John Mueller was asked about 404s being a sign of low quality, and if 410s are better to use for this reason. But, fortunately for SEOs, 404s are not a sign of a low quality site to Google.
Google has talked previously about 404s as it relates to quality. Google has confirmed that there are no penalty issues related with having 4o4s. 404s are not any kind of an issue with Google Panda.
And Mueller also said that most 404s are not actually the fault of a site owner. And if they had made 404s as a quality issue, then people would just trigger 404s on their competitors all day long.
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Jennifer Slegg
Founder & Editor at The SEM Post
Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland.
She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.
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