What do the 404 errors in the backend mean?

On your Shoporama dashboard, you'll find the "404 Errors" card, which shows how many errors your store has recorded. This guide explains what 404 errors mean, why they occur, and what you should do about them.

What is a 404 error?

A 404 error occurs when a visitor tries to access a page that doesn’t exist. This can happen if:

• You’ve changed a URL (e.g., renamed a category from /long-underwear to /long-underpants)
• An external link points to a page that no longer exists
• A search engine has indexed an old URL

Why are 404 errors important?

404 errors have two consequences:

1. Poor user experience — visitors can’t find what they’re looking for
2. Lost SEO value — if an external page links to a 404 page, you lose the SEO value that the link would otherwise provide

What does the 404 report show?

For each 404 error, Shoporama records:

• The page that couldn’t be found — the URL the user tried to access
• Wherethe visitor came from —the page where the link was clicked (e.g., a blog or a search engine)

What should you do?

For the most important 404 errors, you should set up redirects. Prioritize those where:

• Many visitors are encountering the error
• A credible source links to the old URL
• You have a suitable replacement page to redirect to

From 404 error to redirect in under a minute

You don’t need to go to Webshop → Redirects yourself and enter the dead URL. The 404 overview, titled “You may need to create redirects to the following addresses,” has a column labeled “Create redirect,” and the link from there automatically populates the address into the form.

1. Open the 404 overview from the “404 Errors” card on your dashboard
2. Find the address you want to fix. The list is sorted with the most frequent errors at the top, and the “Count” column shows how many times the error has been recorded
3. Click “Create Redirect” on the row. The “From” field is already filled in with the broken URL, so you can’t accidentally misspell it
4. Fill in the “To” field with the page you want visitors to be redirected to. The field is pre-filled with your store’s address, so you just need to enter the rest of the path
5. Click " Save"

You’ll be taken back to the 404 overview, and the entry will be gone. It’s not just that one entry that disappears: all records for that specific address are removed from the list, even if the error has been encountered hundreds of times from different sources. The redirect takes effect immediately, and it’s a 301—a permanent redirect—which tells search engines that the page has moved.

Because the list gets shorter with every redirect you create, you can work your way down from the top and stop when only minor errors and bot traffic remain.

The fields in the redirect form

• From: the dead URL, written without the domain name, e.g., /long-underwear. If you’re coming from the 404 list, this field is already filled in for you
• To: the page to be displayed instead, entered as a full URL with https:// and your domain at the beginning
• Regular Expression: If checked, the “From” field is interpreted as a pattern rather than a single specific address, allowing you to capture many old addresses with a single redirect
• Include arguments: The parameters after the question mark in the URL, e.g. , ?utm_source=newsletter, are carried over to the new page. Without the checkbox, they are discarded

Check the “Include arguments” box if the dead URL is used in newsletters, ads, or social media posts. Otherwise, you’ll lose track of where the traffic came from the moment the redirect occurs.

If you use “Regular Expression,” there’s an important limitation: all URLs that match the pattern will be sent to the same destination. You cannot reuse part of the old URL in the new one. If /shop/shoes and /shop/pants are to end up at two different locations, they must each have their own redirect.

Also note that a redirect is only used if the address does not already exist. If the “From” field points to an address that is already a product, a category, or a landing page, Shoporama will display the correct page, and your redirect will never be triggered.

Error messages when saving

• "The address already exists": there’s already a redirect from that exact address. Find it under Webshop → Redirects and correct the destination instead of creating a new one
• "The address already exists, or you’re redirecting to a redirect": the page you’re pointing to is itself being redirected. Point directly to the final destination to avoid a chain of redirects
• "You cannot redirect to the same page": The "From" and "To" fields are the same address

Check that the redirect works

Open the old address in your browser—preferably in an incognito window—and verify that you land on the correct page. If the broken link is something you can fix yourself—such as a link in a menu or within a text—be sure to do so as well. A redirect is a safety net, not an excuse to leave broken links as they are.

Under Webshop → Redirects, you can view all of the store’s redirects. The “Used” column shows how many times each one has been activated, and if you click on the number, you’ll go to the “Redirect Statistics” page, which shows the time and the page the visitors came from.

The counter is an indicator, not an exact visitor statistic. It is updated at most once every five minutes per redirect, so that bots hammering the same address don’t inflate the number. A brand-new redirect will therefore show 0 for the first few minutes, even if you’ve just tested it. Check back after an hour or a day instead.

