HTTP status codes
What an HTTP status code tells you
Every time a browser or crawler requests a URL, the server answers with a three-digit HTTP status code before any content. It is the server's one-line summary of what happened. Users rarely see it, but search engines rely on it to decide whether to index a page, update it, follow a redirect or drop it from the index.
This HTTP status checker sends a real request and records the code. If the server redirects, it follows the chain to the end and shows both the first code and the final code, so you can tell the difference between a page that works directly and one that works only after a detour.
Status code list
Common HTTP status codes
| Code | Name | What it means for SEO |
|---|
| 200 | OK | The page loaded. This is what every indexable page should return. |
| 301 | Moved Permanently | Permanent redirect. Signals pass to the new URL. |
| 302 / 307 | Found / Temporary Redirect | Temporary. The old URL stays indexed. |
| 304 | Not Modified | The cached copy is still current. |
| 401 / 403 | Unauthorized / Forbidden | Access denied. Pages behind logins or blocked by a firewall cannot be indexed. |
| 404 | Not Found | The page does not exist. Fine for genuinely removed pages, bad for linked ones. |
| 410 | Gone | Removed on purpose. Google drops it from the index slightly faster than a 404. |
| 429 | Too Many Requests | Rate limited. Crawlers slow down. |
| 500 / 502 / 503 / 504 | Server errors | The server failed. Repeated 5xx errors make Google crawl less and can drop pages. |
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Bulk status check
Check status codes in bulk
A bulk URL status checker is the quickest way to audit a long list: every URL in your sitemap, the top pages from analytics, the URLs from an old site before a migration, or the backlinks pointing to your domain. Paste up to 500 URLs, run the check, and the summary bar groups results into 2xx, 3xx, 4xx and 5xx at a glance.
URLs are checked in parallel batches of 50, and only the first part of each page is downloaded, so the check is fast and light on both your server and ours. Response times are shown in milliseconds. Slow responses, consistently over a second, are worth investigating because they affect Core Web Vitals and how much Googlebot crawls.
- Sitemap audit: every URL should be 200 with no redirect.
- Migration check: every old URL should be 301 to a 200 page.
- Backlink check: links to 404 pages waste link value, so redirect those URLs.
Tips
Status code tips
- Soft 404s: a page that says "not found" but returns 200 confuses search engines. Make missing pages return a real 404 or 410.
- Bots vs browsers: some firewalls and CDNs return 403 or a challenge page to bots. Compare Googlebot and Chrome results to spot this.
- HEAD vs GET: some servers answer differently to light requests. This tool uses real GET requests to get the true status.
To see every hop of a redirect, use the URL redirect checker. To find broken links inside your pages, use the broken link checker, and to build a sitemap from live URLs only, use the XML sitemap generator.
Codes for SEO
Which status code should a page return?
Use 200 for every live page, 301 when a page moved for good, 302 only for genuinely temporary moves, 404 or 410 when content is gone with no replacement, and 503 with a Retry-After header during planned maintenance so search engines come back later instead of dropping pages. Never return 200 for an error page, and never redirect every missing page to the home page.
FAQ
HTTP Status Code Checker: frequently asked questions
What is an HTTP status code checker?
A tool that requests a URL and shows the HTTP status code the server returns, such as 200 OK, 301 redirect or 404 Not Found.
How do I check the status code of a URL?
Enter the URL in Single URL mode and click Check Status Codes. You will see the status code, any redirects, the final status and the response time.
Can I check many URLs at once?
Yes. Bulk URLs checks up to 500 URLs per run and exports the results to CSV.
What is the difference between a 404 and a 410?
Both mean the page is not available. 404 means not found, 410 means deliberately removed. Google treats them almost the same, dropping 410s slightly faster.
Why does a page show 403 here but work in my browser?
The server or a firewall may block automated requests. Try the Chrome or Googlebot user agent to compare.
Does the checker follow redirects?
Yes. It shows the first status code and, if there are redirects, the final status code and URL.
What is a good response time?
Under about 200 ms for the server response is good. Consistently over 1 second is slow and worth investigating.
Is this tool free?
Yes. It is free with no sign-up, and the URLs you check are not stored.