Soft 404
Soft 404
The URL says 200, and the page looks empty or like an error.
A soft 404 is a URL that returns HTTP 200 with content Google reads as “not found”: an empty shell, a tiny template, or an error message inside a success response.
Client-rendered apps do this often. The server HTML is a spinner or a root div, and the real “not found” or the real article arrives only after JavaScript.
Return a real 404 for missing URLs. Return a 200 with the article text in the HTML for URLs that exist.
What to check
- Disable JavaScript and reload. If the page is blank, Google may be seeing the same thing.
- Use HTTP 404 or 410 for URLs that should not exist, and remove them from the sitemap.
- For real pages, render the title and body on the server.
Fix prompt
Example prompt
Google may treat this URL as a soft 404. If the page exists, render the title and main copy in the server HTML with HTTP 200. If it does not exist, return a real 404 and remove it from the sitemap. Do not call an indexing API.
Check a URL · Crawlers · Glossary