Page returns HTTP 200 status

http_status_ok

Checks if the page returns HTTP 200 OK status.

What does this rule check?

A page must return HTTP 200 status to be indexed by search engines. 4xx errors indicate the page doesn't exist or access is denied. 5xx errors indicate server problems. Both prevent indexing and harm user experience.

Why is this important?

Pages returning error status codes cannot be indexed by search engines and provide a terrible user experience. They also waste crawl budget when linked from other pages.

How to fix

Fix the server error or set up proper redirects for moved content. For 404s, either restore the content or implement 301 redirects to the closest relevant page.

Examples

HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
<!-- Page returns a 404 error -->

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
<!-- Page loads successfully -->

Agent fix snippet

Copy this snippet and paste it into your AI coding agent to fix this issue automatically.

Identify pages returning non-200 status codes.
For 404 errors: restore content or add 301 redirect.
For 500 errors: fix the server-side error.
For 301/302: update links to point to the final URL.