Webmaster Tools 404 errors that should not exist

Hello

In Webmaster tools I have a 404 url mysite.com/forums/showthread.php?p=
Webmaster Tools says this url is linked from loads of pages in my forum but when I look at the source code via IE etc the only place I can find this url is at the bottom of the page

Code:

<script type="text/javascript"> 
 
window.orig_onload = window.onload;
window.onload = function() {
var cpost=document.location.hash;if(cpost){ if(cobj = fetch_object(cpost.substring(1,cpost.length)))cobj.scrollIntoView(true);else {cpostno = cpost.substring(5,cpost.length);if(parseInt(cpostno)>0 && (cpost.substring(1,5)=='post')){location.replace('http://www.mysite.com/forums/showthread.php?p='+cpostno);};} }
 
if(typeof window.orig_onload == "function") window.orig_onload();
}
 
</script>

Hello ,

What are effected urls look like ?

page 1

site/forums/t466/ Mar 17, 2010
site/forums/t458/ Mar 17, 2010
site/forums/t462/ Mar 17, 2010
site/forums/t495/ Mar 15, 2010
site/forums/t496/ Mar 15, 2010
site/forums/t465/ Mar 14, 2010
site/forums/t312/ Oct 13, 2009
site/forums/t226/ Mar 18, 2010
site/forums/t340/ Mar 17, 2010
site/forums/t152/ Mar 17, 2010
site/forums/t333/ Mar 16, 2010
site/forums/t118/ Mar 16, 2010
site/forums/t231/ Mar 16, 2010
site/forums/t351/ Mar 16, 2010
site/forums/t109/ Mar 15, 2010
site/forums/t224/ Mar 14, 2010
site/forums/t228/?nojs=1 Mar 14, 2010
site/forums/t346/ Mar 14, 2010
site/forums/t338/ Mar 13, 2010
site/forums/t409/ Mar 13, 2010

I just checked and all those urls load correct for me. It maybe related to a temporary glitch on your forum.

Yes I don't have a problem with the urls loading, it's just the fact that Webmaster Tools has found the url mysite.com/forums/showthread.php?p= and cannot find it because it doesn't exist. The list of urls above are where links to that url are found.

i am having the same issue... google thinks that this url should exist:
http://www.puaforums.com/showthread.php?p=

I think it is reading the URL from the JS but not completing it.

As long as it 404's, it's ok... that SHOULD 404 as there's no page there.

Originally Posted by Brian Cummiskey

As long as it 404's, it's ok... that SHOULD 404 as there's no page there.

So are 404 errors ok to have or should you really try and minimize them for better SEO? I have quite a few in my webmaster tools...

If the page doesn't exist, it 404's.

It's not good nor bad... it simply doesn't exist.

But, someone or something had a link to it and google knew about that url at one point, even if they url was incorrectly formatted in the first place.


404's should drop completely out of the index with 3-4 weeks of it continuing to return a 404 code.

Originally Posted by Brian Cummiskey

If the page doesn't exist, it 404's.

It's not good nor bad... it simply doesn't exist.

But, someone or something had a link to it and google knew about that url at one point, even if they url was incorrectly formatted in the first place.


404's should drop completely out of the index with 3-4 weeks of it continuing to return a 404 code.

Ok I'm glad they just get dropped and it doesn't affect your SEO. One less thing to worry about.