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How Does 404 Affect Search Engines

 Affiliate Marketing Forum Index -> Do-It-Your-Selfers
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sweetblu



Joined: 15 Feb 2006
Posts: 9
Location: Wa USA
PostPosted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:27 pm    Post subject: How Does 404 Affect Search Engines Reply with quote
Hi folks,

Could someone please tell me if it is not a good idea to use our home index page as our 404 page. How does this affect the search engines Question

Will the 404 home index page show up as a mirror site and pull rank and position down. I have not used a 404 before, but my host godaddy has three options for it. I thought as I have been cleaning and redoing my site, and there are links no longer availble it might be wise to have the 404 activated.


It is my understanding if I am correct, that when google or other search engines spider, it is better to have the 404, rather then no page at all.

Any help will be most appreciated.
Have a great day..
Very Happy
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astracker



Joined: 14 Oct 2005
Posts: 46
PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 5:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
As I understand it, having your 404 page redirect to the home page will basically end up getting all of the 404 pages filtered as "duplicates" in the engines.

I suggest checking the referrer for keywords, etc., and sending the visitor to a related page.

Jon
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DJardine



Joined: 02 Mar 2007
Posts: 10
Location: Burbank CA
PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 9:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It is better to have a 404 than none at all, but setting an immediate redirect won't be popular with google.

Try setting up a page that will capture the referring keyword and send them on as suggested above.

Or, monetize your 404 by creating a page with a sales pitch or upsell to another of your programs.

Or, I have also seen it used as a gateway page linking to a numbe rof keyword rich doorway pages. The doorway pages then contained squeeze forms similar to the front page, but keyword specific. This gets double duty as a keyword page and a squeeze page.

There are tons of uses for 404's. Try searching google for 404 secrets or similar.

DJ
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