error page 404 noindex

[analis]

Google says that the deleted pages must have the status code 404 and that it is better to handle this type of errors with a redirect to a specific page, example 404.html, also says that this page 404.html should not be indexed.

1) file .htaccess ErrorDocument 404 /404.html
2) inside the page 404.html insert the noindex metatag

are these two steps correct?

thanks

[not2easy]

Yes, by specifying a 404 error page you are able to create a customized page that people will see when a page no longer is available. You can create the page to have an appearance similar to the rest of your pages and name it 404.html if you like. That way you can add a more personal message and offer navigation to find other helpful content.

It can be named whatever you like, but the name you use must be the same name as specified in your .htaccess line. The page should exist in your root directory before you add "ErrorDocument 404 /404.html" (or "ErrorDocument 404 /whatever.html") to your .htaccess file. When you create the page you can add the noindex metatag in the header of that page. Be sure it isn't added to your sitemap.

[analis]

thanks

[lucy24]

Google says that the deleted pages must have the status code 404 and that it is better to handle this type of errors with a redirect to a specific page, example 404.html, also says that this page 404.html should not be indexed.

I really, really hope this is not Google's actual wording.

#1 deleted pages should return a 410--with, if appropriate, a human-friendly 410 page, and otherwise the same physical page you use for a 404. Many search engines don't care, but Google will definitely stop crawling sooner.

#2 a 404 should never be redirected (which means telling the visitor to make a fresh request), as this is what Google itself calls a “soft 404”.* Serve the 404 or 410 at the originally requested URL.

noindexing error documents is an interesting point, as it's the one place where a belt-and-suspenders approach is appropriate. If all your error documents are in a roboted-out directory--which is tidier than having a bunch of files flopping around loose at the root level--then they will never be crawled by name. But search engines will see the page's contents if they make an inapprpriate request, so to be safe you also throw in a noindex meta.


* Recently they seem to have redefined it as “anything G### doesn’t like”, with the result that one site’s front page was listed in GSC as a “soft 404” and hence not indexed. Adding a sentence of text made the issue go away.

[tangor]

I might be a bit dense.

I delete a page (actually delete it) and it is "gone". A 404 naturally follows from a crawl as it is NOT THERE. lucy24's suggestion to 410 (an htaccess thing) is better for indexing purposes and can be quite useful, but not truly required.

If g wants to play dense that's okay by me. I just delete pages (when I actually mean to DELETE them from the server and any links to that page, too, and DO NOT REDIRECT 301) I do so without any worry.

If g needs that much hand holding then their time as the apex search engine is running on fumes.

(Aside: what part of "I can't find the page?" -- 404 -- does g not understand?)