a good starting point for search engine crawling, but there’s an important distinction: a 200 response doesn’t guarantee that Google will index the page.
The page may still contain a noindex directive, have a canonical pointing elsewhere, or lack sufficient value to be included in search results.
A successful server response is only one part of technical SEO.
The Hidden Problem: Soft 404 Pages
Sometimes a website returns 200 even when the page doesn’t contain useful content.
For example, a removed product URL might display a message saying:
“Sorry, this product no longer exists.”
But instead of returning a 404 or 410 status, the server responds with 200.
Google may identify this as a soft 404.
The problem isn’t simply that the page contains an error message. It’s that the server response doesn’t accurately reflect what happened to the requested resource.
If a page genuinely no longer exists and has no suitable replacement, a proper 404 or 410 response is usually more appropriate.
301 Redirect: When a Page Moves Permanently
A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines that a URL has moved permanently.
Suppose your website originally published a service page at:
You reorganize your website and move the same service to:
A 301 redirect is generally the right solution.
Visitors who use the old URL reach the new page, and search engines receive a clear signal that the destination should be treated as the permanent replacement.
When Should You Use a 301?
Common situations include:
- Changing a page’s URL.
- Moving a website from HTTP to HTTPS.
- Consolidating duplicate URLs.
- Migrating a website to a new domain.
- Replacing an outdated page with a genuinely relevant new version.
One mistake is redirecting every removed URL to the homepage.
Imagine someone clicks an old link to a specific laptop model and suddenly lands on a generic homepage. That isn’t a particularly useful experience.
Search engines may also treat irrelevant redirects as soft 404s.
A better approach is to redirect the old URL to the closest relevant replacement. If no suitable replacement exists, consider returning a proper 404 or 410 instead.
302 Redirect: When the Move Is Temporary
A 302 redirect indicates that a resource has been moved temporarily.
Consider an online store that temporarily sends visitors from a product page to a seasonal promotion page.
If the original URL is expected to return to normal, a temporary redirect may make sense.
The important difference between 301 and 302 is the signal they send about permanence.
A 301 indicates a permanent move. A 302 indicates that the move is temporary.
Google can interpret redirects using additional signals over time, so the status code alone doesn’t guarantee how URLs will ultimately be treated. Still, choosing the correct response helps communicate your intention clearly.
Can a 302 Hurt SEO?
A 302 isn’t inherently bad for SEO.
Problems arise when a website uses temporary redirects for changes that are actually permanent, especially when the setup remains inconsistent for a long time.
If you’ve permanently replaced a URL, use an appropriate permanent redirect rather than choosing 302 simply because it seems easier.
404 Not Found: Not Every Missing Page Is an SEO Disaster
A 404 response means the server couldn’t find the requested resource.
Most website owners immediately associate 404 errors with broken SEO.
But here’s something important: 404 responses are normal on the web.
Pages get deleted. Products are discontinued. URLs change. Visitors occasionally type addresses incorrectly.
Google doesn’t penalize an entire website simply because some URLs return 404.
The real concern is whether important pages are missing or whether visitors and crawlers are being directed toward broken URLs.
For example, imagine your main navigation contains a link to a service page that no longer exists.
That’s worth fixing because visitors are repeatedly being sent to an unavailable destination.
On the other hand, an old page that was intentionally removed and has no replacement may legitimately return 404.
What Should You Do With 404 Pages?
Start by asking why the page is missing.
If the URL changed and the content still exists elsewhere, create a relevant redirect.
If the page was accidentally deleted, restore it.
If the page is permanently gone with no replacement, returning 404 can be completely appropriate.
Also check your internal links and XML sitemap. Important links shouldn’t continue pointing to URLs you already know are unavailable.
410 Gone: A Clearer Signal for Removed Content
A 410 response indicates that the requested resource is gone and the condition is expected to be permanent.
For example, suppose your company permanently retires a promotional landing page and doesn’t intend to publish a replacement.
A 410 response can communicate that decision.
Both 404 and 410 are valid responses for unavailable content, and Google generally treats them similarly for indexing purposes.
You don’t need to convert every 404 into a 410 to improve SEO.
