Soft 404 is one of those Search Console messages that makes people spiral because it sounds like a clear technical error, yet the page often loads perfectly fine in the browser. You click the URL and it shows content, sometimes even a clean design with navigation and footer, so why is Google effectively calling it a 404 It feels contradictory, but it’s actually Google being very literal about outcomes rather than labels.
A Soft 404 is Google saying, in its own way, this page behaves like it has no useful content even if it technically returns a 200 status code. In other words, Google didn’t hit a server that said Not Found, but after crawling and evaluating the page, it believes search users would have the same experience they would get from a missing page. That can happen because the content is genuinely thin, because the page is a placeholder, because the page is a doorway to something else, because the content is unavailable, or because your site is sending mixed signals that make the page look deceptive or low value.
On a new site, Soft 404s are especially common because templates, tag archives, empty category layouts, and early-stage content often look unfinished to Google. The good news is that Soft 404 is usually solvable in a few clear moves once you identify which pattern you’re dealing with. The bad news is that many people “fix” it the wrong way and create bigger problems, like index bloat, redirect chaos, or duplicate content signals.
What a Soft 404 is and what it is not
Soft 404 is not a manual action and it is not an automatic penalty. It’s a classification and a hint that Google likely does not want the page indexed, and that it may treat internal links to that page as lower value. It is also not limited to “empty pages” in the obvious sense. A page can have text and still look like a Soft 404 if that text is generic or non-unique, if the page is mostly navigation, or if the main content area is essentially telling the user there is nothing meaningful here.
Soft 404 also does not necessarily mean your server returns the wrong code. Many Soft 404 pages return 200 and that is the entire point. Google is saying the server claims success, but the user experience resembles failure. In a perfect world, your server responses and page outcomes should be aligned. If a page is genuinely not available, it should return 404 or 410. If a page is available and useful, it should return 200 with meaningful main content. Soft 404 happens in the messy middle, where your site tells Google one thing and the page shows another.
The most common Soft 404 patterns I see in real projects
If you want to fix Soft 404 quickly, you need to recognise the pattern. Almost every Soft 404 URL on most sites fits into one of these scenarios.
Pattern 1, thin or placeholder pages that look finished but say nothing
This happens on fresh blogs, category pages, tag archives, author archives, or even service pages that have a heading and a template but no real substance. You may have a nice layout, but the main content area is either empty, extremely short, or filled with generic copy that could appear on any site. Google reads it as a page that doesn’t deliver a result.
Pattern 2, out of stock or unavailable product pages that return 200
Ecommerce sites are full of this. A product page exists, it returns 200, but the product cannot be purchased and the content is minimal. Sometimes the page is basically a dead end. Google sees a user landing there and bouncing. Over time it learns these pages are not valuable destinations.
Pattern 3, internal search results and filtered pages that look like empty listings
Some themes generate search pages, filter pages, tag pages, and paginated archives that frequently return “no results.” If those URLs are crawlable, Google will find them, crawl them, and then decide they are Soft 404 because they are effectively empty lists.
Pattern 4, redirect-like pages that keep users from reaching content
Sometimes a page loads, but it’s essentially telling the user to click somewhere else, log in, accept a modal, pick a location, or take another step to access the content. Google sees content gates and calls them low value or Soft 404-ish because the page is not a direct answer or destination.
Pattern 5, “friendly 404” pages served with a 200 status
This is the classic one. Many WordPress setups display a branded 404 page, but the server returns 200. Google is good at recognising these templates. If your missing page returns 200, Google will call it Soft 404 and it will keep happening until you fix the status code.
Pattern 6, canonical confusion and duplicates that make a page look redundant
In some cases, Soft 404 is an outcome of duplication or canonical mismatch. Google crawls a URL, finds content that looks like a duplicate or a near-duplicate, and decides it doesn’t need to index it. It labels it Soft 404 because, from the index’s perspective, the page has no unique value.
How to diagnose Soft 404 properly before you change anything
A proper diagnosis takes ten minutes and saves you days of guesswork. The goal is to answer three questions. What does the page return, what does the page show, and what does Google think the canonical is.
First, take a few example URLs from the Soft 404 list and run them through URL Inspection in Search Console. Look at the last crawl date and whether Google crawled successfully. Then look at the rendered view if available. If the rendered content is empty or different from what you see in your browser, you may have rendering or blocking issues. This is rare on simple WordPress builds but it happens with aggressive scripts or geo-blocking. If the rendered content shows “no results” or a thin template, you already have your answer.
Second, verify the HTTP status. You can do this with a simple header check. The key question is whether the page is returning 200, 404, 410, or some redirect status. If it is a real missing page returning 200, you have a “friendly 404” misconfiguration. Fixing that is a technical correction, not a content project.
