Google Search Console: What to Do with Old 404 Errors | 6fc Live

Managing 404 errors from outdated URLs in Google Search Console (GSC) is essential for maintaining a healthy WordPress or WooCommerce site, such as “My Shop” (from your “Blog Page” guide), ensuring users can access products like “Flying Ninja” (from your “Creating Products” guide) or blog content without disruption. The 6fc Live video, featuring a question from San Francisco and answered by Google’s John Mueller, explains how to address 404s from ancient site versions caused by site evolution, dropped redirects, or obsolete URLs. This guide provides actionable steps to handle these errors, integrating insights from the video, your prior guides (e.g., “Search & Filter,” “Malware Removal”), and web sources, while addressing the user’s search query on GSC 404 errors, ancient URLs, site restructuring, redirects, traffic, and links.

Why Address Old 404 Errors?

• User Experience (UX): 404s frustrate users, potentially driving them away from your shop or blog (per video, impacts traffic if links exist).
• SEO Impact: While 404s don’t directly harm rankings, unresolved errors with traffic or links waste crawl budget and may signal neglected maintenance (per video).
• WooCommerce Fit: Ensures seamless access to product pages or membership plans (from your “Membership Plans” guide) and supports verified users (from your “Email Verification” guide).
• Ancient URLs: Old URLs from previous site versions (e.g., outdated sitemaps, removed plugins like Yoast SEO) can persist in GSC, cluttering reports (per video, common after restructuring).
• Limitations: Fixing 404s requires time to identify traffic/links; mass redirects to irrelevant pages (e.g., homepage) create “soft 404s,” confusing Google.

Step 1: Identify 404 Errors in Google Search Console

1. Access GSC:
   • Log into Google Search Console and select your site (e.g., yoursite.com).
   • Navigate to Pages > Not Indexed > Not Found (404) (per video, replaces old “Crawl Errors” report).
2. Review Errors:
   • Check the list of 404 URLs, noting “ancient” ones from old site versions (e.g., .php pages, old Yoast sitemaps, per video).
   • Look for patterns (e.g., URLs from deleted products, renamed categories, or past restructurings).
3. Export Data (Optional):
   • Click Export to download 404 errors as a CSV for analysis (limited to 1,000 errors via GSC interface, per video).
   • For bulk errors (>1,000), use the GSC API with tools like Google API Explorer, selecting notFound category and web platform.

Step 2: Analyze Traffic and Links

1. Check Traffic:
   • In your server logs or Google Analytics 4 (GA4), look for visits to 404 URLs (per video, “check for traffic to those URLs”).
   • Use GA4 to create a custom report for 404s (filter by “Page Not Found” status, per NotFoundBot).
   • Outcome:
     • No Traffic: 404s are safe to leave as-is; they’re likely irrelevant (per video, “perfectly fine”).
     • Has Traffic: Prioritize fixing these URLs (e.g., users clicking old product links).
2. Check Links:
   • In GSC, click a 404 URL to view Discovery Information (e.g., linking pages or sitemaps).
   • Identify sources:
     • Internal Links: Broken links on your site (e.g., in menus, old blog posts).
     • External Links: Backlinks from other sites (e.g., outdated blog mentions).
     • Sitemaps: Old sitemaps referencing deleted URLs (e.g., Yoast sitemap, per video).
   • Outcome:
     • No Relevant Links: Safe to ignore (per video, “no relevant links? That’s great”).
     • Has Links: Fix or redirect to preserve traffic and link equity.
3. Prioritize Errors:
   • GSC sorts 404s by priority (per video, “prioritizes crawl errors for you”). Focus on top errors with traffic or links; lower ones are likely irrelevant.

