None of this applied in my case. I suspect it just means that something timed out for Google (not likely - the forum is on a fast dedicated server and there have been no recent server outages) or more likely that this is one of numerous bugs that Google has been experiencing in recent months.What is a soft 404?
A soft 404 is a URL that returns a page telling the user that the page does not exist and also a 200-level (success) code. In some cases, it might be a page with little or no content--for example, a sparsely populated or empty page.
Why does it matter?
Returning a success code, rather than 404/410 (not found) or 301 (moved), is a bad practice. A success code tells search engines that there’s a real page at that URL. As a result, the page may be listed in search results, and search engines will continue trying to crawl that non-existent URL instead of spending time crawling your real pages.
What should I do?
Use the URL Inspection tool to verify whether your URL is actually returning the correct code.
- If your page is no longer available, and has no clear replacement, it should return a 404 (not found) or 410 (Gone) response code. Either code clearly tells both browsers and search engines that the page doesn’t exist. You can also display a custom 404 page to the user, if appropriate: for example, a page containing list of your most popular pages, or a link to your home page.
- If your page has moved or has a clear replacement, return a 301 (permanent redirect) to redirect the user as appropriate.
- If you think that your page is incorrectly flagged as a soft 404, use the URL Inspection tool to examine the rendered content and the returned HTTP code. If the rendered page is blank, or nearly blank, it could be that your page references many resources that can't be loaded (images, scripts, and other non-textual elements), which can be interpreted as a soft 404. Reasons that resources can't be loaded include blocked resources (blocked by robots.txt), having too many resources on a page, or slow loading/very large resources. The URL Inspection tool should list which resources could not be loaded, and also show you the rendered live page.
the 404 URLs have been removed from the website months ago, i mean, the URLs which give 404 errors on search console dont existed. thats why i wanted to redirect the 404 error pages to homepage.That's a very bad idea from an SEO standpoint. If a page doesn't exist, the server should correctly report it as 404. Among other things, search engines need that information to drop that URL out of their indices. It's also important for human visitors to know they have an invalid URL: redirecting to the home page would just be confusing ("how did I get here when I was looking for another page?").
Redirect 410 https://yourdomain.com/yourpage.html
What Is a 410 Error?
4xx status codes mean that there was probably an error in the request, which prevented the server from being able to process it. Specifically, a 410 error means “gone.”
In Google’s terms, “the server returns this response when the requested resource has been permanently removed. It is similar to a 404 (Not found) code, but is sometimes used in the place of a 404 for resources that used to exist but no longer do.”
410 vs. 404
410 errors aren’t quite the same as 404 errors, which indicate the page is “not found.” In some cases, 410 status codes are better than 404 status codes because they present more information. By using a temporary custom 410 page, you give the search engine robots the more accurate status and knowledge that the old link should be removed from their crawl index—which can prevent unnecessary traffic.
I will do it, as soon as possible, Thank you very much for the knowledge.You can add those pages as error 410 in an .htaccess file:
Code:Redirect 410 https://yourdomain.com/yourpage.html
410 vs. 404 Errors in SEO | 410 Errors & Website Best Practices
Getting a 410 error when visiting a website? We cover 410 errors, the difference between 410 and 404 errors, and more here.www.bluecorona.com
Okay, Thank you for the warning.Be careful. Don't use Notepad to edit .htaccess. Use File Manager from your cPanel or Notepad++.
Google still reporting 85K of my image URLs as a soft 404.
Be careful. Don't use Notepad to edit .htaccess. Use File Manager from your cPanel or Notepad++.
Sitemap: https://www.yoursite.com/community/sitemap.xml
User-agent: *
Disallow: /community/admin.php
Disallow: /community/account/
Disallow: /community/attachments/
Disallow: /community/goto/
Disallow: /community/login/
Disallow: /community/members/
Disallow: /community/posts/
Disallow: /community/register/
Disallow: /community/search/
Disallow: /community/whats-new/
Good insight and that sounds like a reasonable explanation. XF should not use a lightbox for a direct image resource.I believe that essentially each image posted within a thread in Xenforo is linking to its own "page" with only an image on it. It doesn't seem like a page because to the site visitor, the image opens in a lightbox. Google is considering this a page in and of itself and marking it as empty, hence the "Soft 404" marker in the Google Search Console.
We use essential cookies to make this site work, and optional cookies to enhance your experience.