{"id":6544,"date":"2026-01-02T16:48:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T16:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/?p=6544"},"modified":"2026-01-02T16:48:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T16:48:14","slug":"seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/","title":{"rendered":"404 Pages vs Redirects: What Google Recommends"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Google has clarified a long-debated technical SEO issue following a recent discussion in the r\/SEO Reddit community. The question centered on whether non-existent URLs should be redirected to the homepage or allowed to return a clean 404 or 410 status.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In response, Google confirmed that returning real 404s is not harmful to SEO and, in many cases, is the correct long-term approach.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The discussion gained traction after a site owner shared concerns about a growing number of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/blog\/404-errors\/\">404 errors<\/a> reported in Google Search Console.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The website, built on Next.js with a WordPress blog, was automatically redirecting invalid URLs to the homepage to avoid users encountering broken pages.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the intent was user-friendly, the implementation raised red flags among SEO professionals and eventually drew clarification from Google itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_83 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\"><\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#why-were-so-many-404-urls-appearing-in-google-search-console\" >Why Were So Many 404 URLs Appearing in Google Search Console?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#is-redirecting-all-404-pages-to-the-homepage-bad-for-seo\" >Is Redirecting All 404 Pages to the Homepage Bad for SEO?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#what-is-a-soft-404-and-why-does-google-flag-it\" >What Is a Soft 404 and Why Does Google Flag It?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#what-did-google-say-about-404s-and-redirects\" >What Did Google Say About 404s and Redirects?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#do-404-or-410-errors-hurt-seo-rankings\" >Do 404 or 410 Errors Hurt SEO Rankings?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#when-does-redirecting-a-deleted-url-make-sense\" >When Does Redirecting a Deleted URL Make Sense?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#why-a-proper-404-page-is-better-than-a-forced-redirect\" >Why a Proper 404 Page Is Better Than a Forced Redirect<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#what-is-googles-recommended-long-term-approach\" >What Is Google\u2019s Recommended Long-Term Approach?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#final-takeaway\" >Final Takeaway<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"why-were-so-many-404-urls-appearing-in-google-search-console\"><\/span><b>Why Were So Many 404 URLs Appearing in Google Search Console?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/SEO\/comments\/1q0c5ng\/large_number_of_404s_in_gsc_redirect_to_homepage\/\">According to the original post<\/a>, Google Search Console showed a large volume of \u201cNot found (404)\u201d URLs under the <\/span><b>All known pages<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> report.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6545\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg\" alt=\"John Muller On Reddit\" width=\"936\" height=\"610\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg 936w, https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-muller-on-Reddit-300x196.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These URLs were not included in the sitemap and largely consisted of dynamically generated paths, test URLs and legacy slugs that no longer existed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite this, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/how-googlebot-sees-your-website-insights-for-website-owners-1619\/\">Googlebot continued<\/a> discovering and crawling them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is not unusual. As websites grow, URLs are often generated through internal testing, parameter variations, or historical content structures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over time, these URLs can surface through old links, external references, or automated crawling patterns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To prevent users from landing on dead pages, the site implemented an automatic redirect. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/blog\/what-are-broken-links\/\">Invalid URLs<\/a> would initially resolve as a 404, then immediately redirect to the homepage with a 200 status code.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The expectation was improved user experience and fewer visible errors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, Google Search Console continued reporting these URLs, prompting concerns about whether the redirect strategy was causing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/avoid-seo-scams-evaluate-your-seo-companys-performance-414\/\">SEO issues<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"is-redirecting-all-404-pages-to-the-homepage-bad-for-seo\"><\/span><b>Is Redirecting All 404 Pages to the Homepage Bad for SEO?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The SEO community response was direct and largely unanimous. Redirecting invalid URLs to the homepage was described as a poor long-term practice that creates confusion for both users and search engines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Experienced SEOs pointed out that this approach often results in \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/soft-404s-use-crawl-budget-despite-returning-200-ok-status-confirms-google-3697\/\">soft 404s<\/a>,\u201d a classification Google uses when a page technically returns a successful status code but fails to deliver meaningful or relevant content for the requested URL.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In these cases, Google does not treat the redirect as helpful and continues to flag the URL as problematic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Community members also emphasized that mass homepage redirects make it harder to detect genuine site issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When broken URLs are masked by redirects, site owners lose visibility into where and why errors are occurring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On larger websites, this behavior can also lead to inefficient crawling and unnecessary use of crawl budgets.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"what-is-a-soft-404-and-why-does-google-flag-it\"><\/span><b>What Is a Soft 404 and Why Does Google Flag It?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A soft 404 occurs when a URL appears to load normally but does not satisfy the intent of the request.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This commonly happens when a deleted product page redirects to a homepage, when a page returns a 200 status with \u201cnot found\u201d content, or when redirects send users to unrelated destinations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google\u2019s systems are designed to detect these mismatches. When they do, the URL is treated as invalid despite returning a successful response.