Should I 301 permanent redirect to my custom 404 page?

Should I 301 permanent redirect to my custom 404 page? - If a page has internal and external outgoing links to redirecting URLs, it’s returning 3xx (301, 302, etc.) HTTP status codes standing for redirection. This issue means that the page does not exist on a permanent or temporary basis. It appears on most of the popular web browsers, usually caused by a misconfigured website. However, there are some steps you can take to ensure the issue isn’t on your side. You can find more details about redirecting URLs by reading the Google Search Central overview. In this article, we’ll go over how you can fix the Should I 301 permanent redirect to my custom 404 page? error on your web browser. Problem :

I'm trying to figure out the correct way to send visitors to a custom 404 page when they hit a page that doesn't exist.

Is issuing a 301 redirect to the custom 404 page the recommended method?

Solution :

You do not want to do a 301 redirect to a 404 page. The 404 HTTP response tells the user-agent (browser, search engine, etc) that the requested document cannot be found. If you send a 301 HTTP response then they will think the document has moved to the new location which is your 404 page. That is not accurate.

When you encounter a page not found send the HTTP 404 response but load your custom 404 error page. That way the result of the request is accurate (and hopefully your error page explains it well in layman's terms so users can hopefully react to it in a way that is helpful to them and you).

We hope that this article has helped you resolve the redirects, 301-redirect, 404 error in your web browsers. Enjoy browsing the internet uninterrupted!