What Are 404 Errors in Search Console and Why Should You Care?

A 404 error means someone — or something — tried to visit a page on your website that doesn't exist. The '404' is just the code a web server sends back when it can't find what's being requested. Think of it like knocking on a door that leads nowhere.

Google Search Console tracks these errors because Google's bots are constantly crawling your website, following links, and checking that your pages are alive and working. When a bot hits a dead page, Search Console logs it so you can see it. That's actually really helpful — you're getting a free heads-up that something is broken.

But here's why it matters for your business specifically. Every broken page is a missed opportunity. If Google can't access a page, it won't rank it. If a customer clicks a link from an old email campaign or a social media post and lands on a 404 page, they'll almost certainly leave immediately. That's a real person who was interested enough to click — now gone.

There's also a trust factor. A website full of broken links feels neglected. Customers notice. It signals that maybe your business isn't on top of things, and that doubt can be enough to make them choose someone else.

Common reasons 404 errors appear include:

- You deleted or renamed a page without setting up a redirect - A product was discontinued and its page was removed - You switched website platforms and old URLs didn't carry over - Someone linked to your site with a typo in the URL - A blog post was moved to a new category or URL structure

The important thing to know is that not all 404 errors are equal. Some are genuinely harmless — like if a random external site linked to a URL that never existed on your site. Others are serious, especially if they involve pages that used to rank well or pages you're actively linking to yourself. Search Console helps you tell the difference.

• You deleted or renamed a page without setting up a redirect
• A product was discontinued and its page was removed
• You switched website platforms and old URLs didn't carry over
• Someone linked to your site with a typo in the URL
• A blog post was moved to a new category or URL structure

How to Find 404 Errors in Google Search Console Step by Step

Finding your 404 errors in Search Console doesn't require any technical background. Here's exactly how to do it.

First, log in to Google Search Console at search.google.com/search-console. If you haven't set it up yet, check out our Google Search Console beginner's guide first — it walks you through getting started from scratch.

Once you're inside, look at the left-hand menu and click on 'Pages.' This used to be called 'Coverage' in older versions of Search Console, so depending on when you're reading this, the label might look slightly different. Either way, you're looking for a report that shows which pages Google has tried to crawl and what happened.

At the top of the Pages report, you'll see tabs: Error, Valid with warnings, Valid, and Excluded. Click on 'Error.' This is where your 404 errors in Search Console will appear, listed under a reason like 'Not found (404).'

Click on that specific error type and you'll get a list of exact URLs that are broken. You can click any individual URL to see more detail — including when Google last tried to crawl it and whether any other pages on your site link to it.

Here's a tip that saves a lot of time: pay attention to which broken pages have other pages pointing to them. If your own website has links pointing to a dead page, that's a priority fix. Google's bots are following those internal links and hitting a wall every time.

You can also use the URL Inspection tool — the search bar at the very top of Search Console — to check any specific URL. Just paste in a web address and it will tell you exactly what Google sees when it visits that page. This is useful if a customer reports a broken link or if you're checking your own navigation.

One more thing worth knowing: Search Console doesn't always catch errors instantly. There can be a delay of a few days to a couple of weeks between when a page breaks and when it shows up in your report. So if you recently made changes to your site, give it a little time before assuming everything is fine.

How to Fix 404 Errors: A Practical Guide With Real Numbers

Once you have your list of broken URLs, the fix depends on why the page is missing. Let's walk through the most common situations with real examples.

Scenario 1: You renamed or moved a page. This is the most common cause of 404 errors in Search Console. Say you used to have a page at yourwebsite.com/services/logo-design but you reorganized your site and it's now at yourwebsite.com/design/logos. The old URL is broken. The fix is a '301 redirect' — a permanent redirect that automatically sends anyone visiting the old address to the new one. Your web developer or website platform (Shopify, WordPress, Squarespace, etc.) can set this up quickly. A 301 redirect also passes any SEO value from the old page to the new one, so you don't lose the ranking work you've already done.

Scenario 2: The page is gone for good. If you discontinued a product or removed content that genuinely no longer has a purpose, you have two options. If there's a closely related page that would be useful to visitors, redirect to that. If there's no good match, it's usually better to let the page return a proper 404 rather than redirect to something irrelevant. Google is fine with true 404s on pages that simply don't exist anymore.

Scenario 3: External sites are linking to a broken URL. Tools like Ahrefs or even free tools like Google Search Console's Links report can show you which external websites link to your broken pages. If those links have SEO value — meaning they're from reputable websites — set up a redirect from the old broken URL to the most relevant live page. This recovers what's called 'link equity' that would otherwise be lost.

To put real numbers on this: one e-commerce store with 2,400 products had 143 broken URLs after a site migration. Of those, 38 had backlinks from other websites pointing to them. After setting up redirects on just those 38 priority pages, their organic traffic recovered by about 22% over the following six weeks. The other 105 broken pages were old products with no inbound links — they were left as 404s without any impact.

The lesson: you don't need to fix every single 404 error. Focus on the ones that matter — pages with backlinks, pages you link to internally, and pages that used to bring in traffic.

How Metriko Helps You Understand and Monitor 404 Errors

Search Console gives you the raw data, but making sense of it — especially if you're running a business and not a tech team — is a different challenge. That's where Metriko comes in.

Metriko connects to your Google Search Console data and presents it in plain language. Instead of digging through technical reports and trying to figure out which 404 errors actually matter, Metriko surfaces the ones that are affecting your traffic and rankings. You'll see, at a glance, which broken pages are hurting your business most — not just a long list of URLs to sort through yourself.

Beyond 404 errors, Metriko gives you a full picture of how your site is performing. You can track how your impressions and clicks are trending, monitor your average position for important keywords, and see whether fixes you make are actually working — all without needing to become a Search Console expert.

If you're a business owner who wants the benefits of proper SEO monitoring without spending hours learning new tools, Metriko was built for exactly that. It turns your analytics into clear, actionable steps so you can focus on running your business while staying confident your website is healthy and visible.