No. A 404 page by itself doesn’t hurt SEO.
In fact, if a page genuinely no longer exists, returning a 404 can be the correct thing to do.
The problem isn’t the 404. The problem is why the URL is returning a 404.
Consider these situations.
The page genuinely doesn’t exist
Maybe you removed an old service, discontinued a product, or deleted a page that no longer serves a purpose.
If there is no relevant replacement, letting the URL return a 404 is perfectly reasonable.
You don’t need to redirect every deleted URL just because it returns a 404.
You changed the URL
If /old-service became /new-service, that’s different.
The old URL still represents something that exists on your website. A 301 redirect can help users and search engines reach the new URL.
The deleted URL still has value
Before removing a URL, I’d check whether it has:
- Organic traffic
- Valuable backlinks
- Internal links
- A relevant replacement
- Historical value to the business
A URL receiving organic traffic deserves more consideration than one that nobody visits and no other page references.
Your internal links lead to 404s
This is one I’d actually fix.
If your website links to /old-page, but /old-page returns a 404, you’re sending users to a dead end.
It will be flagged as a Broken Link in most SEO Audit Tools.
The 404 itself isn’t necessarily the SEO problem. The broken internal link is the problem you introduced, so fix it ASAP.
So, should you worry about every 404?
I don’t treat every 404 as an SEO emergency.
This is also why I prefer investigating individual URLs rather than treating every issue reported in Google Search Console as something that needs fixing.
When I see a 404, I ask myself:
Should this URL exist?
If yes, I fix it.
Was it replaced by another URL?
If yes, I consider a relevant 301 redirect.
Does it have traffic or valuable backlinks?
If yes, I investigate before removing it.
Is it just an old URL that has no purpose anymore?
Then a 404 may be exactly what you want.
The goal isn’t to have zero 404s.
The goal is to make sure your website isn’t accidentally returning 404s where a real page should exist.
And if you see this notification under Google Search Console:
There is no need to worry about now because you have understood this blog post. You can thank me by sharing this post on LinkedIn 🙌.
Related: 5 Must-Know SEO Concepts for Better Rankings
This is Muhammad Asad. I like to play table tennis and love Digital Marketing and SEO. I have 7+ years of SEO experience. I would love to chat, discuss or break down any SEO or website problem.