Errors:HTML Error Code 404

Code: 404    Message: 404 Not Found
Description: The server has not found anything matching the Request-URI. No indication is given of whether the condition is temporary or permanent. The 410 (Gone) status code SHOULD be used if the server knows, through some internally configurable mechanism, that an old resource is permanently unavailable and has no forwarding address. This status code is commonly used when the server does not wish to reveal exactly why the request has been refused, or when no other response is applicable.
Cause: Requested URL does not exist on target server. 

Example of HTTP Status Code 404 header

Server Response: http://www.seoconsultants.com/custom-404.asp
Status: HTTP/1.1 404 Object Not Found
Server: Microsoft-IIS/5.0
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 05:31:00 GMT
Connection: close
Content-Type: text/html
Content-Length: 39585

Admin Note: I've found many custom 404 pages returning 200 status codes which is not correct. The server header should return a 404 Status-Code when a page is not found. You can configure the 404 from the server level to return a custom 404 page. You should verify that your server is returning the proper 404 Status-Code in the server header response for the custom 404 page.


Action: For more information on HTTP Status Codes, visit these reputable resources... 

  1. Status Code Definitions - W3C
  2. An Introduction to Redirecting URLs on an Apache Server - WebmasterWorld
  3. Redirect a Domain in IIS - XOC Software
  4. Search Engine Friendly URLs - Rewriting URLs
  5. Windows Server Tools - Web Server Modules for IIS
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This page was last modified 18:39, 7 September 2005.