Google Webmaster Tools
This will be of no interest to my former readership, but whatever.
So I was having a problem with Google Webmaster Tools, where it wouldn't verify the file uploaded to the web server as it was complaining that the 404 error on the server was returning a 200 status code. These are all HTTP errors.
After a lot of looking around, and very little good information (hence this post). There were two useful suggestions, they may not both be required, but it is now working.
The first was to find the page in IIS (I'm using 6), and go to Properties -> Custom Headers and to add the following pair:
Custom Header Name: HTTP Status Code
Custom Header Value: HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found
This didn't seem to resolve the problem, even after stopping and starting the website.
So more searching, and found the suggestion for adding additional ASP to the redirection page (which is an ASP page, correctly referenced with relative to root notation /404.asp).
So added the following code to the top of the page:
<%
response.Status = "404 Not Found"
%>
After another stopping and starting of the website (might not have been required), Google correctly was able to verify the file, and no longer complained about the 200 status message.
Hopefully this saves someone else a bunch of time.
Labels: Google Webmaster Tools, IIS, redirection
social calendar
9.25.2006
weekly
Mondays: 8-4 work, 6-9 UltimateTuesdays: 8-6 work
Wednesdays: 8-6 work
Thursdays: 8-6 work
Fridays: 8-6 work (11am staff meeting)
Saturday: nothing
Sunday: nothing