Soft 404 errors

What does a soft 404 mean in Google Search Console?

A soft 404 means Google requested a URL that returned a success status (HTTP 200) but the page content looks like a 'not found' or empty page, so Google declines to index it. The fix depends on intent: if the page should exist, add real, substantial content and make sure it does not look like an error; if it should not exist, return a true 404 or 410 status, or 301-redirect it to the correct page. Then re-validate the fix in the Page indexing report.

What a soft 404 actually is

A normal 404 returns the HTTP status code 404 (or 410), which tells Google unambiguously that the page is gone. A soft 404 is the confusing middle case: the server returns 200 OK, but the page body reads like an error — 'Product not found', 'No results', a near-empty template, or a thin placeholder. Google's systems flag these so they do not clutter the index with dead or empty URLs.

Because the status code says success but the content says failure, Google trusts the content signal and keeps the URL out of the index.

Common causes

Empty category, search, or filter pages that return 200 with no results.
Deleted products or posts that show a friendly 'not found' message instead of a 404 status.
Thin pages with almost no unique content (a heading and little else).
JavaScript pages that render nothing for Googlebot, so the crawled HTML looks empty.
Placeholder or 'coming soon' pages that have no real content yet.

How to fix it — page should exist

Add genuine, substantial, unique content so the page clearly serves a purpose.
If it depends on data (e.g. a category), make sure it never renders empty — show related items or hide the URL entirely when empty.
If the content is JavaScript-rendered, confirm the server returns meaningful HTML (test with the URL Inspection tool's rendered HTML).
Use the IndexNow submit builder to ping the URL once it has real content, then Request Indexing in Search Console.

How to fix it — page should not exist

If the content is permanently gone, return a real 404 or 410 status code.
If it moved, 301-redirect the old URL to the closest equivalent page.
Remove the dead URL from your sitemap so you stop asking Google to index it.

Put it into practice

Generate your IndexNow key, build the submission payload and check index status — free, in your browser.

Open the free tool

Frequently asked questions

Does a soft 404 hurt my site?+

A few soft 404s are harmless, but large numbers waste crawl budget and can signal low quality. Fix them by returning a true 404/410 for dead pages and adding real content to pages that should rank.

Why is my page a soft 404 if it has content?+

The content may be too thin, duplicate, or rendered only by JavaScript that Googlebot did not execute. Check the rendered HTML in URL Inspection — if it looks empty to Google, it will be treated as a soft 404.

How do I tell Google a soft 404 is fixed?+

Fix the underlying cause, then open the soft 404 issue in the Page indexing report and click Validate Fix. Submitting the URL via IndexNow and Request Indexing speeds up the re-crawl.