Server Errors Affecting SEO Performance and Solutions

Your website's SEO performance is not only limited to content quality and your backlink profile. The health and performance of the server running in the background can also significantly affect your search engine rankings. Server errors can negatively impact user experience, increase bounce rates, decrease site traffic, and even lead to your site being removed from the index by search engines. In this article, we will examine in detail the most common server errors that affect SEO performance and how to identify and resolve these errors.

Impact of Server Errors on SEO

Server errors can prevent search engine bots from crawling and indexing your site. This can cause your new content not to appear in search results and your existing pages to drop in rankings. In addition, frequent server errors can cause search engines to question the reliability of your site and visit your site less frequently. From a user experience perspective, a faulty site reduces visitors' trust in the site, increases bounce rates, and lowers conversion rates.

Most Common Server Errors and Solutions

4xx Error Codes: Client-Side Issues

4xx error codes indicate an invalid request made by the client (usually the user's browser). These errors are usually caused by misconfigured links on your site or failure to redirect to deleted pages.

400 Bad Request

A 400 error means that the server could not understand or process the request sent by the client. This error is usually caused by a problem in the browser cache, faulty cookies, or a corrupted URL sent to the server.

Solution:

Clear the browser cache and cookies.
Make sure you have typed the URL correctly.
If you are submitting a form, make sure the form data is in the correct format.
Examine the server logs to determine the source of the error.

404 Not Found

The 404 error is one of the most common server errors and means that the requested resource (e.g., a page or image) could not be found on the server. This error can be caused by deleted pages, misspelled URLs, or broken links.

Solution:

Use 301 redirects for deleted pages to redirect users to another relevant page.
Regularly check all links on your site and fix broken links.
Improve user experience by creating a custom 404 error page and keep users on your site.
Use tools like Google Search Console to identify and fix 404 errors.

Example: 301 Redirect (Apache .htaccess file):

Old page /old-page.html is being redirected to new page /new-page.html.


Redirect 301 /old-page.html /new-page.html

410 Gone

The 410 error indicates that the requested resource has been permanently removed from the server and will no longer be accessible. This error is similar to the 404 error, but emphasizes that the resource has been permanently removed, not temporarily. It informs search engines that the page is no longer available and should be removed from the index.

Solution:

If the page has been permanently removed, the 410 error has been used correctly.
If the relevant page is no longer needed in an irreversible way, the 410 error can be left.
If the page was accidentally removed, restore the page and remove the 410 error.

5xx Error Codes: Server-Side Issues

5xx error codes occur when the server is unable to fulfill the request. These errors are usually caused by server-related problems and can have serious negative effects on your site's SEO performance.

500 Internal Server Error

A 500 error means that the server encountered an unexpected error while processing the request. This error is usually caused by PHP errors, database connection problems, server configuration errors, or incompatible plugins/themes. Because the 500 error is a general error, it can be difficult to determine the cause.

Solution:

Examine the server logs to determine the source of the error.
Check and fix PHP errors.
Make sure the database connection is correct.
Disable plugins and themes to check if the problem is caused by them.
Check the server configuration and fix errors.
Make sure server resources (CPU, RAM) are sufficient.

502 Bad Gateway

A 502 error means that the server received an invalid response from another server (e.g., a proxy server or upstream server). This error is usually caused by communication problems between servers, overload, or a server stopping responding.

Solution:

Check the connections between servers and fix the problems.
Make sure the server is not overloaded.
Check DNS settings.
Restart the proxy server or upstream server.

503 Service Unavailable

A 503 error means that the server is temporarily unable to handle the request. This error is usually caused by server overload, maintenance, or DDoS attacks. Search engines consider the 503 error a temporary problem and will try to visit your site again.

Solution:

Optimize resources to prevent server overload.
Perform maintenance during off-peak hours.
Provide protection against DDoS attacks.
Increase server capacity.

504 Gateway Timeout

A 504 error means that the server did not receive a timely response from another server (e.g., a proxy server or upstream server). This error is usually caused by communication problems between servers, network problems, or a server taking too long to respond.

Solution:

Check the connections between servers and fix the problems.
Check network connections.
Optimize server performance.
Increase the server timeout period.

Monitoring and Detecting Server Errors

Detecting and resolving server errors early is important to protect your SEO performance. You can monitor server errors using the following methods:

Server Logs: Server logs record all activity on your server and can help you identify the source of errors.
Google Search Console: Google Search Console helps you identify 404 errors and other server errors on your site.
Web Site Monitoring Tools: Web site monitoring tools such as UptimeRobot and Pingdom notify you when your site is offline or giving errors.
SEO Tools: SEO tools such as Screaming Frog and Ahrefs help you identify broken links and other SEO errors on your site.

Conclusion and Summary

Server errors can have a significant impact on your website's SEO performance. 4xx errors indicate client-side issues, while 5xx errors indicate server-side issues. Regularly monitoring, detecting, and resolving these errors is important to improve user experience, protect search engine rankings, and increase site traffic. By implementing the solutions mentioned in this article, you can minimize the negative effects of server errors on SEO. Remember, a healthy server is the foundation of a successful SEO strategy.