Google Premier Partner
Meta Business PartnerWhat is a 500 error?
A 500 error is a general error message a server returns when something goes wrong on its side and the requested page cannot be shown. The HTTP status code is 500 (Internal Server Error). The cause lies not with the visitor but with the website or the hosting.
Why is a 500 error important?
- Page unavailable: visitors and Googlebot cannot see any content.
- Crawling impact: if the error lasts, Google may crawl less often and drop pages from its index.
- Lost revenue: a store that does not load cannot sell anything.
Examples of a 500 error
- A plugin update on a WordPress site causes a PHP error.
- An overloaded server throws errors during a busy sale day.
- The database is temporarily unreachable.
How do you deal with a 500 error?
Check your server error logs, roll back the latest change or update, and ask your host to help. For planned maintenance, use status code 503 (temporarily unavailable) instead of a 500. Keep an eye on the crawl stats in Google Search Console, which is part of technical SEO.