A Soft 404 is a Google Search Console indexing issue that appears in the Pages report.
A Soft 404 means Google believes a page doesn’t provide enough valuable content, even though the page returns a 200 (OK) status code. Instead of treating it as a valid page, Google considers it similar to a missing or low-value page.
A Soft 404 can happen for three main reasons:
1. The page has too little content
The page genuinely does not have enough content to satisfy user intent.
For example, a glossary page covering a topic that would normally require a detailed explanation only contains two or three lines of text. Google may consider that page too thin and classify it as a Soft 404.
2. Technical issues prevent the main content from rendering
Sometimes the content exists, but Google cannot see it due to rendering issues.
For example, if a listicle page relies on JavaScript to load its product grid and the grid fails to render, Google may only see an almost empty page. Since the main content is missing, Google may classify it as a Soft 404.
3. The page’s primary content is no longer available
This commonly happens on ecommerce websites.
For example, an out-of-stock product page may still show related products, but the main product is unavailable. Since the primary content of the page no longer exists, Google may classify the page as a Soft 404.
How to fix a Soft 404?
The solution depends on what is causing the issue.
1. Thin content
If the page simply doesn’t have enough content, the solution is straightforward.
Review the topic, identify the missing information, and expand the content until it fully satisfies the user’s intent. Once the content gap is closed, the Soft 404 issue is likely to be resolved.
2. Listicle grid rendering issues
If the product or content grid is the primary content of the page but fails to render because of a technical issue, fixing the rendering problem should resolve the Soft 404.
Another common scenario is inventory fluctuations. As inventory drops close to zero, the page may no longer have enough content for Google to consider it valuable.
In that case, implement a de-indexation strategy:
- Return a noindex tag when listings fall below a defined threshold.
- Return an index tag again once listings recover above that threshold.
If Google is likely to de-index the page because of a Soft 404 anyway, it is better to control the de-indexation yourself while also reducing perceived site quality issues.
At Botpresso, we use an internal Google Search Console URL Inspection tool that checks up to 2,000 URLs per property every day to track indexing changes. This fluctuation from Soft 404 to Indexed was captured by the tool. The page was marked as a Soft 404 when it had no results, and it returned to Indexed as soon as the grid displayed results.
3. Out-of-stock product pages
This is a common ecommerce scenario where many product pages are out of stock but continue to display related products.
Related products do not replace the primary content of the page, so Google may still classify these pages as Soft 404s.
A de-indexation strategy should be implemented:
- For permanently discontinued products, return a 410 (Gone) status code.
- For temporarily out-of-stock products with frequent inventory changes, apply a conditional noindex tag that activates when the product goes out of stock and is removed once the product is available again.
Why fixing Soft 404s matters
Soft 404s are site quality signals. They indicate that Google believes some pages in your website’s index do not provide enough value.
Fixing these issues improves the overall health of your website and reduces the number of low-quality pages that Google has to manage.
If a future Google algorithm update places greater emphasis on site quality, websites that have already resolved issues such as Soft 404s are generally in a stronger position and are less likely to experience traffic declines caused by low-quality indexed pages.
Here is how OLX fixed their Soft 404 issues, which were caused by technical issues
