How to Fix 404 Error in the WordPress

Running into a 404, or “Page Not Found,” can be frustrating for users of your WordPress site. In this SEO-friendly guide, we will show you easy and effective methods to fix 404 error in WordPress site, so your visitors never see “Page Not Found” message again and search engines crawl / index your site properly.

What is 404 Error in WordPress?

A 404 error happens when someone attempts to visit a page that isn’t available on your website. If a URL is bad, WordPress will display a fix 404 error message. Reasons may be – Pages have been deleted – Links to the pages are broken or misleading.

It is vital to fix WordPress 404 errors because they degrade user experience as well as SEO rankings. Search engines see too many fix404 errors as a slapdash effort, or even an unloved, uncared for site and that can decrease your rankings in search.engines.

Why Does WordPress 404 Error – Common Causes of WordPress 404 Errors

Know Why 404 Errors Occur Knowing the reason of fix 404 error goes a long way toward making sure you choose the right solution. Common causes include:

Altering or updating the permalink structure.
Pages deleted or moved pages with no correct redirects in place.
Broken internal or external links.
. htaccess issues or no rewrite rules found.
Conflicts with plugins or themes.

Step 1: Refresh Permalink Settings

One of the easiest things that you can start with to fix 404 errors on your entire WordPress site is by resetting your permalink settings. Permalinks are the URLs for your posts and pages.

How to Refresh Permalinks:

Login in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
Navigate to Settings > Permalinks.
Click the Save Changes button without altering anything.
This will flush rewrite rules and usually solves fix 404 errors due to permalink problems.

Refreshing permalinks regenerates the URL structure and in many cases can remedy multiple 404s at once.

Step 2: Look for and Fix Broken Links

They’re the culprits of 404 not found page when links are directed to non-existent pages. It’s important to fix or eliminate these broken links in order to make it easy for users to navigate elsewhere on your site.

Plugins for broken links You can find broken links using plugins like Broken Link Checker or SEO plugins with 404 monitor, for example – Rank Math SEO.

How to get Broken Links Using Rank Math SEO :

Install Rank Math SEO & Activate it.
Navigate to Rank Math in your WordPress sidebar.
Open the 404 Monitor tool.
Check the list of URLs returning “Page does not exist”.
Edit or eliminate any dead links as appropriate.

It is a good idea to regularly check for broken links that can have an impact on your users experience and SEO.

Step 3: Redirect Moved or Deleted Pages

There are times when pages or posts get deleted and the URLs change to reflect updates. Visitors going to your old URLs will get a fix 04 error unless you redirect them automatically.

How to Set Up Redirects:

Utilise a plugin such as Redirection to effectively handle URL redirects.
Download and activate the Redirection plugin.
Navigate to Tools > Redirection.
-In the Source URL box -Paste the old (non-working) URL.
Put the right new URL in Target URL.
Save the redirect.

That way, visitors and search engines get smoothly rerouted to appropriate content rather than hitting a 404 here. Handling redirects correctly also protects SEO juice from deleted or relocated pages.

Step 4: Edit the. htaccess File

The. htaccess file in your WordPress root directory manages a number of server-side processes, and URL rewriting is one of them. A corrupted or missing. htaccess everywhere (and especially) on campus leading to mass fix 404 errors.

To Fix. htaccess File Manually:

Backup your current. htaccess file before making changes.
So connect your website files through FTP or cPanel file manager.
Locate the. htaccess in the root directory.
Open it in your favorite text editor and replace the contents with the WordPress default rewrite rules underneath.

# BEGIN WordPress
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
# END WordPress

Save the changes and re-upload the file to the server.
Prospects Reset file permissions to 644 for security reasons.

Editing the. Fix 404 errors and the most common permalink problems with this handy fixer!

Step 5: Deactivate any Problematic Plugins or Themes

At times, plugins or themes are conflicting to result in the fix 404 error. To test:

Temporarily deactivate all plugins.
If you are still having issues with the fix 404 error.
If the error gets resolved, activate plugins one after another to catch the culprit.
Try with a default theme (Twenty Twenty-Four) to exclude theme problems.

Once you’ve located the troublesome plugin or theme, replace or update it so you don’t encounter these errors in the future.

Step 6: Add Your Own 404 Error Page

Even when you corrected 404s some errors can continue popping up. The following script can add a custom 404 error page which results in a good user experience because it leads the users to content they seek instead of showing them a boring error message.

Tips for a Good 404 Page:

Add a friendly description about the page being lost.
Include popular posts or categories with links to them.
Include a search box to assist in users getting what they need.
Make the page look like your website.

A lot of WordPress themes and page builders come with 404 templates or the ability to design your own without coding.

Bonus Tips to Stop WordPress 404 Errors

Have the most current versions of your WordPress, themes, and plugins installed.
Keep tracking down and fixing broken links with SEO-friendly plugins.
Do not change published URLs for your content often.
Fully test new plug-ins or themes in a staging area before going live.
Back up your website at regular intervals so you can restore it if something goes wrong.

Conclusion

Solving 404 error in WordPress is very important to keep user experience smooth and SEO ranking high. Clearing permalinks, Broken link checking and fixing, Redirection setup, . htaccess file and dealing with plugin conflicts are crucial to fixing these errors. Also a custom 404 page helps in the sense that visitors don’t lose interest if there is an error.

Applying these fixes and preventive strategies above will keep your WP website open, friendly for users and search engines.