Unexpected issue in Google Search Console
Eugene
Hello
I usually post here with the most difficult problems. I got help here with a CLS issue that was almost impossible to find and reproduce, and also with an INP issue that likewise couldn’t be reproduced at all. Now all my metrics are looking great. In PageSpeed for both mobile and desktop versions, I’m getting an average score of 94.
But now I’ve encountered another problem that so far I haven’t been able to reproduce. It’s not directly related to web-vitals. However, I’ve always received the most accurate and helpful answers here. So if you could take a look at this problem and help me reproduce it, I would really appreciate it.
In Google Search Console, I’ve started getting a soft 404 error, both for new pages and for pages that have been in the index for several years. The pages that have been in the index for several years never had a soft 404 problem before.
I’ve read all the reasons why a soft 404 might occur, but none of them seem to apply.
Here are a few links for which I’m getting a soft 404:
https://pixelplex.io/blog/why-use-blockchain-and-when-not-to
https://pixelplex.io/services/quality-assurance-and-software-testing-company/
https://pixelplex.io/polkadot-development
https://pixelplex.io/work/loyalty-platform-for-football-club-owners
All the content on these pages is accessible. My application is built with React and Next.js. All pages are statically generated (getStaticProps). The data is fetched in getStaticProps, so the content is always visible to the search bot. These pages have unique content.
If I run a live URL test for any of the above links, I get “URL is available to Google.” After this test, I can view the HTML, and everything looks fine—all content is visible. I can also go to the “screenshot” tab, and there I can see that the page is displayed correctly.
I assumed there might have been some kind of error, so I requested a new verification for all the problematic pages. But after the check, the number of pages with a soft 404 error doubled to 146.
I would be very grateful if you could tell me why I’m getting a soft 404 error for these pages.
Eugene
I’d like to share some additional context. The pages that were flagged with a soft 404 error were also removed from indexing.
I manually requested re-indexing for three of these pages, and the check went through successfully; I received a notification that the pages are being indexed again. However, the soft 404 error still persists for these pages.
This issue appeared for the first time this month; previously, I had never encountered this error. It might be related to some of the changes implemented in the latest version. I reviewed all the changes and couldn’t find anything that could cause a soft 404 error. Below is a list of what was done in this version. Perhaps you have some ideas about what might have triggered the soft 404 error:
- Several new pages were added. These are regular static pages.
- The main site menu was updated.
- The structured data schemas for some pages were updated. Text on a few pages was also revised, and other minor changes were made.
- The URLs for 70 pages were changed to more suitable ones, and redirects were added. A few examples:
- Pages with two filters were added so they could be linked from articles. Here are a few examples:
These pages have little unique content, and I understand why they might be flagged as soft 404. But the main problem is that in addition to the two-filter pages being marked as soft 404, pages that now explicitly return a 301 are also flagged, for example:
- https://pixelplex.io/dapp-development
- https://pixelplex.io/data-analytics/
- https://pixelplex.io/ui-ux-design/
Also, some pages with updated URLs are returning a soft 404, such as:
- https://pixelplex.io/services/dapp-development-company
- https://pixelplex.io/services/data-analytics-company/
- https://pixelplex.io/services/ui-ux-design-company
Additionally, pages that haven’t changed for several years were also marked as soft 404, for example:
- https://pixelplex.io/blog/mobile-nft-apps
- https://pixelplex.io/blog/ai/page/6/
- https://pixelplex.io/scholarship/winners/essays/how-blockchain-technology-can-cure-the-ailing-pharmaceutical-industry/
If you have any guesses as to why the soft 404 error might have appeared, I would be happy to hear them.
