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How a change goes live: draft, review, publish, checkWhat the agent changes by itself, and what waits for youWhat the SEO audit screen showsHow to find and filter your pagesWhat the page audit showsWhat site-wide issues mean and how to clear themHow to add internal links and untangle pages that competeHow page types are scored and how to change the standardsHow to change many pages at once with Bulk optimizeBroken links, redirects and page speedWhat the Market position screen showsHow to see what changed in your marketHow to choose your next movesHow to find sites that should link to youHow to check if Google's AI answers name youHow to choose what to write nextWhat the Meta Ads screen showsHow to save a filtered list as a viewProving it worked
How PageSoar measures whether a change workedHow to read the Did it work? screenWhat the Weekly briefing showsWhere your visits come from: the Channels screenHow to compare pages and build a dashboardWhich kinds of fix move clicks most: the Impact rankingHow to run a held-back experiment and log what you expectHow to track your search rankingsWhat the Needs attention screen is telling youHow to generate a report deckHow to be told when a number movesHow to log what you expect a change to doConnecting your site
Which sites PageSoar can publish toConnect Google Search Console and AnalyticsWhen a connection does not workHow to connect your website and GoogleHow to check your site's connection healthHow to request a custom connectorConnect WordPress to PageSoarConnect Ghost to PageSoarConnect a git repositoryConnect a Python appConnect Shopify to PageSoarConnect Webflow to PageSoarConnect Wix to PageSoarAsking your data
Asking your data in plain wordsHow to check a draft before it goes liveHow to check a rival's websiteSEO basics
What a title tag is and how to write a good oneWriting meta descriptions that earn clicksHeading structure: H1 to H3 explainedHow to write helpful image alt textWhat a canonical tag is and when to use itRedirects: 301 versus 302 and how to avoid chainsWhat an XML sitemap does and how to check yoursRobots.txt: what it blocks and common mistakesWhat structured data is and which types matter for a small businessHow to fix duplicate contentMobile-friendliness: what to checkHTTPS and why browsers warnWhat keyword research is and how to startSearch intent: the four kinds and how to match a page to oneLong-tail keywords for small businessesHow to write a page that answers a searchInternal linking basicsWhat backlinks are and how to earn them honestlyAnchor text explainedWhat E-E-A-T means in practiceContent refreshes: when and how to update an old pageKeyword cannibalization: how to spot and fix itLocal SEO basics and a Google Business Profile checklistHow to read a search results page (SERP features)Core Web Vitals explained: LCP, CLS and interaction speedHow to speed up a slow page: images, caching and scriptsWhat Google Search Console shows: queries, pages, clicks, impressions and positionWhat Google Analytics measures: users, sessions and eventsSetting up a conversion or key eventClick-through rate: what is normal and how to raise itBounce rate versus engagement rateUTM tags: tracking campaigns correctlyHow to run a simple before-and-after SEO test, and why correlation misleadsSeasonality: why traffic moves without any change from youWhat a Google algorithm update is and how to respondA monthly SEO reporting checklist for a small teamWhat hreflang is and when a site needs itHow Google indexing works and how to check a page is indexedPagination and how to handle paged listsURL structure and slugsFavicons and why they matterHow JavaScript-heavy pages are crawled and renderedPreparing for voice searchCall to action writingWhat a lead is and how to capture oneLanding page basicsWhen to use the link disavow tool (rarely)Domain authority and similar scores: what they do and do not meanCloaking and other practices that break search guidelinesThe marketing funnel and how content maps to itHow to read heat maps and scroll depthPogo-sticking and short visits: what they tell youReading CSS-related page speed problems in plain languageImage formats and compression for a faster siteHow to write a clear page title and URL for a service pageHow often to publish contentHow to do a basic SEO audit yourselfHow to check why your traffic droppedWhat a manual action is and how to respondHow to submit your site to Google Search ConsoleHow to find and fix crawl errorsWhat a 404 page should sayHTTP status codes in plain wordsWhat a site migration needsHow to set up a new website for searchWhat mobile usability reports meanHow to write a blog post that ranksHow to do competitor research without special toolsWhat a content calendar is and how to keep oneHow to turn customer questions into contentHow to get customer reviews and why they matterGoogle Business Profile posts and photosHow to optimise a product or service pageWhat schema for a local business looks likeHow to measure whether content is workingHow to build topic clustersYour team and your data
Roles and approvalsIs my site safe with PageSoar?Billing, plans and cancellingHow to approve or send back a proposed changeAssigned and Decided: where your work and past decisions livePick the goal that counts as a winTeach PageSoar your brand voiceList what your product has todayCheck what PageSoar knows about your site and rivalsIgnore pages, or keep them out of GooglePublish your award badges so Google can show themCustom modules: parts built for your accountPeople, roles, company name and appearanceTarget site and the write testHow notifications and the weekly summary workHow to get back something you removedGlossary
SEO glossary A to ZHTTP status codes in plain words
Every page request gets a three-digit answer. Here are the ones that matter to a site owner.
What it is#
Each time a browser or a search engine asks your site for a page, your server replies with a three-digit status code before it sends anything else. The first digit tells you the family: 2 means success, 3 means the page moved, 4 means the request cannot be met and 5 means the server failed.
Why it matters#
Search engines read these codes to decide what to keep, what to move and what to drop. A wrong code can hide a good page or keep a dead one around.
The codes to know#
- 200 OK. The page exists and was delivered. This is what you want for every live page.
- 301 Moved permanently. The page has a new home for good. Search engines follow it and treat the new address as the one to use. See 301 vs 302.
- 302 Found (temporary). The page is elsewhere for now. Use it for short-term detours.
- 404 Not found. There is nothing at this address. Right for pages that never existed or were removed.
- 410 Gone. The page is deliberately removed. Google treats it much like a 404.
- 403 Forbidden. The server refuses the request, often a permissions fault.
- 500 Server error. Something broke on your server.
- 503 Service unavailable. The server is down for now. It is the right answer during short planned maintenance, because it tells crawlers to come back.
How to check#
Open the page, then use your browser's developer tools (network tab) to see the code beside the address. Or use the URL inspection tool in Search Console, which shows what Google received.
How to fix#
- Pages that should be live must return 200.
- Moved pages get a 301 to their closest match.
- Removed pages return 404 or 410.
- Repeated 5xx errors go to your host.
Common mistakes#
- A "not found" page that returns 200, which search engines read as a real page.
- Using 302 for a permanent move.
- Leaving a site on 503 for days. A long outage can cost you pages in the index.
Reading the families#
If you remember nothing else, remember the first digit. Anything starting with 2 is fine. A 3 means follow the signpost. A 4 means the request failed on the visitor's side of the story, usually a wrong or missing address. A 5 means your server failed and you should act quickly. Most day-to-day SEO work only ever involves 200, 301, 404 and the occasional 5xx.
To see these errors across your site, read how to find and fix crawl errors.