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WPDistrib

The documentation base on creating web content

❓Topic covered in this documentation article:

How to Clean Up 404 Errors on WordPress Using Google Search Console and RankMath

Laurent | WPDistrib

Laurent | WPDistrib

📚 Related topics in the documentation base:

🟡 Iteration 2 —
Tagged version

🏷 This article has been tagged: it now has all the basic technical elements to be properly interpreted by search engines.

This includes SEO metadata (title, description, excerpt), a featured image, and a consistent internal linking structure.

📌 This step is not yet a complete SEO optimization, but it allows the article to be shared properly on social media.
Thanks to its image, title, and excerpt, it’s ready to circulate in a content distribution logic.

Flowchart showing how to redirect a 404 error to a 301 or 410 status in WordPress

RankMath helps clean up 404 errors on WordPress. This guide explains how to detect them via Search Console and resolve them using 301 or 410 redirections. 🧹

Start reading →

Cleaning up 404 errors on a WordPress site is one of the basic best practices for maintaining a clean technical foundation. Even if the WPDistrib site receives little traffic today (June 2025), it is essential to correct these ghost URLs, especially if they accumulate through successive restructurings. This article explains how to identify 404 pages via Google Search Console and remove them properly using the RankMath plugin, opting for a 410 redirect.

Understanding Why Pages Return a 404 Error

When a WordPress page is deleted, renamed, or modified without redirection, its original URL often remains stored by Google. The indexing robot (“Googlebot”) continues to visit it. If the server no longer finds it, it returns an HTTP 404 code, meaning “Not Found.”

The most common causes include:

🔁 Slug change: an article or category has been renamed, which modifies its permalink.

🧹 Content cleanup: old pages or images were intentionally deleted without redirection.

💥 Typo or broken link: some slugs may have been incorrectly formatted or auto-generated.

These errors are inevitable in the long run, but it’s important to identify and fix them to keep the site coherent.

Exploring 404 Errors with Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google to monitor the health of a website. It notably helps identify 404 error pages.

If RankMath is installed (as on WPDistrib), follow these steps:

👉 Go to RankMath > General Settings > Webmaster Tools.

👉 Find the Google Search Console section: a link is provided to access the official setup guide.

👉 Follow the instructions: sign in with a Google account (e.g., Gmail) , create a Search Console property, and choose the HTML tag verification method.

👉 Copy the verification tag provided by Google and paste it in the appropriate field in RankMath.

👉 Return to Search Console and click on Verify Property.

Once this step is completed, the site is connected to Google Search Console. It is then recommended to add a sitemap:

👉 Check that the “Sitemap” option is enabled in the RankMath dashboard.

👉 Go to RankMath > Sitemap Settings and note the generated URL (often: your-domain.tld/sitemap_index.xml).

👉 In Google Search Console, add this URL in the Sitemaps section.

Thanks to this connection, Google will start crawling your site and provide useful data, especially about detected 404 errors. Be patient—Google may take several days to scan your site!

Choosing Between 301 Redirect and 410 Deletion

Before deciding how to handle 404 errors, you must first detect them. Here’s how:

👉 Log in to Google Search Console for your site.

👉 In the left menu, click on Indexing > Pages.

👉 Scroll to the bottom to see the section Why pages aren’t indexed.

👉 Click on the reason Not Found (404) .

👉 You’ll then see the list of URLs Google considers missing.

Example of 404 errors listed in Google Search Console for a WordPress site
View of non-indexed pages detected by Google on WPDistrib.

From that list, two options are available depending on the case:

🔁 301 Redirect: use this if another relevant page can replace the deleted one. It helps preserve SEO or external links.

🚫 410 Gone: use this if the page no longer serves a purpose and has no inbound links or traffic. This clearly tells Google that the resource was intentionally removed.

For WPDistrib, the affected pages are old and have no SEO value: a 410 redirection is preferable.

Properly Applying 410 Redirections with RankMath

WPDistrib uses the RankMath plugin, which handles both 301 redirects and 410 status codes.

Here’s how to configure a deletion:

👉 Go to RankMath > Redirections.

👉 Click on Add New Redirection.

👉 Enter the URL to delete in the “Source URL” field.

👉 Under “Redirection Type, ” select 410 – Content Deleted.

👉 Save the rule. It will be active immediately.

This method is quick, simple, and ensures obsolete URLs are cleaned up properly.

Example of setting up a 410 redirection in RankMath
RankMath allows for clean deletion of content using 410 redirects.

