404 pages cause loss of link equity and can negatively impact domain authority if not properly managed. When a page returns a 404 error, any backlinks pointing to that page no longer pass link equity ("link juice"), which means the authority those links could have contributed to your site is wasted. This loss of link equity can reduce the overall domain authority and hurt SEO performance.
Key points on the effect of 404 pages on link equity and domain authority:
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Link Equity Loss: Backlinks to pages that return 404 errors do not pass authority to your site. Since 404 pages indicate non-existent content, search engines do not transfer link equity through them.
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No Link Equity Passed Through 404s: Unlike pages that return a 200 status or redirects (301), 404 pages do not pass link juice. Even if you create a custom 404 page with internal links, the original link equity from external backlinks is lost at the 404 status.
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Impact on Domain Authority: Since domain authority is influenced by the quality and quantity of backlinks, losing link equity from 404 pages can reduce your domain’s overall authority and ranking potential.
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User Experience and Crawl Budget: Besides link equity loss, 404 errors can waste search engine crawl budget and degrade user experience, indirectly affecting SEO.
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Best Practices: To preserve link equity, it is recommended to:
- Redirect (301) broken URLs to relevant, existing pages instead of letting them return 404 errors.
- Regularly audit your site for broken links and fix or redirect them promptly to reclaim lost authority.
- Use 404 pages only when the content is permanently gone and no suitable redirect exists.
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Soft 404s: Pages that return a 200 status but show "not found" content (soft 404s) can also harm SEO by confusing search engines and diluting link equity.
In summary, 404 pages cause a direct loss of link equity from backlinks, which negatively affects domain authority and SEO rankings. Proper management through redirects and regular link audits is essential to minimize this impact.