When a 404 error doesn’t need a redirect

Not every entry on the list deserves a redirect. If the address has never existed, or if it comes from a source you don’t trust, there’s no reason to waste time on it. Just clean it up:

• Click “Remove” on the individual line to delete all entries for that address from the list
• Click “Remove All” at the bottom of the page to clear the entire list at once

Removing a line does not block the address. If someone accesses it again via an external link, it will reappear on the list. That’s exactly the point: use “Remove All” as a reset once you’ve gone through the entire list, so that everything you see next time is new since your last visit.

Many 404 errors at once

If the errors follow a pattern—for example, if all the old URLs start with /shop/product/—create a single redirect with the “Regular Expression” box checked instead of a hundred small ones. Just remember that they’ll all end up in the same place.

If you need to create many different redirects—for example, after migrating from another e-commerce platform—you can import them from a file under Webshop → Redirects → Import. See The Comprehensive Guide to Redirects for the file format, and Redirects When Moving Your Store if you’re in the process of switching platforms.

The 404 overview shows up to 100 different URLs at a time, sorted by how often they’ve been encountered. If you have more than that, take the top portion of the list, clean it up, and check again afterward. That will bring the next ones up.

Clean Up 404 Errors with AI

You can ask an AI assistant to review your 404 list and suggest relevant redirects. The AI can examine the URLs that are returning errors, compare them with your existing categories and products, and suggest an appropriate destination for each one—or create redirects directly.

This is especially useful after restructuring your store, or if you have many old URLs from a previous store system. The AI can also compare the list to the redirects you already have, so you don’t create the same redirect twice.

Examples of prompts you can copy:

Show me the 20 most common 404 errors and suggest a redirect for each of them based on my categories and products.

Review all 404 errors that start with /product/ and create redirects to the new URL structure /products/.

Compare my 404 list with the redirects I already have, and tell me which URLs still need a redirect.

Read more about how you can manage your store with an AI assistant in the blog post “Now You Can Manage Your Entire Online Store via Chat.”

False 404 Errors from Bots

Some 404 errors come from bots (automated programs) visiting your site. They can:

• Falsify referrer information to make it appear as though the traffic is coming from other sites
• Visit URLs that have never existed. Shoporama automatically filters out even the most obvious attack patterns—such as addresses containing “wp-admin, ” “.env,” or “.php”—so they never end up on the list

You can safely ignore these 404 errors. There are no real visitors behind them, and you don’t need to set up redirects for them.

Frequently Asked Questions

I don’t know which page to send people to. What should I do?

Choose the page that’s most similar: a category with similar products, or the product that has replaced the old one. If there’s no obvious choice, send them to the homepage. The “To” field is already filled in with your homepage, so you can simply click “Save.” The homepage isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than an error page, and you can always change the destination later under Webshop → Redirects.

I accidentally created the wrong redirect. Can I undo it?

Yes. Go to Webshop → Redirects, find the entry, and click the pencil icon on the far right. There, you can edit both “From” and “To,” or click “Delete” if you want to remove the redirect entirely. The change takes effect immediately.

What’s the difference between creating a redirect and simply removing the entry?

A redirect solves the problem: from now on, visitors will be sent to the correct page. “Remove” only cleans up the list. The address will still return an error page, and the error will reappear on the list the next time someone clicks on it from outside the site.

Will I retain my ranking in Google when I set up a redirect?

Yes, that’s the whole point. Shoporama’s redirects are 301 redirects—meaning they’re permanent—and that’s exactly the signal search engines use to transfer a page’s value to the new address. It typically takes some time for the change to take effect in search results because the search engine must first visit the old address again.

My ads lose tracking when the link is redirected. What should I do?

Check the “Include arguments” box on the redirect. This ensures that parameters like utm_source and gclid are carried over to the new address, and your analytics can still track where the visit came from. Without checking this box, they’ll be removed along the way.

The dashboard warns that I’m driving ad traffic to pages that don’t exist. What should I do?

This means Shoporama has detected 404 errors on URLs accessed via a Google Ads link. Click “Get more info here” in the warning, and the 404 overview will show only those errors. You should fix those first: you’re paying for every single one of those clicks, and right now they’re landing on an error page instead of a page that makes sales.

I have hundreds of 404 errors after moving my store. Should I fix them one at a time?

No. Look for patterns first using a single regex redirect, and import the rest from a file under Webshop → Redirects → Import. The section on redirects when moving a store walks you through the process.

Why isn’t a 404 error I found myself on the list?

The list only records errors where the visitor came from a link on another website. If you type the address into the browser yourself or click a link within your own store, it won’t be recorded. URLs with typical attack patterns are also filtered out, so they never make it onto the list. If you have an incorrect link in your own store, you should correct the link instead of creating a redirect.

Need help? Contact us at support@shoporama.dk.