HTTP status codes

When a request is made to your server for a page on your site (for instance, when a user accesses your page in a browser or when Googlebot crawls the page), your server returns an HTTP status code in response to the request. This status code provides information about the status of the request. This status code gives Googlebot information about your site and the requested page. Some common status codes are: 200 - the server successfully returned the page 404 - the requested page doesn't exist 503 - the server is temporarily unavailable

A complete list of HTTP status codes is below. You can also visit the W3C page on HTTP status codes for more information. 1xx (Provisional response) Status codes that indicate a provisional response and require the requestor to take action to continue.

Code 100 (Continue) 101 (Switching protocols)

2xx (Successful)

Description The requestor should continue with the request. The server returns this code to indicate that it has received the first part of a request and is waiting for the rest. The requestor has asked the server to switch protocols and the server is acknowledging that it will do so.

Status codes that indicate that the server successfully processed the request.

Code 200 (Successful) 201 (Created) 202 (Accepted) 203 (Nonauthoritative information) 204 (No content)

Description The server successfully processed the request. Generally, this means that the server provided the requested page. If you see this status for your robots.txt file, it means that Googlebot retrieved it successfully. The request was successful and the server created a new resource. The server has accepted the request, but hasn't yet processed it. The server successfully processed the request, but is returning information that may be from another source.

The server successfully processed the request, but isn't returning any content. The server successfully proccessed the request, but isn't returning any 205 (Reset content) content. Unlike a 204 response, this response requires that the requestor reset the document view (for instance, clear a form for new input).

206 (Partial content)

The server successfully processed a partial GET request.

3xx (Redirected) Further action is needed to fulfill the request. Often, these status codes are used for redirection. Google recommends that you use fewer than five redirects for each request. You can use Webmaster Tools to see if Googlebot is having trouble crawling your redirected pages. The Crawl errors page under Diagnosticslists URLs that Googlebot was unable to crawl due to redirect errors.

Code

Description The server has several actions available based on the request. The server 300 (Multiple may choose an action based on the requestor (user agent) or the server may choices) present a list so the requestor can choose an action. The requested page has been permanently moved to a new location. When the server returns this response (as a response to a GET or HEAD request), it 301 (Moved automatically forwards the requestor to the new location. You should use permanently) this code to let Googlebot know that a page or site has permanently moved to a new location. The server is currently responding to the request with a page from a different location, but the requestor should continue to use the original location for 302 (Moved future requests. This code is similar to a 301 in that for a GET or HEAD temporarily) request, it automatically forwards the requestor to a different location, but you shouldn't use it to tell the Googlebot that a page or site has moved because Googlebot will continue to crawl and index the original location. The server returns this code when the requestor should make a separate GET 303 (See other request to a different location to retrieve the response. For all requests other location) than a HEAD request, the server automatically forwards to the other location. The requested page hasn't been modified since the last request. When the server returns this response, it doesn't return the contents of the page. 304 (Not modified) You should configure your server to return this response (called the IfModified-Since HTTP header) when a page hasn't changed since the last time the requestor asked for it. This saves you bandwidth and overhead because your server can tell Googlebot that a page hasn't changed since the last time it was crawled. The requestor can only access the requested page using a proxy. When the server returns this response, it also indicates the proxy that the requestor should use. The server is currently responding to the request with a page from a different location, but the requestor should continue to use the original location for future requests. This code is similar to a 301 in that for a GET or HEAD request, it automatically forwards the requestor to a different location, but you shouldn't use it to tell the Googlebot that a page or site has moved because Googlebot will continue to crawl and index the original location.

305 (Use proxy)

307 (Temporary redirect)

4xx (Request error) These status codes indicate that there was likely an error in the request which prevented the server from being able to process it.

Code 400 (Bad request) 401 (Not authorized) 403 (Forbidden)

Description The server didn't understand the syntax of the request. The request requires authentication. The server might return this response for a page behind a login. The server is refusing the request. If you see that Googlebot received this status code when trying to crawl valid pages of your site (you can see this on the Web crawl page under Diagnostics in Google Webmaster Tools), it's possible that your server or host is blocking Googlebot's access. The server can't find the requested page. For instance, the server often returns this code if the request is for a page that doesn't exist on the server. If you don't have a robots.txt file on your site and see this status on the robots.txt page of the Diagnostic tab in Google Webmaster Tools, this is the correct status. However, if you do have a robots.txt file and you see this status, then your robots.txt file may be named incorrectly or in the wrong location. (It should be at the top-level of the domain and named robots.txt.) If you see this status for URLs that Googlebot tried to crawl (on the HTTP errors page of the Diagnostic tab), then Googlebot likely followed an invalid link from another page (either an old link or a mistyped one).

404 (Not found)

405 (Method not allowed) 406 (Not acceptable) 407 (Proxy authentication required) 408 (Request timeout)

The method specified in the request is not allowed. The requested page can't respond with the content characteristics requested. This status code is similar 401 (Not authorized); but specifies that the requestor has to authenticate using a proxy. When the server returns this response, it also indicates the proxy that the requestor should use. The server timed out waiting for the request.

The server encountered a conflict fulfilling the request. The server must include information about the conflict in the response. The server might 409 (Conflict) return this code in response to a PUT request that conflicts with an earlier request, along with a list of differences between the requests. The server returns this response when the requested resource has been permanently removed. It is similar to a 404 (Not found) code, but is 410 (Gone) sometimes used in the place of a 404 for resources that used to exist but no longer do. If the resource has permanently moved, you should use a 301 to specify the resource's new location. 411 (Length The server won't accept the request without a valid Content-Length header required) field. 412 (Precondition The server doesn't meet one of the preconditions that the requestor put on

failed) 413 (Request entity too large) 414 (Requested URI is too long) 415 (Unsupported media type) 416 (Requested range not satisfiable) 417 (Expectation failed)

the request. The server can't process the request because it is too large for the server to handle. The requested URI (typically, a URL) is too long for the server to process. The request is in a format not support by the requested page. The server returns this status code if the request is for a range not available for the page. The server can't meet the requirements of the Expect request-header field.

5xx (Server error) These status codes indicate that the server had an internal error when trying to process the request. These errors tend to be with the server itself, not with the request.

Code 500 (Internal server error) 501 (Not implemented) 502 (Bad gateway) 503 (Service unavailable) 504 (Gateway timeout) 505 (HTTP version not supported)

Description The server encountered an error and can't fulfill the request. The server doesn't have the functionality to fulfill the request. For instance, the server might return this code when it doesn't recognize the request method. The server was acting as a gateway or proxy and received an invalid response from the upstream server. The server is currently unavailable (because it is overloaded or down for maintenance). Generally, this is a temporary state. The server was acting as a gateway or proxy and didn't receive a timely request from the upstream server. The server doesn't support the HTTP protocol version used in the request.