Dealing with Server Response Codes

Whenever a connection is made between either a user or a spider and a web page, the page returns a code, which explains whether the page was loaded correctly, has been moved, has been deleted or is experiencing any other problems. If the web page returns the wrong code, you could have trouble with the search engines or the usability of your site so understanding these codes is a vital part of search engine optimization.

Common Server Response Codes

There are numerous codes web pages can return but only a few of them are common enough to be worth knowing. The following server response codes are the ones you should familiarize yourself with:

200 (Page Loaded Successfully)

This is the typical response most users come across, and they don’t notice it as they won’t see a server response code because the page has loaded correctly. This means the request was accepted and the page you asked for will load momentarily.

301 (Site Permanently Relocated)

This response means the site has been permanently moved to a different URL. If you are linking to this site, you will want to redirect all of your links to the returned URLs using 301 redirects. This will ensure that the keyword ranking or other SEO value of the page will be maintained after the move.

302 (Site Found But At A Different Address)

The site has been “temporarily redirected” and is at a new location. Search engines will cache the old URL and not the new one so that SEO values and rankings will be maintained. Users with outbound links to pages with 302 response codes should continue to use the old URL.

404 (Page Not Found)

The page cannot be found. This does not mean, however, that the page has been permanently moved or deleted. If that is the case, the server will return a 410 code. 404 server codes are used when the server either doesn’t know or won’t release the current status of the web page requested.