HTTP Error 404 and 301 – Tips to Understand These Status Codes

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HTTP Error 404 and 301 – Tips to Understand These Status Codes

Posted On : Aug-27-2010 | seen (1183) times | Article Word Count : 568 |

As an Internet-savvy individual, you might have come across HTTP error 404 and 301 very often while requesting a web page. Have you tried to understand the reason behind such errors? If no, this article will help you get a complete understanding of them. We’ll also learn how to fix them for good.

HTTP 404 Meaning

An error 404 is one of the numerous Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) status codes like 100, 101, 200, 201, 202, 301, 401, etc. It takes place when an Internet user requests a web page that does not exist. As a result, the user receives the “404 Not Found” or “Page Cannot Be Found” message. Explaining HTTP status codes, these are used to offer information pertaining to the position of a request made to the server. The code for displaying any normal web page is 200, but you don’t see it.

Here, the question arises why this specific “404” is used. To your surprise, each digit of the 404 bears a particular meaning. The beginning ‘4’ points to an error on the client side, such as a wrongly spelt out uniform resource locator or URL. The ‘0’ in the middle signifies a syntax error and the last ‘4’ belongs to the class of 40x indicating a particular fault.

HTTP 404 Fixing

The prevention of 404 is quite straightforward. Simply analyze the error log files present on the server of website. These logs can make your task easier by providing the problematic documents that are bringing forth the fault. In the majority of instances, an incorrectly spelt URL or a broken link causes this problem.

As the error 404 can drive away visitors, many webmasters go for the idea of making the proper use of this page and customize it to guide visitors to the home page or other important web pages.

HTTP 301 Meaning

On the other hand, the error 301 takes place when the requested web page has been permanently moved to a new URL. So, you will be promptly redirected to that new location after the display of “301 Moved Permanently” message. This HTTP status code should be mentioned with the location header.

According to RFC 2616, clients having link-editing abilities must renew all the references to the requested URL. The response is cacheable unless specified differently. Except when the response method was HEAD, the entity must comprise a brief hypertext note to the novel URL(s). If a request is of any kind except GET or HEAD and the 301 code is displayed as a result of this request, the permission of the user must be sought by the client system before redirecting the page. The use of HTTP 301 is helpful from the search engine standpoint as Google will assign the PageRank of the old page to the new one if it comes across this status code.

HTTP 301 Fixing

As far as fixing this error is concerned, your server must respond to it by including an alternate URL for proper redirection of the page. If the server is unable to return an alternative URL in response to the code, you’ll understand that either the software of the web server is faulty or the redirection of the web page is not done accurately by the webmaster.

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<h1>HTTP Error 404 and 301 – Tips to Understand These Status Codes</h1> Author: <a href='http://www.articleseen.com/profile_Sanjay Joshi.aspx'>Sanjay Joshi</a> As an Internet-savvy individual, you might have come across HTTP error 404 and 301 very often while requesting a web page. Have you tried to understand the reason behind such errors? If no, this article will help you get a complete understanding of them. We’ll also learn how to fix them for good.

HTTP 404 Meaning

An error 404 is one of the numerous Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) status codes like 100, 101, 200, 201, 202, 301, 401, etc. It takes place when an Internet user requests a web page that does not exist. As a result, the user receives the “404 Not Found” or “Page Cannot Be Found” message. Explaining HTTP status codes, these are used to offer information pertaining to the position of a request made to the server. The code for displaying any normal web page is 200, but you don’t see it.

Here, the question arises why this specific “404” is used. To your surprise, each digit of the 404 bears a particular meaning. The beginning ‘4’ points to an error on the client side, such as a wrongly spelt out uniform resource locator or URL. The ‘0’ in the middle signifies a syntax error and the last ‘4’ belongs to the class of 40x indicating a particular fault.

HTTP 404 Fixing

The prevention of 404 is quite straightforward. Simply analyze the error log files present on the server of website. These logs can make your task easier by providing the problematic documents that are bringing forth the fault. In the majority of instances, an incorrectly spelt URL or a broken link causes this problem.

As the error 404 can drive away visitors, many webmasters go for the idea of making the proper use of this page and customize it to guide visitors to the home page or other important web pages.

HTTP 301 Meaning

On the other hand, the error 301 takes place when the requested web page has been permanently moved to a new URL. So, you will be promptly redirected to that new location after the display of “301 Moved Permanently” message. This HTTP status code should be mentioned with the location header.

According to RFC 2616, clients having link-editing abilities must renew all the references to the requested URL. The response is cacheable unless specified differently. Except when the response method was HEAD, the entity must comprise a brief hypertext note to the novel URL(s). If a request is of any kind except GET or HEAD and the 301 code is displayed as a result of this request, the permission of the user must be sought by the client system before redirecting the page. The use of HTTP 301 is helpful from the search engine standpoint as Google will assign the PageRank of the old page to the new one if it comes across this status code.

HTTP 301 Fixing

As far as fixing this error is concerned, your server must respond to it by including an alternate URL for proper redirection of the page. If the server is unable to return an alternative URL in response to the code, you’ll understand that either the software of the web server is faulty or the redirection of the web page is not done accurately by the webmaster. 
About the Author: Mr. Pankaj is a <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.seorankingexpert.com/whysre.php">Seo Expert</a>, providing <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.seorankingexpert.com">SEO Services India</a>, <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.seorankingexpert.com/Best-Seo-Service.php">Best SEO Services</a> and lot more.He came from a technical background. He is passionate about internet marketing technology and love to spend the valuable time to research and operate SEO operations Team. 
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Mr. Pankaj is a Seo Expert, providing SEO Services India, Best SEO Services and lot more.He came from a technical background. He is passionate about internet marketing technology and love to spend the valuable time to research and operate SEO operations Team.

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