What is the difference between a soft 404 and a hard 404 error and how does each affect SEO?

Question

SEO Fundamentals — Hard

What is the difference between a soft 404 and a hard 404 error and how does each affect SEO?

Accepted Answer

A hard 404 error indicates that the page does not exist, while a soft 404 error returns a 200 OK status code for a page with no meaningful content. Soft 404s mislead search engine crawlers and waste crawl budget.