5xx status code

What are the 5xx Server Error Codes?

A 5xx error code is a code or information that appears on a webpage when the server is unable to complete a request. A 5xx error occurs when an issue on the server side causes obstruction in fulfilling a client request. This may happen for various reasons, such as server overload, misconfiguration, software bugs, or temporary maintenance.

Understanding Different 5xx Server Error Codes

To deal with 5XX server error codes, you first need to understand their different types and what they mean.

1. 500- internal server error: This generic error code indicates the server encountered an unexpected condition that prevented it from fulfilling the request. This error code could also mean that the server cannot support the request now but may be capable of doing so in the future.
2. 501- not implemented: This error code implies that the web server either doesn’t recognize the request method or doesn’t support the functionality required to fulfill the request.
3. 502- bad gateway: While acting as a bad gateway or proxy, the server receives an invalid response from the upstream server it accesses in an attempt to fulfill the request.
4. 503- service unavailable: This error code means the service cannot handle the request due to temporary overload or maintenance.
5. 504- gateway timeout: This means that the server while acting as a gateway or proxy, didn’t receive a timely response from the upstream server specified by URI (uniform resource identifier) or some other auxiliary server it needed to access to complete the request.
6. 505 – HTTP version not supported: This error occurs when a server doesn’t support the HTTP protocol version used in the request. It indicates that the server can’t process the request because the HTTP version specified by the client is not supported.
7. 606- variant also negotiates: This status indicates that the server has an internal configuration error: the chosen variant resource is configured to engage in transparent content negotiation and is not a proper end point in the negotiation process.
8. 507- insufficient storage: This implies that the server is unable to store the representation needed to complete the request. This is also temporary, as 503, and can be solved through the client’s action.
9. 508- loop detected: In this error, the server detects an infinite loop while processing a request. This error typically occurs when a server encounters a circular redirection or loop while processing a request.
10. 510 error not extended: This status code may indicate that further extensions to the requests are required for the server to fulfill them.
11. 511 network authentication required: This status code indicates that the client needs to authenticate with a proxy server to proceed with the request.

Why You Should Care About 5xx Errors for SEO?

When Google finds a 5xx error code in a website, it drops its ranking or removes it from indexing. Such errors cause a negative user experience and are among the most harmful things to your website’s SEO. Hence, it is crucial for web developers to identify them and resolve them promptly.

How to detect 5xx Error Codes?

Finding 5xx error codes takes work, especially if you have a lot of web pages. If you are lucky, you may be informed by a user, but that is very rare. You could manually check every page on your website, but that would also take time. Therefore, viewing your Google Console account to identify crawling errors in your website is the best way to determine if your website has any 5xx server errors.

How to Fix 5xx Server Error

The following are some of the ways you can fix a 5XX server error.

1. When the error appears, try to wait a while and reload the page to ensure it is not a momentary issue.
2. View the error log for the website returning the error to identify the problem.
3. If none works, consider the last change you made to the system and undo it.

Conclusion: 

A 5xx server error impacts your website’s SEO ranking. Hence, it is crucial to identify these errors and fix them immediately. Even though it may be difficult to pinpoint the cause of the error, the methods mentioned above can help identify them and take proactive steps.