How to handle Soft 404 in Squarespace

Handling Soft 404 errors in Squarespace involves addressing issues where pages return a “200 OK” response (indicating success) but don’t actually provide useful content to the user, making them function like 404 pages (pages not found). Here’s how to fix Soft 404s in Squarespace:

1. Check Google Search Console for Soft 404 Errors

• Log in to Google Search Console.
• Go to the Coverage section.
• Look for Soft 404 errors listed under the Excluded tab.
• Review the URLs identified by Google as Soft 404s.

2. Evaluate the Problematic Pages

• Check the pages listed in the Soft 404 report.
• Ensure that they have enough meaningful content. A page with little or no content is often flagged as a Soft 404 by Google.

3. Fix Content Issues

• Add Relevant Content: If the page is legitimate but lacks substantial content, add more information, images, or multimedia to make it more valuable to users and search engines.
• Delete or Redirect Unnecessary Pages: If the page isn’t needed or serves no purpose, consider deleting it or redirecting it to a more relevant page.
  • To set up a redirect in Squarespace:
    1. Go to Settings → Advanced → URL Mappings.
    2. Add a 301 redirect in the format /old-url -> /new-url 301.

4. Ensure Proper Error Pages

• Squarespace automatically creates a 404 error page. You can customize it to enhance user experience.
  • To customize:
    1. Go to Design → Not Found / 404 Page.
    2. Add helpful navigation, a search bar, or links to popular pages.

5. Update Google Search Console

• Once you’ve fixed the issue (added content or redirected the page), request revalidation in Google Search Console so that Google can reassess the changes.

6. Avoid Placeholder Pages

• Ensure that pages under construction or “coming soon” pages don’t return a 200 status code. Either add real content or hide them from search engines by marking them as “noindex” (you can add code to Page Settings → Advanced).

7. Check for Theme or Plugin Issues

• Sometimes Soft 404s are caused by issues within the theme or plugins. Ensure that your Squarespace theme and third-party integrations are functioning properly.

8. Squarespace Support Guide