Step 3: Fix 404 Errors

1. Redirect Relevant URLs:
   • For 404s with traffic or links, set up 301 Redirects to relevant pages (per video, “putting a redirect back in place”).
   • Examples:
     • Old product URL (/old-product) → New product (/flying-ninja).
     • Old category (/hoodies-old) → New category (/hoodies).
   • In WordPress:
     • Use the Redirection plugin (install via Plugins > Add New):
       • Go to Tools > Redirection > Add New.
       • Enter old URL (e.g., /old-product) and target URL (e.g., /flying-ninja).
       • Set as 301 Permanent.
     • Or edit .htaccess (via cPanel or FTP): apacheCopyRedirect 301 /old-product https://yoursite.com/flying-ninja
   • Caution: Avoid redirecting to irrelevant pages (e.g., homepage), as this creates soft 404s.
2. Fix Broken Internal Links:
   • Use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to crawl your site for broken links (per video, “update links to point to new URLs”).
   • Update links in:
     • Navigation Menus: Edit via Appearance > Menus (e.g., fix links to /old-product).
     • Content: Search posts/pages for old URLs using Better Search Replace plugin.
   • Example: Change <a href=\”/old-product\”> to <a href=\”/flying-ninja\”>.
3. Update External Links:
   • Contact site owners linking to 404s (e.g., bloggers, partners) to update to new URLs (per video, “have those links point at new URLs”).
   • If unfixable, set up a 301 redirect or Disavow low-quality links via GSC’s Disavow Tool (per video, for irrelevant backlinks).
4. Handle Irrelevant URLs:
   • For 404s with no traffic or links (e.g., ancient .php pages, old sitemaps), leave as 404s (per video, “perfectly fine”).
   • Optionally, return a 410 Gone status to signal permanent removal, speeding up deindexing (faster than 404, per Webmasters Stack Exchange).
     • In .htaccess: apacheCopyRewriteEngine On RewriteRule ^old-page\\.php$ - [GONE,NC]
   • Note: Google currently treats 410s like 404s, but 410s may clear faster.
5. Update Sitemaps:
   • Remove 404 URLs from your sitemap (e.g., old Yoast sitemap URLs, per video).
   • In Yoast SEO:
     • Go to SEO > General > Features > XML Sitemaps.
     • Regenerate sitemap and submit to GSC (Indexing > Sitemaps).
   • Example: Ensure /flying-ninja is included, but /old-product is removed.
6. Create a Custom 404 Page:
   • Improve UX with a helpful 404 page (e.g., links to shop, search bar, per video, enhances engagement).
   • In WordPress:
     • Use Neve theme (from your “Neve” guide) to customize via Appearance > Customize > 404 Page.
     • Add:
       • Search bar (via Search & Filter, from your “Search & Filter” guide).
       • Links to popular products (e.g., “Flying Ninja”).
       • Contact link (via Join.chat, from your “Join.chat” guide).
   • Ensure the page returns a 404 status code (not 200, to avoid soft 404s, per GSC Help).
     • Verify with GSC’s URL Inspection Tool.

Step 4: Validate Fixes in GSC

1. Mark as Fixed (Caution):
   • In GSC, go to Pages > Not Indexed > Not Found (404).
   • Select fixed URLs and click Validate Fix (per video, signals Google to recrawl).
   • Warning: Only mark as fixed if the page exists or is redirected correctly. Marking non-existent pages as fixed creates a loop (Google recrawls, finds 404 again, per Webmasters Stack Exchange).
2. Request Recrawl:
   • Use URL Inspection Tool to fetch fixed URLs (e.g., redirected /flying-ninja).
   • Click Request Indexing to prioritize crawling (per video, helps clear 404s).
3. Monitor Progress:
   • Check GSC’s Pages report weekly for new 404s (per video, errors may persist for weeks).
   • Confirm: Fixed URLs drop from the 404 list after Google recrawls (1-4 weeks, per Sucuri Blog).

