404 error Pages: The war between SEO and usability

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When a page on your site does not exist, a 404 error page can display the information that prompts the user. 404 the error page can be friendly to prompt the user currently requested (page, picture, video, etc.) temporarily not available. Usually a 404 error page is returned to the search engine and the browser is a 404-head status code. However, when it comes to dealing with deleted and broken links, the problem with the use of 404 error pages is the conflict between site availability and search engine optimization.

On the one hand, people who focus on SEO think that should be for the old URL address or deleted pages should be used is 301 redirect, the old deleted or broken links redirected to the new site. This is because using 301 redirects can transfer the weight of the old page URL to the new site.

On the other hand, usability, the person who pays attention to usability, thinks that the old URL address should be retained, but the 404 error page is returned to inform the user that this is a nonexistent face and provides options such as A5 's 404 error page, providing a list of relevant columns of the site, a search box, etc.

What might happen if you implement a 404 error page without taking a 301 redirect?

1: When a server on the page returned the corresponding code is 404, then the relevant URL and its associated keyword search engine rankings will decline, and if in order to solve the 404 error, then the page will be deleted by the search engine.

2: A site with a large number of 404 pages will slow down the crawl speed of search engines, which can increase the amount of time included in the site content.

3: The weight of the old page and so will not be transferred over time, will likely affect the entire site's page rankings.

4: Users need to make another decision to select the page to be reached, may increase the extra bounce rate, and reduce the conversion rate, especially those who are ambiguous to the site path.

Does using 301 redirect affect the user experience?

1: Generally speaking, the average user is aware of less than 301 redirects. If the location of a Web page is moved, the user does not need to know that he has moved, they just want the information above.

2: Redirection may provide a poor user experience if the policy is not implemented. For example, if a large number of pages are redirected to a page, and not the relevant page. At the same time from the point of view of SEO, this is not conducive to optimization.

3: If we redirect the page without the same, we need to provide a prompt to the user and redirect the page to the relevant directory.

Using 404 error pages can improve the usability of the site, but it still has a certain impact on our SEO. How to make a choice between SEO and usability is a problem that every webmaster needs to weigh. This article by the British trousers http://www.daqiedu.com finishing edit, reprint please keep the source.