Imagine you're at a restaurant and you ask the waiter for your favorite dish. The waiter might come back and say "Here's your meal" (everything worked perfectly), "Sorry, we're out of that dish" (the item isn't available), or "The kitchen is closed for maintenance" (there's a temporary problem). These responses help you understand exactly what's happening with your request.
HTTP status codes work the same way for websites. Every time someone visits a page on your site—whether it's a person using a browser or a search engine robot crawling your content—your web server sends back a three-digit code that explains what happened with that request. These codes are like your website's way of communicating its status to visitors and search engines.
HTTP status codes have a significant impact on both search engine optimization and user experience:
Many website owners don't realize that their site is constantly "talking" to search engines through status codes. When these codes are wrong, it's like having a conversation where you're saying one thing but meaning something completely different—confusion and misunderstandings are inevitable.
HTTP status codes are organized into five categories, each serving a different purpose:
These codes indicate that the request was received and the process is continuing. They're rarely seen by regular users but help with server communication.
These codes mean the request was successfully received, understood, and accepted. The most common is 200 (OK), which means everything worked perfectly.
These codes indicate that further action needs to be taken to complete the request, usually involving redirecting to a different URL. Common examples include 301 (permanent redirect) and 302 (temporary redirect).
These codes indicate that there was an error with the request from the client side. The famous 404 (Not Found) belongs to this category, along with 403 (Forbidden) and 400 (Bad Request).
These codes indicate that the server failed to fulfill a valid request. Examples include 500 (Internal Server Error) and 503 (Service Unavailable).
What's happening: Deleted or non-existent pages are showing a "page not found" message to users but telling search engines everything is fine with a 200 status code.
SEO Impact: Search engines keep trying to index these broken pages, wasting crawl budget and potentially showing irrelevant results to users.
Simple solution: Configure your web server to return proper 404 status codes for pages that don't exist, while still showing a helpful error page to users.
What's happening: Pages that have permanently moved are using temporary (302) redirects instead of permanent (301) redirects.
SEO Impact: Search engines don't transfer the full SEO value to the new page, and they may continue trying to index the old URL.
Simple solution: Use 301 redirects for all permanent page moves and URL changes to preserve SEO value and clearly communicate the change to search engines.
What's happening: Pages that should return 404 status codes are instead returning 200 codes with "not found" content.
SEO Impact: Search engines receive mixed signals about page availability, leading to indexing confusion and wasted crawl resources.
Simple solution: Ensure that genuinely missing pages return proper 404 status codes, not 200 codes with error messages.
What's happening: Pages redirect to other pages that redirect again, creating long chains or infinite loops.
SEO Impact: Search engines may give up following redirect chains, and users experience slow loading times.
Simple solution: Set up direct redirects from old URLs to final destinations, avoiding multi-step redirect chains.
Several methods can help you monitor and verify your website's status codes:
Most web browsers include developer tools that show HTTP status codes in the Network tab when you load a page. This is perfect for checking individual pages.
Various free online tools allow you to enter a URL and see its HTTP status code, along with any redirect chains that might exist.
SEO tools like Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or similar crawlers can analyze your entire website and report status codes for all discovered pages.
Your web server logs contain status code information for every request. Analyzing these logs can reveal patterns and issues across your entire site.
Google's free tool reports crawling errors and status code issues that their crawlers encounter on your website.
Reserve the 200 status code for pages that load completely and provide the content users are looking for. Don't use 200 for error pages or "not found" messages.
When pages permanently move to new URLs, use 301 redirects to preserve SEO value and clearly communicate the change to search engines.
Create helpful 404 error pages that return genuine 404 status codes while providing users with navigation options and search functionality.
Set up regular monitoring to catch status code issues before they impact search rankings or user experience.
Ensure redirects go directly from the old URL to the final destination, avoiding multiple redirect steps that slow down loading and confuse search engines.
For pages with dynamic content (like search results or user profiles), return appropriate status codes based on whether the content actually exists.
Search engines rely heavily on HTTP status codes to understand your website structure and content availability:
Online stores often struggle with discontinued products that return 200 instead of 404, seasonal pages that need proper redirects, and category pages that should return 404 when empty rather than showing "no products found" with a 200 status.
Content sites frequently have issues with archived articles that should remain accessible (200), deleted posts that should return 404, and category pages that might temporarily have no content.
Corporate sites often have problems with old service pages that redirect incorrectly, seasonal promotions that need proper status codes when they end, and contact forms that don't handle errors appropriately.
Individual websites commonly have issues with old project pages, changed contact information, and portfolio items that are no longer available but still linked from elsewhere.
Proper status code management delivers measurable business benefits:
Beyond basic implementation, consider these advanced status code strategies:
Implement these practices to keep your status codes accurate over time:
HTTP status codes might seem like a technical detail that only developers need to worry about, but they're actually a fundamental part of how your website communicates with the world. Every visitor to your site—whether human or search engine robot—relies on these codes to understand what's happening with their requests.
When your status codes are accurate and consistent, you're essentially speaking the same language as search engines. This clear communication helps them understand your content better, index it more effectively, and present it to users at the right times. The result is better search rankings, improved user experience, and a more professional online presence.
The beauty of status code optimization is that it's often a set-it-and-forget-it improvement. Once you've configured your server to return correct codes and set up proper redirects, these systems work automatically in the background, continuously improving your SEO and user experience without requiring ongoing attention.
Remember that good status code management is about more than just avoiding errors—it's about creating a reliable, professional website that works predictably for everyone who visits it. In a world where first impressions matter and search engines have countless options to choose from, clear communication through proper status codes can be the difference between a website that thrives and one that gets overlooked.
Greadme's comprehensive analysis tools can identify status code issues across your entire website and provide clear guidance on fixing them for better search engine communication.
Check Your Status Codes Today