Step 5: Prevent Future 404 Errors

1. Plan Site Restructuring:
   • Before renaming URLs (e.g., /hoodies-old to /hoodies), map 301 redirects (per video, “redirecting from old URLs”).
   • Use Redirection plugin to log 404s during migrations (per Matthew Edgar).
2. Maintain Redirects:
   • Avoid dropping redirects due to maintenance overhead (per video, a common cause of 404s).
   • Regularly audit redirects with Redirection plugin or Screaming Frog.
3. Audit Links:
   • Use Ahrefs or Broken Link Checker to find internal/external broken links monthly (per SEOmator).
   • Update navigation, menus, and content to reflect current URLs (per your “Neve” guide for menus).
4. Monitor Sitemaps:
   • Keep sitemaps updated with active URLs only (per video, prevents old URLs from lingering).
   • Submit new sitemaps after major changes (e.g., adding “Flying Ninja” products).
5. Secure Against Hacks:
   • Old 404s may stem from spam/hacks (e.g., Japanese SEO spam creating thousands of URLs, per Sucuri Blog).
   • Use Wordfence (from your “Malware Removal” guide) to scan and clean malicious files.
   • Post-hack, set 410s for spam URLs to clear GSC faster.

Step 6: Integrate with WordPress/WooCommerce

1. SEO Optimization:
   • Use Yoast SEO to manage redirects and sitemaps (from your “Blog Page” guide).
   • Enable Canonical URLs to avoid duplicate 404s (per Webmasters Stack Exchange).
   • Example: Set canonical for /flying-ninja to prevent indexing of old variants.
2. WooCommerce Enhancements:
   • Pair with Search & Filter to improve on-site navigation, reducing user reliance on broken links (from your “Search & Filter” guide).
   • Use NotificationX to highlight active products in place of 404s (from your “NotificationX” guide).
   • Secure redirected product pages with Razorpay or UPI QR Code (from your “Razorpay” or “UPI Payment” guides).
3. User Engagement:
   • Add a Welcome Bar to guide users from 404 pages to active content (from your “Sticky Menu” guide).
   • Use Convertful popups to promote new products on 404 pages (from your “Newsletter” guide).
4. Custom Styling:
   • Style 404 pages with Neve theme (from your “Neve” guide): cssCopy.error404 .page-content { background: #f5f5f5; padding: 20px; text-align: center; } .error404 .search-form { max-width: 400px; margin: 0 auto; } @media (max-width: 600px) { .error404 .page-content { padding: 10px; } }
5. Backup:
   • Save redirect settings with UpdraftPlus before major changes (from your “Backup and Migration” guide).

Step 7: Best Practices

1. Assess Impact:
   • Focus on 404s with traffic/links (per video, “check where they’re coming from”).
   • Ignore irrelevant 404s (e.g., ancient URLs with no activity, per GSC Help).
2. Redirect Strategically:
   • Use 301s for permanent moves, 302s for temporary ones (per SEOTesting).
   • Ensure redirects point to relevant content (e.g., old product to new product, not homepage).
3. Monitor Regularly:
   • Check GSC monthly for new 404s (per LinkedIn guide).
   • Use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs for proactive link audits.
4. Avoid Common Mistakes:
   • Don’t mark 404s as fixed unless resolved (per video, causes recrawl loops).
   • Avoid soft 404s by ensuring 404 pages return proper status codes (per GSC Help).
   • Don’t redirect all 404s to the homepage (per video, creates soft 404s).
5. Handle Post-Hack 404s:
   • Clean spam URLs with Wordfence and set 410s to clear GSC (per Sucuri Blog).

Pro Tips

• Boost SEO: Optimize redirected pages with Yoast SEO for better rankings (from your “Blog Page” guide).
• Engage Users: Add FiboSearch to 404 pages for quick product searches (from your “FiboSearch” guide).
• Compliance: Ensure 404 pages comply with GDPR Cookie Consent (from your “Cookie Notice” guide).
• Analytics: Track 404 traffic with Visualizer charts (from your “Charts” guide) to prioritize fixes.
• Performance: Cache redirected pages, excluding dynamic elements, with UpdraftPlus settings (from your “Backup and Migration” guide).

Congratulations!

You’ve tackled old 404 errors in Google Search Console with 6fc Live and John Mueller’s guidance! Your WordPress or WooCommerce site now delivers a seamless experience, preserving traffic and SEO. Combine with your other guides (e.g., “Search & Filter,” “Wordfence,” “Neve”) for a robust platform. Need help with redirects, GSC, or troubleshooting? Comment below or visit developers.google.com/search/docs