HTTP Status Codes Explained: When to Use 200, 301, 302, 404, 410 & 500

Every time a browser, search engine, or API requests a page, the server responds with an HTTP status code.

Although visitors rarely see these codes directly, they determine how browsers, search engines, and applications should handle the response.

A status code tells the client whether:

• The request succeeded
• The page moved
• The page doesn’t exist
• The request was invalid
• The server encountered an error

Choosing the correct status code improves user experience, simplifies debugging, and helps search engines understand your website. Google’s crawlers rely on these responses when deciding how to crawl, index, and interpret your pages.

HTTP responses are grouped into five categories.

1xx – Informational

The request has been received and processing continues.

Rarely encountered during everyday website development.

2xx – Success

The request completed successfully.

Example:

200 OK

This is the response you want for normal pages.

3xx – Redirection

The requested resource has moved.

Examples:

301

302

307

308

These tell browsers and search engines to request another URL.

4xx – Client Errors

The request could not be completed because of something on the client side.

Examples:

400

401

403

404

410

5xx – Server Errors

The request reached the server, but the server couldn’t complete it.

Examples:

500

502

503

504

These generally indicate problems requiring server-side investigation.

Use when:

• The page exists.
• Content is available.
• Everything loaded successfully.

Examples:

• Homepage
• Blog article
• Product page
• Contact page

A healthy website should return 200 OK for all accessible pages.

Use when a page has permanently moved.

Examples:

Old URL
↓
New URL

Typical scenarios:

• Domain migration
• HTTPS migration
• URL restructuring
• Page renamed
• Product moved

A 301 redirect signals that the move is permanent and helps search engines consolidate ranking signals to the destination page. Google recommends permanent redirects such as 301 or 308 for permanent site moves.

Use when the move is temporary.

Examples:

• Maintenance pages
• Seasonal campaigns
• Temporary landing pages
• Short-lived promotions
• A/B testing

Search engines generally continue treating the original URL as canonical because the redirect is expected to be temporary. Google specifically recommends temporary redirects for experiments such as A/B testing.

A 404 indicates that the requested page cannot be found.

Examples:

Deleted page

Broken URL

Typing mistake

Removed product

Contrary to popular belief:

404 pages are not bad.

Every website will have some.

The problem begins when:

• Thousands of internal links point to 404 pages.
• Important pages accidentally return 404.
• Valuable backlinks point to missing pages.

Google treats a proper 404 as a normal response indicating the page doesn’t exist.

Many developers forget this status code.

Unlike:

404

which means:

“The page isn’t here.”

A:

410

means:

“The page has been intentionally removed and isn’t coming back.”

Typical examples:

• Expired campaign pages
• Permanently discontinued products
• Removed legal content

Use 410 when you want to communicate permanent removal rather than uncertainty.

This indicates the server failed while processing a request.

Common causes:

• PHP fatal errors
• Database failures
• Misconfigured .htaccess
• Plugin conflicts
• Server configuration problems

Unlike 404 errors, 500 errors require immediate attention because users and search engines cannot access the content.

Use 503 when the website is temporarily unavailable.

Examples:

• Planned maintenance
• Server upgrades
• Temporary outages

This tells search engines the issue is temporary and encourages them to try again later, making it more appropriate than returning a generic 500 during planned maintenance.

Redirecting Every 404 to the Homepage

Bad:

Missing page
↓
Homepage

Instead, either:

• redirect to the closest equivalent page
• or return a proper 404

Redirecting unrelated URLs to the homepage can confuse users and search engines.

Using 302 Instead of 301

Many websites accidentally leave temporary redirects in place permanently.

If the move is permanent:

Use:

301

Soft 404s

Returning:

200 OK

while displaying:

Page Not Found

confuses search engines because the response says the page exists even though the content says it doesn’t. Google identifies these as soft 404s and recommends returning the correct HTTP status instead.

Redirect Chains

Avoid:

Old
↓
301
↓
301
↓
301
↓
Final Page

Instead:

Old
↓
Final Page

One redirect is faster, easier to maintain, and better for crawling.

Status codes aren’t just for websites.

REST APIs rely on them extensively.

Examples:

200 OK

201 Created

204 No Content

400 Bad Request

401 Unauthorized

403 Forbidden

404 Not Found

500 Internal Server Error

Returning the appropriate status code makes APIs easier to consume and debug.

Across WordPress platforms, REST APIs, business dashboards, and enterprise integrations, correct HTTP status codes are one of those small implementation details that have a disproportionate impact.

I’ve encountered projects where:

• 302 redirects remained in place for years after a site migration.
• Custom 404 pages returned 200 OK, preventing search engines from recognizing missing content.
• APIs returned 200 even when requests failed, making client-side error handling unnecessarily difficult.
• Redirect chains accumulated after repeated website redesigns, adding latency and crawl complexity.

Fixing these issues often improves maintainability just as much as it improves SEO.

When developing websites and APIs:

• Return 200 only when content genuinely exists.
• Use 301 for permanent moves.
• Use 302 or 307 for temporary redirects.
• Return 404 for missing resources.
• Return 410 for content intentionally removed.
• Use 503 during scheduled maintenance.
• Avoid soft 404s.
• Eliminate redirect chains.
• Regularly monitor crawl errors in Google Search Console.

HTTP status codes are one of the fundamental building blocks of the web.

Although they’re invisible to most users, they influence how browsers behave, how APIs communicate, and how search engines crawl and index your content.

Understanding when to return 200, 301, 302, 404, 410, or 503 isn’t just good technical practice—it’s an essential part of building reliable, search-friendly, and maintainable web applications.