Monitoring 404 Errors in Real Time with RankMath

Besides Google Search Console, RankMath includes a built-in 404 error monitor. This feature lets you spot problem URLs immediately—without waiting for Google to report them.

To use it:

👉 Go to RankMath > Dashboard and enable the 404 Monitor module if it’s not already active.

👉 Once activated, go to RankMath > 404 Monitor.

👉 You’ll see a list of recent attempts to access non-existent URLs (404 status), along with the date, IP address, and attempt count.

💡 This allows you to identify in real time if certain deleted, mistyped, or outdated pages are still being accessed. You can then handle them just like earlier: 301 redirection if relevant, or 410 deletion if not.

Why Clean Up 404s Even Without Traffic?

Even if a site gets little traffic, 404s should still be handled for several reasons:

✅ Improve crawl efficiency: Google wastes less time on useless pages.

✅ Enhance site perception: error-free sites appear more trustworthy to search engines.

✅ Prepare for growth: a clean foundation today helps SEO tomorrow.

✅ Catch technical issues: some 404s may reveal deeper structural or config errors.

🌀 RankMath and Search Console: WPDistrib’s Clean Site Duo

WPDistrib chooses to maintain a site free from broken links and orphaned pages. By combining Search Console’s detailed detection with RankMath’s smart redirections, it’s easy to keep a clean technical foundation—no complexity required. A best practice that’s useful today, and essential tomorrow.

💡 Did this article speak to you, make you think, or make you want to go further?

You might be wondering:

  • Can I create a website that reflects who I am, without relying on a closed tool?
  • Can I learn to publish, structure, and organize my content myself?
  • Am I ready to dedicate time to it?

If the answer is yes, then you’re in the right place.

Creating a useful and sustainable website does take some time — but it’s time well invested, to learn how to do things with clarity and method.

That’s exactly the goal of WPDistrib:

→ save time right from the start,
→ with an already optimized WordPress,
→ and free resources to learn how to use it well.

  • 👉 Want to start with an enhanced, lightweight, already optimized WordPress? I download WPDistrib
  • Prefer to learn and understand before you dive in?👉 I explore the documentation base
  • 👉 Want to go further and structure a site around a profession or a passion? I discover the method

LATEST POSTS

WPDistrib

The documentation base on
creating web content

Flowchart showing how to redirect a 404 error to a 301 or 410 status in WordPress

How to Clean Up 404 Errors on WordPress Using Google Search Console and RankMath

⬇

🟡 Iteration 2 —
Tagged version

🏷 This article has been tagged: it now has all the basic technical elements to be properly interpreted by search engines.

This includes SEO metadata (title, description, excerpt), a featured image, and a consistent internal linking structure.

📌 This step is not yet a complete SEO optimization, but it allows the article to be shared properly on social media.
Thanks to its image, title, and excerpt, it’s ready to circulate in a content distribution logic.

Laurent | WPDistrib

Laurent | WPDistrib

, ,

RankMath helps clean up 404 errors on WordPress. This guide explains how to detect them via Search Console and resolve them using 301 or 410 redirections. 🧹

Start reading →

Beginning of the article

Cleaning up 404 errors on a WordPress site is one of the basic best practices for maintaining a clean technical foundation. Even if the WPDistrib site receives little traffic today (June 2025), it is essential to correct these ghost URLs, especially if they accumulate through successive restructurings. This article explains how to identify 404 pages via Google Search Console and remove them properly using the RankMath plugin, opting for a 410 redirect.

Understanding Why Pages Return a 404 Error

When a WordPress page is deleted, renamed, or modified without redirection, its original URL often remains stored by Google. The indexing robot (“Googlebot”) continues to visit it. If the server no longer finds it, it returns an HTTP 404 code, meaning “Not Found.”

The most common causes include:

🔁 Slug change: an article or category has been renamed, which modifies its permalink.

🧹 Content cleanup: old pages or images were intentionally deleted without redirection.

💥 Typo or broken link: some slugs may have been incorrectly formatted or auto-generated.

These errors are inevitable in the long run, but it’s important to identify and fix them to keep the site coherent.

Exploring 404 Errors with Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google to monitor the health of a website. It notably helps identify 404 error pages.

If RankMath is installed (as on WPDistrib), follow these steps:

👉 Go to RankMath > General Settings > Webmaster Tools.

👉 Find the Google Search Console section: a link is provided to access the official setup guide.

