Converting old 404 links to inbound links for SEO with 301 redirects
That is really tricky.
- Because a 404 status code would be returned before the 404 page is produced.
- A 404 says a link is no longer available or temporarily unavailable.
- A 301 tells it the page you are looking has moved here, which it has not.
- A 301 redirect forces a user elsewhere, possibly not relevant and you will most likely have higher drop off rates, and poor user experience.
- Link juice carries weight through 200s and 301s.
404's in general are not bad at all. It's honest to say the least.
Now, I do not suggest having a lot of 404s or 301s but if you want to use them as intended, then a 301 is not the real way to go (as user I would think 301 was not useful or honest if you will.
I would think a catchy 404 page with some good links or call to actions well give the user a good starting choice and in turn keep them there, which leads to better experience and SEO.
I know if I am looking for shoes and then redirected to a main page of clothes, I am not happy at that point and will leave.
Keep in mind search engines want to show results that users tend to benefit from and if they don't like the method neither will the search engines.
Hope that helps.
From an SEO and sales conversion point of view id suggest eliminating 404's with 301s
Using the example provided by the above answer, if you want shoes and reach a 404 they'll likely click back and hit a different google page equaling lost potential* sale.
However if you're redirecting them to other products and banner the page with "we didn't have what you were looking for, but you may be interested in..." then there is a greater chance of sale as they may see something they do like, even if it doesn't relate to their original query.
That would be okay to me, however even better fix for the 404's would be (if possible) populate the content and resolve 404s by actually providing (again, if possible) what that page should..
Hope this helps