Google On The SEO Impact Of 503 Status Codes

During the April edition of the Google Search Central SEO office hours, a question was raised about the potential impact of intermittently serving 503 “Service Unavailable” status codes. “Serving a 503 status code for an extended period of time will cause a decrease in crawl rate. Why SEJ CaresGoogle’s guidance on brief 503 status codes provides relief for publishers who may be concerned about the potential negative impacts of website downtime. How This Can Help YouWebsite owners, developers, and SEO professionals managing websites can benefit from understanding Google’s tolerances for 503 status codes. With reasonable expectations set by Google, websites can make informed decisions about balancing downtimes with SEO priorities.