Use 410 when you want to explicitly indicate that the content has been permanently removed.
503 Service Unavailable: Handling Temporary Downtime
Imagine you’re updating your website, installing a major plugin, or performing server maintenance.
During that period, the website may be temporarily unavailable.
A 503 Service Unavailable response tells clients that the server cannot handle the request at the moment.
This is often more appropriate for genuine temporary downtime than serving a normal-looking error page with a 200 status.
A server may also send a Retry-After header to indicate when the client should try again.
For example:
HTTP/1.1 503 Service Unavailable
Retry-After: 3600The value 3600 represents a suggested delay of one hour.
A 503 isn’t a permanent solution, though.
If Google repeatedly encounters server errors over an extended period, crawling can be affected, and persistent unavailability may eventually cause pages to disappear from search results.
Keep maintenance periods as short as reasonably possible and verify that the website returns normal responses afterward.
How to Check HTTP Status Codes on Your Website
You don’t need to be a developer to investigate basic status code problems.
For a single URL, you can use your browser’s developer tools.
Open the page, launch Developer Tools, select the Network tab, and reload the page.
Click the main document request to inspect its response status.
If you manage a larger website, an SEO crawler can check many URLs and organize the results by status code.
For example, you might discover that:
- Several internal links lead to 404 pages.
- Old URLs redirect through multiple intermediate destinations.
- Some important pages return 5xx server errors.
- A collection of deleted pages still appears in your XML sitemap.
Google Search Console is another useful source of information. Its Page Indexing report can highlight problems involving missing pages, redirects, and server errors.
Keep in mind that Search Console reports Google’s observations, which may not reflect every server change immediately.
Redirect Chains: A Problem Worth Cleaning Up
Redirects are useful, but unnecessary redirect chains create extra requests.
Consider this example:
/old-page/ → /older-page/ → /new-page/
If the first URL can redirect directly to the final destination, there’s little reason to keep the intermediate step.
Long redirect chains can slow down access to the final page and make website migrations harder to maintain.
They also create additional opportunities for something to go wrong.
After changing URLs, update important internal links to point directly to the final destination rather than relying on redirects indefinitely.
A Practical Example: Cleaning Up a WordPress Website
Suppose you manage a WordPress website that has been running for several years.
During a content audit, you discover three issues.
First, an old blog article returns 404 because its URL was changed during a redesign. The article still exists at a new address.
The appropriate fix is to redirect the old URL to the current article.
Second, a discontinued service page returns 404. The service is no longer offered, and there’s no suitable replacement.
That response may be perfectly fine. You should remove broken internal links and update your sitemap rather than automatically redirecting visitors to the homepage.
Third, your website intermittently returns 503 responses after a plugin update.
That requires investigation because server availability is affecting access to otherwise valid pages.
The lesson is that identical-looking SEO warnings don’t always need identical fixes.
Understanding why a URL returns a particular response is more useful than trying to eliminate every error code from a report.
Which HTTP Status Codes Should You Prioritize?
When reviewing a website, focus first on problems that affect important pages or real visitors.
A 404 on a high-value service page deserves attention.
A persistent 503 affecting the homepage is more urgent than a 404 on an intentionally removed article from several years ago.
Redirect chains on important internal links are worth simplifying, but they shouldn’t distract you from serious server availability problems.
A sensible technical SEO audit considers both the status code and the role of the affected URL.
Final Thoughts
HTTP status codes may seem like a small technical detail, but they explain how your website communicates with browsers and search engines.
A 200 response means a request succeeded. A 301 signals a permanent move. A 302 indicates a temporary redirect. A 404 or 410 explains that a resource is unavailable, while a 503 warns of temporary server problems.
None of these codes should be judged without context.
The goal isn’t to make every URL return 200. It’s to ensure that each URL sends an accurate response and that important content remains accessible.
At Degates, we focus on practical SEO improvements that help website owners identify technical issues and make informed decisions.
If you’re reviewing your website’s technical SEO, start with your most important pages, check their response codes, and fix problems according to their actual impact.
Small technical corrections won’t replace good content, but they can help ensure that your content is accessible to the people and search engines trying to reach it.
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