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means it will not be indexed and may continue appearing in Search Console reports.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In practical terms, soft 404s offer no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/blog\/benefits-of-white-label-seo\/\">SEO benefit<\/a>. They do not consolidate ranking signals, they do not improve visibility and they often persist longer than clean 404s because Google must repeatedly evaluate the URL.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"what-did-google-say-about-404s-and-redirects\"><\/span><b>What Did Google Say About 404s and Redirects?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google\u2019s position became clearer when John Mueller responded to the discussion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than framing the issue as a ranking problem, Mueller explained that it is primarily a usability and clarity issue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He noted that even small websites will receive traffic to invalid URLs, and larger, more popular sites will see this happen frequently.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The goal, he explained, should not be to eliminate 404s entirely but to handle them correctly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mueller clarified that returning a 404 or 410 status is not a negative quality signal. It simply tells Google that the URL does not exist, which is exactly how the web is designed to work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From Google\u2019s perspective, this is a clean and expected signal.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"do-404-or-410-errors-hurt-seo-rankings\"><\/span><b>Do 404 or 410 Errors Hurt SEO Rankings?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the biggest misconceptions in SEO is that 404 errors harm rankings. Google has repeatedly stated that this is not true and Mueller reiterated it again in this discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A real 404 means the URL will not be indexed. A 410 sends an even clearer signal that the page is permanently gone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In both cases, Google processes the signal normally and moves on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By contrast, homepage redirects and unrelated category redirects often keep URLs in a soft-404 state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These URLs continue to be crawled but never indexed, creating unnecessary noise without delivering any benefit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mueller summarized the outcomes clearly: regardless of whether the URL returns a 404, a 410, or redirects to the homepage, the invalid URL does not get indexed. The difference lies in clarity, crawl efficiency, and user experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"when-does-redirecting-a-deleted-url-make-sense\"><\/span><b>When Does Redirecting a Deleted URL Make Sense?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Redirects are not inherently bad. They are appropriate when there is a clear, direct replacement for the deleted URL.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, if a product page has moved or an article has been updated under a new URL, a one-to-one 301 redirect helps users and search engines reach the correct destination.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Problems arise when redirects are used indiscriminately. Sending users to the homepage or a generic category page without explanation often creates confusion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over time, Google tends to treat these redirects as soft 404s anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a category-level redirect is used temporarily, Mueller suggested that the destination page should clearly explain why the user landed there and what alternatives are available.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without that context, the redirect fails both users and search engines.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"why-a-proper-404-page-is-better-than-a-forced-redirect\"><\/span><b>Why a Proper 404 Page Is Better Than a Forced Redirect<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the strongest points to emerge from Google\u2019s response was the value of a well-designed 404 page.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than hiding errors, a good 404 page helps users recover by offering navigation, search functionality, or links to relevant sections of the site.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This approach preserves clean technical signals while still supporting usability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Users understand that the page does not exist, but they are not abandoned. Google, in turn, receives a clear signal that the URL is invalid and can stop wasting resources on it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A proper 404 setup also keeps Search Console data meaningful, making it easier for site owners to identify real problems instead of chasing artifacts created by redirects.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"what-is-googles-recommended-long-term-approach\"><\/span><b>What Is Google\u2019s Recommended Long-Term Approach?<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Based on the discussion and Google\u2019s clarification, the recommended approach is straightforward:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Return a clean 404 or 410 for URLs that no longer exist and have no direct replacement<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use redirects only when there is a genuine one-to-one match that satisfies user intent<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This strategy reduces crawl waste, avoids soft 404 classification, and aligns with how Google expects the web to function.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"final-takeaway\"><\/span><b>Final Takeaway<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Reddit discussion and Google\u2019s response reinforce a simple but often ignored truth. 404 errors are not inherently bad, and trying to eliminate them through blanket redirects often creates more problems than it solves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For long-term SEO health, clarity beats concealment. Clean status codes, intentional redirects, and user-friendly 404 pages remain the most effective way to manage invalid URLs, especially as sites scale and search systems become more sophisticated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google has clarified a long-debated technical SEO issue following a recent discussion in the r\/SEO Reddit community. The question centered on whether non-existent URLs should be redirected to the homepage or allowed to return a clean 404 or 410 status.\u00a0 In response, Google confirmed that returning real 404s is not harmful to SEO and, in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>404 Pages vs Redirects: What Google Recommends - Stan Ventures<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn why Google recommends real 404s, when redirects help, and how 404 Pages vs Redirects impact crawl efficiency and SEO best practices!!