HTTP Status Codes That Matter to Google

Google’s Search Relations team has shed some light on which HTTP status codes are most relevant when it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO). Understanding how different codes are treated can help improve your website’s performance in search results.

To begin with, Google mainly focuses on whether a redirect is permanent or temporary. This distinction plays a key role in how your content is indexed and ranked.

Interestingly, HTTP 1xx status codes are entirely ignored by Google. These codes, which indicate informational responses, don’t influence how your pages are crawled or understood by the search engine.

Network errors reported in Google Search Console are often rooted in deeper, more technical layers of a website’s infrastructure. These issues aren’t always directly linked to SEO, but resolving them is still crucial for overall site health.

How Google Views Certain HTTP Status Codes

Although the podcast didn’t go over every single HTTP status code (with the 200 OK code still being the most essential), it concentrated on groups that frequently confuse those working in SEO.

Splitt highlighted during the talk that these status codes hold real importance for both site owners and SEO specialists. They essentially provide insights into what occurred when a particular request was made to the server.

The discussion also brought to light several key observations about how Google handles different categories of status codes.

The 1xx Codes: Completely Ignored

Google’s crawlers do not pay attention to any status codes in the 1xx range, which includes newer features such as “early hints” (HTTP 103).

Illyes explained this by saying that Google simply passes through these 1xx codes without actually registering them. Instead, the crawlers focus on the next status code outside the 100 range.

As a result, while using early hints may improve the user experience, it won’t have a direct impact on your SEO performance.

Redirects: Simpler Than Many SEOs Believe

SEO experts often discuss which redirect type is best to use, such as 301, 302, 307, or 308. However, Google’s main concern is whether a redirect is permanent or temporary.

Illyes explained that for Google Search, it mainly registers that a redirection occurred. The distinction between temporary and permanent redirects matters more during canonicalisation, but beyond that, Google simply recognises it was a redirect.

This doesn’t mean how you set up redirects isn’t important, but it does highlight that the key factor is whether the redirect is permanent or temporary, rather than the exact status code used.

What Wasn’t Discussed But Still Matters

The podcast did not cover several important status codes that Google pays close attention to. These include the 200 OK code, which indicates a successful response from the server.

It also left out 500-level server errors, which can have a significant impact on how Google crawls and indexes a website. Another key code not discussed was 429 Too Many Requests, related to rate limiting.

There are also various other specialised status codes that matter to Google but weren’t covered in the discussion.

Practical Takeaways

Although this wasn’t an exhaustive guide to HTTP status codes, the discussion offered some useful practical insights. When it comes to redirects, the main focus should be on whether they are permanent or temporary.

It’s not worthwhile to spend time optimising 1xx responses specifically for Google, as these are largely ignored by their crawlers. When dealing with network errors, it’s important to investigate beyond just the HTTP layer and look into deeper protocol issues.

Standard status codes should still be implemented correctly, even if they weren’t specifically mentioned in the discussion.

With the ongoing development of web technologies like HTTP/3 and QUIC, having a clear understanding of how Google interprets these signals can help you create better technical SEO strategies without making things overly complex.