HTTP Status Codes: why are they important for Search Engines?

HTTP status codes are an important part of web development, communicating the status of a request to both humans and machines. In this article, we’ll take a look at the most common HTTP status codes important for SEO and what they mean for your website or application.

What is an HTTP Status Code?

HTTP status codes are response codes sent by web servers in response to HTTP requests. Status codes signal that your webpage is OK (code 200) or give you a red flag (e.g. 404). These is very important for SEO. Search Engines should be able to properly crawl, parse, index and serve the specific URL with its content.

The first digit of the status code specifies one of five classes of response:

1xx Informational – The request was received and understood, but no action is being taken.

2xx Success – The request was successfully received, understood, and accepted.

3xx Redirection – Further action needs to be taken in order to complete the request.

4xx Client Error – The request contains bad syntax or cannot be fulfilled.

5xx Server Error – The server failed to fulfill an apparently valid request.

The five most common HTTP Status Codes

HTTP Status Codes are a set of numbers that are sent back to a web browser in response to a request for a web page or other content. The codes are intended to inform the browser and the user of the status of the request.

There are five common HTTP Status Codes, each with its own meaning:

200 OK – The request was successful and the content is returned.

301 Moved Permanently – The content has been permanently moved to a new location.

302 Found – The content was found but it has been temporarily moved.

403 Forbidden – The user is not

404 Not Found: The resource was not found by the server.

How to use HTTP Status Codes to troubleshoot website issues

HTTP Status Codes are an important part of troubleshooting website issues. By understanding what they mean and how they are used, you can quickly diagnose and fix common problems.

HTTP Status Codes are an often overlooked, yet extremely valuable, resource when it comes to troubleshooting website issues. By understanding what each code means, webmasters and developers can narrow down the cause of a problem and fix it much more quickly.

200 – The request was successful, and the response contains the requested data.
301 – The resource has been permanently moved to a new location.
302 – The resource has been temporarily moved to a new location.
404 – The resource could have moved to a new location
500 – There is most probably something wrong with the server.

Each HTTP Status Code is accompanied by a brief description of what it means, as well as some possible solutions. This makes it easy to identify and correct common website errors.

By Arsen Misakyan
Arsen Misakyan Founder