Bulk 404 page checker: does each site answer a missing page with a real 404?
In short: Paste a list of domains and request a page that should not exist on each: see whether the answer is a real 404, a soft 404 or an error, as a CSV. Limit: One made-up path per site, not a crawl.
A bulk 404 page checker requests a page that should not exist on each site and reads the answer. Paste up to 100 domains, or 500 after a free Google sign-in; each row says Real 404 page, Soft 404 (a 200 or a redirect for a missing page) or a server error, with the status code. One request per site. Download the CSV.
Price: this tool is free. Checking a whole email list is from $9/mo, and the first 100 checks are free with Google, no card. Check your list free nowSee pricing
Sample result
acme.example answers 404; globex.example answers 200 for a page that doesn't exist.
- Site
- acme.example
- Request
- /simpleverifier-404-check-9f3c1a
- Answer
- 404
What this means for you
One made-up path per site; a single-page app can answer 200 on purpose.
- Requests a path that should not exist
- Reads the status and redirects
- Spots soft 404s
- Flags server errors
- 404
- Soft 404
- CSV
By SimpleVerifier Team · Last updated
Cleaning a list of company websites before outreach?
- Paste the domains here: 100 a run, or 500 after a free Google sign-in. Filter to the flagged rows and download the CSV.
- Upload or paste it at /verify. Every address gets a live mailbox check, and the first 100 email checks are free with a Google sign-in, no card.
How do I test 404 pages on many websites?
- Paste up to 100 domains, or 500 after a free Google sign-in, one per line; emails and URLs work too. You can also upload a CSV.
- Press Check 404 pages. Each domain gets one request for a path that should not exist, five at a time.
- Read each row: the status the missing page returned and whether it redirected.
- Filter to the flagged rows and download the CSV.
Example
- You enter
- Three sites:
acme.example(404 for a missing page),globex.example(200 with a not-found message) andinitech.example(redirects missing pages to the home page). - You get
- acme.example: Real 404 page. globex.example: Soft 404, 200 with a not-found page. initech.example: Soft 404, redirects missing pages. Download the CSV.
- Limits
- Up to 100 a run without an account and 500 when signed in with Google, counted over a minute. 10 sites a request; one request per site from our server, no cookies, nothing stored.
What is a soft 404?
A soft 404 is a page that doesn't exist but answers 200, or redirects to another page, instead of a 404 or 410 status. Google describes it in its HTTP status code guidance and may treat such pages as errors.
A 404 or 410 status is what search engines expect for a missing page.
How does the test work?
Each site gets one request for the path /simpleverifier-404-check-9f3c1a, which isn't a page on any site we know of. A site that answers 200 for it, or redirects it elsewhere, treats unknown URLs as pages. A single-page app can do that on purpose.
Only one path on each site is tried. For a plain live-or-down read of every site, use the bulk website status checker.
What do you do with the flagged rows?
Fix the status at the web server or in the app, or keep the rows as prospects for web and SEO work. Follow redirects with the bulk redirect checker.
Before you email contacts at these companies, verify the addresses.
Who uses this tool, and for what?
- SEO consultants
- Find prospects with soft 404s.
- Web agencies
- Check client sites after a rebuild.
- Site owners
- Confirm missing pages return the right status.
- Lead-list owners
- Spot sites that look unmaintained.
What can’t this tool tell you?
- One made-up path per site, not a crawl.
- A single-page app may answer 200 on purpose.
- Sites that refuse automated requests aren't read.
- Up to 100 domains a run without an account, 500 signed in.
- Public HTTP only: each row is a signal read from the site, not a certainty.
Common questions
- How do I test a site's 404 page?
- Paste the domain into a bulk 404 page checker like this one. It requests a page that should not exist and reads the status.
- Is this 404 checker free?
- Yes. 100 domains a run without an account, 500 after a free Google sign-in, with no card, and a CSV download.
- Which page does it request?
- /simpleverifier-404-check-9f3c1a on each site, one GET.
- Is a soft 404 always a mistake?
- No. Single-page apps and some catch-all setups do it on purpose. The row says what it saw.
- What does Answered 403 mean?
- The site refused the request, so its 404 behaviour wasn't read.
- Does it check my contacts' email addresses?
- No. Verify them separately at /verify.
Sources
A tidy list can still be full of dead addresses.
Extracting, deduplicating and syntax checks all work on the text of an address. None of them can tell whether the mailbox exists. Only the server that hosts it can answer that, through an SMTP check, and that is what the paid product does.
- Upload the cleaned file as it is: CSVs up to 100,000 rows
- A real SMTP mailbox check on every row, with catch-all detection
- Small list? Starter at $9/mo covers 2,500 emails a month, cancel anytime
Plans from $9 a month, cancel anytime, no contract. Sign in with Google and your first 100 email checks are free, no card. The free tools stay free either way.