An Error 404 or 404 Not Found error prompt is a standard response code in Hypertext Transfer Protocol or HTTP. In other words, it is a standard error in Internet compunction.
But What Exactly are Error 404s? What Does It Mean?
Receiving an Error 404 prompt or a “404 Not Found” error message simply means that the request from an Internet user, particularly someone who browses a website via a web client, has reached the correct server. However, the server could not find what was being requested.
In other words, Error 404s indicate that the client was able to communicate to a particular server, but the server was unable to find what was requested. The server is operational and it exists, but the particular request does not.
What are the Causes of an Error 404 Message? Why Does It Happen?
Some of the common causes of Error 404s includes a broken or dead link to a website or webpage, mistyped website address, not updated links, and a webpage that has been deleted or moved, among others.
There are instances of Error 404s that are temporary. To be specific, the link works and the webpage, but the server still returns a “404 Not Found” message. These are Soft 404 errors and they are caused by a short-lived server downtime, absent remote host, and configuration errors when using certain HTTP server software.