How to Fix 404 Errors on Your Website and Redirect Them the Right Way

If you've ever clicked a link and landed on a page that says "404 Not Found," you already know how frustrating that experience is. Now imagine your customers hitting those same dead ends on your website. Beyond the poor user experience, 404 errors can quietly chip away at your SEO rankings, waste your crawl budget, and cost you sales. The good news? Learning how to fix 404 errors on your website is completely doable — even if you're not a developer. This guide walks you through exactly what to do.

What Is a 404 Error (And Why Should You Care)?

A 404 error happens when someone tries to visit a page on your website that doesn't exist. This could be because:

• You deleted or renamed a page
• You migrated your site to a new platform
• Someone linked to your site with a typo in the URL
• A product or blog post was removed without setting up a redirect

Google's crawlers run into these broken pages too. When they do, they see a signal that your site might be poorly maintained — and that can hurt your search rankings over time. A site littered with 404s also sends paying customers straight to your competitors.

The fix isn't just deleting the error and moving on. The right fix is redirecting those broken URLs to pages that actually exist and deliver value.

Step 1: Find Your 404 Errors

Before you can fix anything, you need a complete list of where the problems are hiding.

Use Google Search Console (Free)

If you haven't set up Google Search Console, do that first — it's free and essential.

1. Log into Google Search Console
2. Go to Pages under the Indexing section
3. Look for pages listed under "Not Found (404)"
4. Export the list so you can work through it

Use a Crawling Tool

Tools like Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs) or Sitebulb will crawl your site the same way Google does and flag every broken link — including internal ones Google hasn't even found yet.

Check Your Server Logs

If you have access to your hosting account, your error logs will show you every 404 that's occurred and how often. This helps you prioritize — fix the pages getting hit the most first.

Step 2: Decide What to Do With Each 404

Not every 404 error needs the same treatment. Here's how to triage your list:

If the page still exists under a new URL → Set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one.

If the content is gone but there's a closely related page → Redirect to the most relevant page on your site.

If there's nothing relevant to redirect to → Redirect to your homepage or a relevant category page as a last resort.

If the page is genuinely gone and was never linked to → You may be able to leave it, but it's still worth reviewing.

The key rule: never redirect everything to your homepage. Google recognizes this as a "soft 404" and may treat it almost as badly as the original error. Be thoughtful about where you send people.

Step 3: Set Up 301 Redirects

A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines that a page has permanently moved. It passes most of the original page's SEO value (called "link equity") to the new destination. Here's how to set them up depending on your platform:

WordPress (Using a Plugin)

The easiest option is the Redirection plugin (free on WordPress.org).

1. Install and activate Redirection
2. Go to Tools → Redirection
3. Click Add New
4. Enter the old URL in the "Source URL" field
5. Enter the new URL in the "Target URL" field
6. Hit Add Redirect

Done. The plugin handles the rest and even logs any new 404s going forward.

Using Your .htaccess File (Apache Servers)

If you're comfortable editing server files, you can add redirects directly to your .htaccess file. This is faster and doesn't require a plugin.

# Single page redirect
Redirect 301 /old-page-url/ https://www.yoursite.com/new-page-url/

# Redirect an entire old directory
Redirect 301 /old-blog/ https://www.yoursite.com/blog/

Always back up your .htaccess file before making changes. One typo can take your whole site down.

Shopify

Shopify has a built-in URL redirect tool:

1. Go to Online Store → Navigation
2. Click URL Redirects
3. Click Create URL Redirect
4. Enter the old and new paths (just the slug, not the full domain)
5. Save

Nginx Servers

For Nginx, add redirect rules to your server config file:

server {
    # Redirect old URL to new URL
    location = /old-page-url/ {
        return 301 https://www.yoursite.com/new-page-url/;
    }
}

Reload Nginx after saving changes with sudo systemctl reload nginx.

Step 4: Fix Internal Links Pointing to Dead Pages

Redirects are a safety net — but if your own website is linking to broken pages, you should fix the source link too. Go into your content editor and update any internal links that point to old URLs. This improves user experience, reduces unnecessary redirect chains, and keeps your site cleaner overall.

Step 5: Monitor Going Forward

Fixing your current 404s is only half the battle. You need a system to catch new ones before they pile up again.

• Set up email alerts in Google Search Console for new coverage issues
• Run a monthly crawl with Screaming Frog or a similar tool
• Check your Redirection plugin logs in WordPress regularly
• Before deleting any page, always set up a redirect first

Making this a monthly habit takes about 20 minutes and saves you from bigger problems down the road.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Redirect chains — If Page A redirects to Page B, which redirects to Page C, that's a chain. It slows down your site and dilutes SEO value. Always redirect straight to the final destination.

Using 302 instead of 301 — A 302 is a temporary redirect. If the move is permanent (it usually is), use 301. Otherwise, Google won't transfer link equity.

Ignoring external backlinks — If other websites are linking to your broken pages, that's valuable traffic and SEO juice going to waste. Use a tool like Ahrefs or the free version of Ubersuggest to find external links pointing to your 404s, then redirect those URLs.

You Don't Have to Figure This Out Alone

Knowing how to fix 404 errors on your website puts you ahead of most small business owners — but finding all of them takes the right tools and a clear action plan. A single missed redirect on a high-traffic page could be costing you leads every day.

Run a free SEO scan at abbyseo.com and see exactly where your site stands. Spot your broken links, crawl errors, and other issues holding back your rankings — then grab your personalized remediation guide for just $8.99 and know exactly what to fix, in what order, with no guesswork.

Your customers deserve a site that works. Let's make sure it does.