What are HTTP error codes and how to fix them?
If you've ever tried to load a web page and received an error message, then you know how frustrating it can be. The good news is that most of those errors have nothing to do with your computer or device. Rather, they're caused by the site's server sending back an error code when something goes wrong while processing its request. This article will explain what HTTP status codes are and how they can help you figure out what's causing your browser problems—and also show you how to fix them if they're not on our list of common causes below!
What is an HTTP error?
An HTTP error is a response code sent in the header of an HTTP message. It's used to indicate the server could not fulfill the request—usually due to incorrect syntax or invalid input. Users will see a blank page or other content that doesn't match what was expected when they receive an HTTP error code. The most common HTTP error codes are 400, 404, and 500.
When a 401 Unauthorized error appears
When you get a 401 Unauthorized error, it means that the client is not authorized to access the requested resource. The most common cause of this error is incorrect authentication credentials (username and password). To fix this problem, make sure that your username and password are correct and try again. If the problem persists even after changing your credentials, contact your IT department for further assistance.
404 Not Found error code and how to deal with it
404 errors are the error codes that your browser sends when it can't find a website, file, or resource.
404 errors are typically caused by broken links on a webpage, a missing file from your site, or from one of the sites in your internal network. You can test for this by typing in your website address directly into the address bar of your browser. If you're seeing 404 errors, then there's something wrong with either your URL structure or files.
The most common reason for getting 404 errors is that your website has been moved or deleted. If you're seeing 404 errors, then it's likely that you've moved or deleted a file on your website and forgot to update the links pointing to it. Additionally, to check if you correctly spelled the address, visit that URL again.
500 Internal Server Error - what it is and how to fix it
A 500 Internal Server Error is the most common HTTP error code. It means that something went wrong on the server side, and your browser can't tell you why.
The best thing to do in this case is to contact your web host or hosting provider and ask them what's wrong with their servers because they're usually able to fix it quickly!
The most common causes are:
- A misconfigured server or website (often caused by a plugin or theme update gone wrong)
- A plugin or theme that has been updated with a bug
- An issue with server resources such as memory usage, CPU load, or disk space.
How to deal with 502 Bad Gateway Error
The 502 error is different from others because it occurs when a server on the internet receives an invalid response from another server. When a server takes longer than expected to complete a request, it can send the requesting computer an HTTP status code called 502.
If this happens, try refreshing the browser or clearing its cache. If you just migrated to our site, wait a couple of days before returning so we can make sure all your records have been correctly propagated. If none of the above suggestions work, try switching to another WordPress theme or turning some plugins off. Sometimes, a third-party CDN or plugin can be responsible for your 502 response codes.
What is 301 redirect and how to use it?
301 redirect is a permanent redirection. It's to be used when you want to move your website from one location to another, or if the content of your site has changed so much that it's better off at a completely new URL. You can also use 301 redirects as a way of preserving your ranking and link equity (the value of links pointing to your website).
There are two main situations where you'd want to use 301 redirects:
- If you've moved your site but want Google and other search engines to know about it so they'll start sending traffic again - this is called "notifying Google."
- If you've created a new page with the same content as a page that already existed on your site, but want to make sure people see the newest version instead of the old one and avoid having two versions compete with each other for rankings.
302 redirect - the definition + useful tips on using it
A 302 redirect is a temporary HTTP response code that tells the browser to fetch new data from another location.
The reason for this is that you want to forward your user from one page to another but don't want them to lose any of their information along the way.
For example, let's say you have an online store selling earrings and you want people who land on your homepage to go straight into the product section instead of seeing it first. You could implement this by adding a 302 redirect in between them so that when someone lands on your website, they'll instantly go straight into what they wanted without having to navigate away from their current page first (you can see how this works below).
Conclusion
If you're still getting HTTP errors and are not sure how to fix or troubleshoot them, there are plenty of resources out there. Google is your friend, but so are forums like WebmasterWorld or StackOverflow. The key thing is to keep trying until you find a solution that works for you! If you host your website with Noxity, our dedicated support team can help you as well.