Learn how status code listings affect your site.

Your website speaks a hidden, coded language. When other computers come to visit, it may give them things like a 200 code, 301 code, 302 code or 404 error message code. Each of these codes are meant to tell a visiting computer what is going on with your site.

So, how often does another computer visit your site? The answer is basically the same number as the number of visitors you get. Your site is really just a computer and your visitors are looking at a computer that talks to your computer and translates what is said. Status code listings are among the ways your site’s computer and your visitor’s computer talk to one another. Search engines are also computers and understanding how to optimize http headers and status code listings will improve your rankings.

200 code – OK

Most pages return a HTTP header status code of 200. This tells a visiting computer that the URL they came to is a good page. There are no problems. A search engine will index this page as usual.

301 code – Permanently moved

If you restructure your site, you may need to rename folders and files. This means that the URL of the old page will no longer work. Visitors may have bookmarked or search engines may have indexed the old URL. You do not want to lose the visitors to the old URL so you need to know how to optimize http headers. A 301 code tells the visiting computer that the page has moved and provides them with the new page. Search engines will update their index and visitors are automatically forwarded to the new page.

302 code – Temporarily moved

If you have problems with your site and you need to move a few pages for a few days, you would use a 302 code. This tells visiting computers that the page is temporarily moved and provides the temporary URL. Search engines will return every few days to see if the page is returned but will not update their indexes. Visitors are automatically forwarded to the temporary page until the 302 code is removed.

404 error message code – Not Found

The dreaded 404 error message code is one that you should try to avoid. A 404 code means that there is no page at the URL the computer is visiting. While search engines will not immediately remove a page from their index if they continue to get a 404 error message code, they will eventually take the URL out.

Besides this, a 404 code reflects poorly on your site. Site with a high number of 404 code pages are considered to be lower quality, which can affect your rankings.

The answer on how to optimize http headers is by providing the correct status code listings.

Never let a page simply return a 404 error message code after you move it or take it down. Using a 301 or 302 code will make sure that no visitors to your site will ever be left with nowhere to go and that search engines know you care about your site.