Third, check for intent and uniqueness. Ask yourself one uncomfortable question. If you landed on this page from Google, would you feel satisfied, or would you immediately go back and click another result. If the honest answer is go back, Google is likely right to treat it as Soft 404. That means you either need to improve the page so it becomes a real destination, or you need to stop presenting it as indexable.
Fourth, check canonicals and internal links. If the page is a tag archive or category archive, do you actually want it indexed. If you do, it must have a reason to exist in search. If you do not, it should not be indexable. Soft 404 is sometimes a symptom of the site trying to index too many low-value archives early on.
The fix plan, what to do based on the pattern you found
This is where people usually overcomplicate. Soft 404 fixes are simple when you treat them like a classification problem rather than a random SEO bug. The right fix depends on whether the page should exist and be indexed, or whether it is fundamentally not a search landing page.
Fix A, if the page should not exist, return a real 404 or 410
If the URL is truly invalid, removed, or never meant to exist, return 404. If it was intentionally removed and you want Google to drop it faster, return 410. Do not serve a styled 404 with a 200. That just wastes crawl budget and creates Soft 404 noise.
This fix is the cleanest because it aligns server truth with user reality. If a page is not there, say it is not there.
Fix B, if the page should exist but has moved, use a relevant 301
If the URL is obsolete but there is a clear replacement that satisfies the same intent, use a 301 redirect. Be careful here. Redirecting everything to the homepage is a classic “looks fixed but actually broken” move. Google tends to treat mass homepage redirects as soft 404 behavior anyway, because the destination does not satisfy the original intent.
Redirect only when there is a meaningful equivalent page. Otherwise use 404 or improve the content.
Fix C, if the page should be indexable, make it a real destination page
This is the most important category for your Insights site, because you will have category pages, tag archives, and content hubs that can easily look thin early on.
If you want a page to be indexable, it needs a reason to exist beyond navigation. That means a strong main content section, not just a list of posts. For example, a category archive that contains a short introduction, a clear explanation of what a user will learn, links to your best guides, and a curated structure tends to stop triggering Soft 404 classification over time. The same applies to tag pages if you decide to index them later. Early on, the simplest approach is to keep most archives non-indexable until they have enough depth.
For actual articles that are flagged Soft 404, the fix is usually to increase information gain. Add sections that answer the next questions a reader would ask. Include examples, pitfalls, checklists, decision logic, and “what I see in audits” patterns. Avoid generic filler. Google rarely calls a genuinely useful and unique troubleshooting guide a Soft 404 for long, unless it has status code issues or canonical confusion.
Fix D, if the page is an empty listing or “no results” page, stop it from being indexable
Tag archives with no posts, internal search pages, filtered pages with no results, and paginated archive pages often produce Soft 404 noise. The best move is to ensure those pages either do not get crawled or do not get indexed.
On WordPress, that usually means tightening archive behavior, ensuring empty archives are not crawlable or return 404 when appropriate, and not encouraging Google to treat them as destinations. This keeps your site clean and helps your real articles get crawled and indexed faster, which matters a lot on a fresh domain.
Fix E, if the page is out of stock, give it an SEO-safe fallback
If you ever publish ecommerce style pages or similar inventory pages, Soft 404 appears when a product page becomes a dead end. The fix is not always to remove the page. A better approach is often to keep the page indexable if it has long-term value, but add alternative paths. That means keeping the core product information, adding related alternatives, and making the page useful even when the item is unavailable. If the page has no long-term value, return 404 or redirect to the closest equivalent. The principle stays the same. Make it a destination or remove it. Do not leave it in the grey zone.
What not to do, because it creates more Soft 404 problems later
Do not blanket redirect Soft 404 URLs to the homepage. It looks tidy, but it is not a meaningful mapping and Google can treat it as a soft 404 behavior. Do not mass noindex everything without thinking, because you may accidentally noindex pages that should become important later. Do not keep publishing archive pages and thin tags and hope Google will figure it out. Google will figure it out, and it will classify them in a way that reduces crawl efficiency.
Also avoid treating Soft 404 as purely a technical error. Many Soft 404 cases are content and intent issues. Fixing your server responses without fixing thin content can leave the classification unchanged.
A practical checklist you can run today
Pick ten Soft 404 URLs. Identify which are real missing pages, which are thin archives, which are empty listings, and which are real content pages. Fix status codes for missing pages. Redirect only when there is a true equivalent. Reduce index bloat by tightening archives and empty listings. For real content pages, improve uniqueness and intent match rather than rewriting everything. Then monitor Search Console over the next few crawls, not the next few hours. Soft 404 classifications often update after Google revisits the URL, and on new sites, that can take a little time.
If you keep your site clean and publish content that is genuinely problem solving, Soft 404 becomes less of a recurring issue and more of an occasional signal that something is either thin, unavailable, or sending mixed signals.
