404 Errors Are Killing Your Traffic (And How to Fix Them)
Imagine clicking a link, landing on a page that says "404 – Page Not Found", and instantly hitting the back button. That is exactly what your customers are doing right now if you have broken pages on your Shopify store.
404 errors do not just frustrate shoppers; they actively damage your SEO. When Googlebot crawls your site and hits a dead end, your rankings suffer, and your bounce rate skyrockets.
Here is how to find and fix 404 errors before they cost you sales.
Why 404 Errors Matter for SEO
Google aims to provide the best possible experience for its users. If your store is full of broken links, Google sees it as unreliable or poorly maintained.
- Lost Crawl Budget: Search engine bots only spend a limited time on your site. You do not want them wasting that time on pages that do not exist.
- Bad User Experience: A 404 page is a "stop sign" for a customer. Most will leave your site entirely rather than trying to find their way back.
How to Find Your Broken Links
You cannot fix what you cannot see. Use these tools to hunt down 404 errors:
- Google Search Console: Go to the "Indexing" report to see exactly which URLs Google tried to visit but couldn't find.
- Screaming Frog: A powerful desktop tool that crawls your store just like a search engine to identify every broken link.
- Shopify Apps: Several apps can monitor your store in real-time and alert you the moment a customer hits a 404 page.
The Solution: 301 Redirects
When you delete a product or change a collection name, the old URL still exists in Google’s index. To fix this, you must set up a 301 redirect.
- Go to Online Store > Navigation > URL Redirects.
- Link the old, broken URL to a new, relevant page (like the new version of the product or the main category page).
- This passes the "SEO link juice" from the old page to the new one, preserving your rankings.
Turn a Negative into a Positive with a Custom 404 Page
Even with perfect redirects, some 404s are inevitable (like when a customer mistypes a URL). Instead of using the generic Shopify "Page Not Found" text, customize your theme’s 404 page:
- Add a search bar: Help them find what they were looking for.
- Link to bestsellers: Give them a reason to keep shopping.
- Include a discount code: Apologize for the inconvenience with a small incentive to stay.
Final Thoughts
A few broken pages can break your traffic. By regularly auditing your store for 404 errors and setting up proper redirects, you keep both Google and your customers happy.
Want a theme with a high-converting, customizable 404 page? Check out our top Shopify Theme picks.
