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HTTP Status Codes

When a browser requests a webpage, the server returns the response with an HTTP status code. Regardless of whether the server fulfills your request, the server will always return a status code to indicate the response was successful. If the server fails to return a response, the status code will indicate why it failed. The HTTP Status Code is returned as a part of the HTTP response header from the web server.

The are various reasons why a server may fail to return a valid response. Understanding HTTP status codes will help webmaster and developers help diagnose the problem, and minimize the downtime. An HTTP Status Code is a 3-digit number, and there are 5 groups of responses. The status codes are classified into 5 groups, and they are named after the 1st digit (i.e. 1XX, 2XX, 3XX, 4XX and 5XX).

Web Browsers generally do not show Status Codes as they are part of the header response, and not the display contents. Some CMS (Content Management Systems) and custom templates are used to display HTTP status codes like the one shown by Cloudflare below. Also, some developer tools allow programmers to display status codes when deemed necessary.

HTTP Status Code 504
An example of Status Code 504 from CloudFlare

HTTP Status Code Classes

The status codes are grouped into 5 categories, each group indicates a general status. By just knowing the status class, you'll have a general idea of what may have gone wrong.

  • 1XX: Informantional. The server received and understood the requests, and the request is being processed.
  • 2XX: Successful. The server received, understood, and accepted the request.
  • 3XX: Redirection. The server received a request, but the request was redirected to another page.
  • 4XX: Client Errors. The server received a request, but there is a problem with the request.
  • 5XX: Server Errors. The server received a request, but there is a problem on the server to fulfill the request.

Within each class, there are a variety of specific status codes that further clarify the response. The status codes in the 100-299, and 300-level are indicating the site is working as intended. The status codes from 400-599 are indicating that there are problems. You may use Google Search Console to diagnose your site performance.

A complete HTTP Status Codes

It is important for developers and SEO professionals to understand the HTTP status codes, and remedy any issues you may have on your website. Here is a complete list of HTTP Status codes with most commons highlighted in yellow:

1×× Informational

100 Continue

101 Switching Protocols

102 Processing

2×× Success

200 OK - This is the most common status code indicating the request was successfully carried out, and the response has been returned.

201 Created

202 Accepted

203 Non-authoritative Information

204 No Content

205 Reset Content

206 Partial Content

207 Multi-Status

208 Already Reported

226 IM Used

3×× Redirection

 

300 Multiple Choices

301 Moved Permanently - A common way to permanently redirect a page to another page.

302 Moved Temporarily - A common way to temporarily redirect a page to another page.

303 See Other

304 Not Modified

305 Use Proxy

307 Temporary Redirect

308 Permanent Redirect

4×× Client Error

400 Bad Request

401 Unauthorized

402 Payment Required

403 Forbidden - This indicates that the client doesn't have the authority to view this page.

404 Not Found - The requested page does not exist on the server.

405 Method Not Allowed

406 Not Acceptable

407 Proxy Authentication Required

408 Request Timeout

409 Conflict

410 Gone

411 Length Required

412 Precondition Failed

413 Payload Too Large

414 Request-URI Too Long

415 Unsupported Media Type

416 Requested Range Not Satisfiable

417 Expectation Failed

418 I'm a teapot

421 Misdirected Request

422 Unprocessable Entity

423 Locked

424 Failed Dependency

426 Upgrade Required

428 Precondition Required

429 Too Many Requests

431 Request Header Fields Too Large

444 Connection Closed Without Response

451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons

499 Client Closed Request

5×× Server Error

500 Internal Server Error - The server encountered a problem while processing a request. This is a generally programming error on the dynamic website.

501 Not Implemented

502 Bad Gateway

503 Service Unavailable - The server is overloaded with too many requests, and cannot fulfill this request. This may indicate the server may be under DDoS attack.

504 Gateway Timeout - If you're behind a reverse proxy such as Incapsula and CloudFlare, the network gateway closed the HTTP connection because there was no response from the server within the allotted time.

505 HTTP Version Not Supported

506 Variant Also Negotiates

507 Insufficient Storage

508 Loop Detected

510 Not Extended

511 Network Authentication Required

599 Network Connect Timeout Error

Conclusion

For every HTTP request, the server responds with an HTTP response and accompanying headers. The HTTP response header includes the HTTP Status Code, and this indicates the status of the response. This is invaluable information used by developers and SEO professionals to understand the overall state of the website and also to troubleshoot issues when a problem arises.

If you wish to determine the status code of a webpage, you may use our HTTP Status Code Checker online tool to test up to 25 URLs at a time.


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