👉 Follow the instructions: sign in with a Google account (e.g., Gmail) , create a Search Console property, and choose the HTML tag verification method.

👉 Copy the verification tag provided by Google and paste it in the appropriate field in RankMath.

👉 Return to Search Console and click on Verify Property.

Once this step is completed, the site is connected to Google Search Console. It is then recommended to add a sitemap:

👉 Check that the “Sitemap” option is enabled in the RankMath dashboard.

👉 Go to RankMath > Sitemap Settings and note the generated URL (often: your-domain.tld/sitemap_index.xml).

👉 In Google Search Console, add this URL in the Sitemaps section.

Thanks to this connection, Google will start crawling your site and provide useful data, especially about detected 404 errors. Be patient—Google may take several days to scan your site!

Choosing Between 301 Redirect and 410 Deletion

Before deciding how to handle 404 errors, you must first detect them. Here’s how:

👉 Log in to Google Search Console for your site.

👉 In the left menu, click on Indexing > Pages.

👉 Scroll to the bottom to see the section Why pages aren’t indexed.

👉 Click on the reason Not Found (404) .

👉 You’ll then see the list of URLs Google considers missing.

Example of 404 errors listed in Google Search Console for a WordPress site
View of non-indexed pages detected by Google on WPDistrib.

From that list, two options are available depending on the case:

🔁 301 Redirect: use this if another relevant page can replace the deleted one. It helps preserve SEO or external links.

🚫 410 Gone: use this if the page no longer serves a purpose and has no inbound links or traffic. This clearly tells Google that the resource was intentionally removed.

For WPDistrib, the affected pages are old and have no SEO value: a 410 redirection is preferable.

Properly Applying 410 Redirections with RankMath

WPDistrib uses the RankMath plugin, which handles both 301 redirects and 410 status codes.

Here’s how to configure a deletion:

👉 Go to RankMath > Redirections.

👉 Click on Add New Redirection.

👉 Enter the URL to delete in the “Source URL” field.

👉 Under “Redirection Type, ” select 410 – Content Deleted.

👉 Save the rule. It will be active immediately.

This method is quick, simple, and ensures obsolete URLs are cleaned up properly.

Example of setting up a 410 redirection in RankMath
RankMath allows for clean deletion of content using 410 redirects.

Monitoring 404 Errors in Real Time with RankMath

Besides Google Search Console, RankMath includes a built-in 404 error monitor. This feature lets you spot problem URLs immediately—without waiting for Google to report them.

To use it:

👉 Go to RankMath > Dashboard and enable the 404 Monitor module if it’s not already active.

👉 Once activated, go to RankMath > 404 Monitor.

👉 You’ll see a list of recent attempts to access non-existent URLs (404 status), along with the date, IP address, and attempt count.

💡 This allows you to identify in real time if certain deleted, mistyped, or outdated pages are still being accessed. You can then handle them just like earlier: 301 redirection if relevant, or 410 deletion if not.

Why Clean Up 404s Even Without Traffic?

Even if a site gets little traffic, 404s should still be handled for several reasons:

✅ Improve crawl efficiency: Google wastes less time on useless pages.

✅ Enhance site perception: error-free sites appear more trustworthy to search engines.

✅ Prepare for growth: a clean foundation today helps SEO tomorrow.

✅ Catch technical issues: some 404s may reveal deeper structural or config errors.

🌀 RankMath and Search Console: WPDistrib’s Clean Site Duo

WPDistrib chooses to maintain a site free from broken links and orphaned pages. By combining Search Console’s detailed detection with RankMath’s smart redirections, it’s easy to keep a clean technical foundation—no complexity required. A best practice that’s useful today, and essential tomorrow.

End of the article

💡 Did this article speak to you, make you think, or make you want to go further?

You might be wondering:

  • Can I create a website that reflects who I am, without relying on a closed tool?
  • Can I learn to publish, structure, and organize my content myself?
  • Am I ready to dedicate time to it?

If the answer is yes, then you’re in the right place.

Creating a useful and sustainable website does take some time — but it’s time well invested, to learn how to do things with clarity and method.

That’s exactly the goal of WPDistrib:

→ save time right from the start,
→ with an already optimized WordPress,
→ and free resources to learn how to use it well.

  • 👉 Want to start with an enhanced, lightweight, already optimized WordPress? I download WPDistrib
  • Prefer to learn and understand before you dive in?👉 I explore the documentation base
  • 👉 Want to go further and structure a site around a profession or a passion? I discover the method

LATEST POSTS