A soft 404 error in WordPress happens when a page appears to exist for visitors but search engines believe the URL should be treated like a missing page. Unlike a normal 404, the server may return a successful status while the page contains little, irrelevant, or missing content. This can create indexing problems and prevent valuable pages from appearing properly in Google Search.
The good news is that soft 404 problems can usually be identified and fixed by checking the affected URL, its content, redirects, and server response.
What Is a Soft 404 Error?
A soft 404 occurs when a URL doesn’t provide useful content but doesn’t return a proper HTTP 404 or 410 status code.
For example, imagine this URL:
example.com/old-product/
The page may display a message such as “Sorry, this page doesn’t exist,” but the server still returns an HTTP 200 status code.
To a visitor, the page looks like an error page. To a search engine, however, the URL may appear to be a valid webpage.
Google can therefore decide that the page is effectively a 404 even though the server technically reports a successful response.
Soft 404 vs Normal 404
These two errors are related but different.
A normal 404 tells browsers and search engines that the requested page cannot be found.
A soft 404 occurs when the page looks like a missing page but the server doesn’t return the appropriate error status.
For example:
Normal 404:
example.com/old-page/ → HTTP 404
Soft 404:
example.com/old-page/ → HTTP 200 + “Page Not Found”
Understanding this difference is important when troubleshooting WordPress indexing problems.
Why Do Soft 404 Errors Happen in WordPress?
Several situations can cause soft 404s.
1. Empty or Nearly Empty Pages
A WordPress page may exist but contain little meaningful content.
Google may determine that the page doesn’t provide enough value and treat it as a soft 404.
2. Deleted Products or Posts
WooCommerce stores can experience soft 404 issues when products are removed but their URLs continue to display an empty template or generic message.
3. Poorly Configured 404 Pages
A custom WordPress 404 page may return a 200 status instead of 404.
The page may visually tell users that the content doesn’t exist, but technically the server reports that everything is fine.
4. Redirect Problems
A deleted URL might redirect visitors to an unrelated page, such as the homepage.
If the destination doesn’t provide a useful replacement for the original content, Google may treat the URL as a soft 404.
5. Thin Content
Pages with extremely little or irrelevant content can sometimes be interpreted as soft 404s.
This may happen with automatically generated archive, search, tag, or category pages.
How to Find Soft 404 Errors
Google Search Console is one of the most useful places to investigate these problems.
Open the Page indexing report and look for URLs listed under “Soft 404.”
Select an affected URL and use the URL Inspection tool to investigate its indexing status.
Check:
- Whether the URL should exist
- Whether the page contains useful content
- Whether the URL redirects
- Whether the canonical URL is correct
- Whether the page is accessible
- Whether the server returns the expected status code
You can then determine which solution is appropriate.
How to Fix Soft 404 Errors in WordPress
1. Restore the Missing Page
If the URL should exist and previously contained useful content, restoring the page can be the simplest solution.
Make sure the restored page contains valuable, original content rather than a placeholder.
After making the change, request Google to recrawl the URL through Search Console.
2. Create Useful Content
If the page is supposed to exist but contains very little information, improve it.
Add relevant:
- Text
- Images
- Product information
- FAQs
- Helpful resources
- Internal links
The goal is to make the page genuinely useful to visitors.
Don’t add unnecessary text simply to make the page longer. Focus on satisfying the user’s search intent.
3. Use a Proper 404 Status for Permanently Missing Pages
If a page has permanently disappeared and there is no suitable replacement, the URL should normally return a proper 404 or 410 response.
This tells search engines that the content isn’t available.
Your WordPress theme should have a properly configured 404 template that returns the correct HTTP status.
4. Redirect to a Relevant Replacement
If the old page has been replaced by another page with substantially similar content, use a relevant 301 redirect.
For example:
example.com/old-service/
could redirect to:
example.com/new-service/
The destination should genuinely satisfy the intent of the old URL.
Avoid redirecting every deleted page to the homepage. A generic homepage redirect often doesn’t provide a useful replacement.
5. Check Your WordPress Plugins
SEO, redirection, caching, and security plugins can affect how URLs behave.
Review your plugin settings if a page unexpectedly returns a 200 status or redirects somewhere else.
If multiple plugins are controlling redirects or SEO settings, check for conflicts.
6. Check Empty Category and Tag Pages
WordPress can generate archive pages for categories and tags.
If an archive contains no useful content, Google may decide that it has little value.
Review thin or empty archive pages and determine whether they should contain useful content, be improved, redirected, or excluded from search where appropriate.
7. Check WooCommerce Product URLs
For an online store, deleted products deserve special attention.
If a product is permanently discontinued and has no relevant replacement, returning a proper 404 or 410 may be appropriate.
If another product is a close replacement, redirect the old product URL to that relevant replacement.
Avoid sending users to an unrelated product simply to prevent a 404.
How to Prevent Soft 404 Problems
Regular technical SEO monitoring can help prevent soft 404 issues from accumulating.
Keep an eye on Google Search Console and regularly check important URLs.
When deleting content, decide whether the page should be:
- Replaced with new content
- Redirected to a relevant page
- Permanently removed with a 404 or 410
Also review internal links after deleting pages. Broken internal links can make it harder for visitors and search engines to navigate your website.
Should You Fix Every Soft 404?
Not necessarily.
A soft 404 reported by Google isn’t always a sign that something is seriously wrong with your website.
If a URL genuinely doesn’t contain useful content and shouldn’t be indexed, Google may correctly classify it as a soft 404.
The important question is whether the URL should exist and appear in search results.
If it should, investigate and fix the underlying problem. If it shouldn’t, make sure the URL is handled appropriately.
Conclusion
Soft 404 errors in WordPress can occur when a page looks like it doesn’t exist but still returns a successful response. They can also happen because of thin content, deleted products, incorrect redirects, or poorly configured archive pages.
Start by checking the affected URLs in Google Search Console. Then decide whether each page should be restored, improved, redirected to a relevant replacement, or removed with the correct HTTP status.
A consistent approach to redirects, internal links, content quality, and technical SEO can help keep your WordPress website easier for both users and search engines to understand.