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"404 Pages vs Redirects: What Google Recommends - Stan Ventures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn why Google recommends real 404s, when redirects help, and how 404 Pages vs Redirects impact crawl efficiency and SEO best practices!!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stan Ventures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/StanVentures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-02T16:48:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"936\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dipti Arora\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@stanventures\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@stanventures\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dipti Arora\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dipti Arora\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bda41d9b7a42f37d1b56fdd950c5175f\"},\"headline\":\"404 Pages vs Redirects: What Google Recommends\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-02T16:48:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1211,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"SEO\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/\",\"name\":\"404 Pages vs Redirects: What Google Recommends - Stan Ventures\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-02T16:48:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn why Google recommends real 404s, when redirects help, and how 404 Pages vs Redirects impact crawl efficiency and SEO best practices!!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg\",\"width\":936,\"height\":610,\"caption\":\"John Muller On Reddit\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"404 Pages vs Redirects: What Google Recommends\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Stan Ventures\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Stan Ventures\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/Stan-Ventures.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/06\\\/Stan-Ventures.webp\",\"width\":2001,\"height\":801,\"caption\":\"Stan Ventures\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/StanVentures\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/stanventures\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bda41d9b7a42f37d1b56fdd950c5175f\",\"name\":\"Dipti Arora\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f0527d1d672f06e3d6d54bbdda1a6dacf9749b039b3fefa97cbeb22247375816?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f0527d1d672f06e3d6d54bbdda1a6dacf9749b039b3fefa97cbeb22247375816?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f0527d1d672f06e3d6d54bbdda1a6dacf9749b039b3fefa97cbeb22247375816?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dipti Arora\"},\"description\":\"Dipti Arora is a Senior Content Writer with over seven years of experience creating impactful content across Digital Marketing, SEO, technology, and business domains. She has a strong background in managing news verticals and delivering editorial excellence. Dipti has contributed to leading publications such as The Times of India and CEO News, where her research-driven storytelling and ability to simplify complex subjects have consistently stood out. She is passionate about crafting content that informs, engages, and drives meaningful results.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.stanventures.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/dipti-arora873_\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"404 Pages vs Redirects: What Google Recommends - Stan Ventures","description":"Learn why Google recommends real 404s, when redirects help, and how 404 Pages vs Redirects impact crawl efficiency and SEO best practices!!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"404 Pages vs Redirects: What Google Recommends - Stan Ventures","og_description":"Learn why Google recommends real 404s, when redirects help, and how 404 Pages vs Redirects impact crawl efficiency and SEO best practices!!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/","og_site_name":"Stan Ventures","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/StanVentures\/","article_published_time":"2026-01-02T16:48:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":936,"height":610,"url":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dipti Arora","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@stanventures","twitter_site":"@stanventures","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dipti Arora","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/"},"author":{"name":"Dipti Arora","@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/bda41d9b7a42f37d1b56fdd950c5175f"},"headline":"404 Pages vs Redirects: What Google Recommends","datePublished":"2026-01-02T16:48:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/"},"wordCount":1211,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg","articleSection":["SEO"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/","url":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/","name":"404 Pages vs Redirects: What Google Recommends - Stan Ventures","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-02T16:48:14+00:00","description":"Learn why Google recommends real 404s, when redirects help, and how 404 Pages vs Redirects impact crawl efficiency and SEO best practices!!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-muller-on-Reddit.jpg","width":936,"height":610,"caption":"John Muller On Reddit"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/seo-404-pages-vs-redirects-google-6544\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"404 Pages vs Redirects: What Google Recommends"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/","name":"Stan Ventures","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Stan Ventures","url":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Stan-Ventures.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Stan-Ventures.webp","width":2001,"height":801,"caption":"Stan Ventures"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/StanVentures\/","https:\/\/x.com\/stanventures"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/bda41d9b7a42f37d1b56fdd950c5175f","name":"Dipti Arora","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f0527d1d672f06e3d6d54bbdda1a6dacf9749b039b3fefa97cbeb22247375816?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f0527d1d672f06e3d6d54bbdda1a6dacf9749b039b3fefa97cbeb22247375816?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f0527d1d672f06e3d6d54bbdda1a6dacf9749b039b3fefa97cbeb22247375816?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dipti Arora"},"description":"Dipti Arora is a Senior Content Writer with over seven years of experience creating impactful content across Digital Marketing, SEO, technology, and business domains. She has a strong background in managing news verticals and delivering editorial excellence. Dipti has contributed to leading publications such as The Times of India and CEO News, where her research-driven storytelling and ability to simplify complex subjects have consistently stood out. She is passionate about crafting content that informs, engages, and drives meaningful results.","url":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/author\/dipti-arora873_\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6546,"href":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6544\/revisions\/6546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stanventures.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}