HTTP Status Codes
Three-digit response codes from web servers indicating whether a request succeeded or failed.
HTTP status codes are three-digit numbers that a web server returns in response to a browser's request. They tell the browser (and search engine crawlers) whether the request was successful, redirected, or resulted in an error.
The main categories: **2xx (Success)** — the request worked. 200 means "OK, here's the page." **3xx (Redirect)** — the page has moved. 301 (permanent) and 302 (temporary) are most common. **4xx (Client Error)** — something's wrong with the request. 404 (not found) and 403 (forbidden) are typical. **5xx (Server Error)** — the server broke. 500 (internal server error) and 503 (service unavailable) mean something's wrong on the backend.
For SEO, the most important codes to know are 200, 301, 302, 404, 410 (gone permanently), and 503. Each tells search engines something different about how to treat the URL.
A 503 status code is useful during maintenance — it tells Google "we're temporarily down, please come back later" without affecting your rankings. A 410 says "this page is gone forever," which is stronger than a 404.
Why It Matters for SEO
Status codes directly affect how search engines crawl and index your site. Wrong status codes can cause pages to be deindexed, redirect loops, or wasted crawl budget. Understanding them is fundamental to technical SEO.
🔍 How to Check This
Use AuditMySite's Redirect Checker to verify the HTTP status codes of any URL.
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