How to set page to return 404 Error instead of Store message

[Jesse]

So we recently found that a custom php forum in our domain was scraped by link posting spambots.
Our backlinks jumped from like 300 to 6000, and they're all going to the same page, and coming from auto-generated Forum posts on other websites that are just loaded with nonsense keywords and include our link.
We believe this is hurting our SEO efforts by providing tons of low quality backlinks.
The php forum has since been taken down from the server, but if you try to go to the address, you get our standard "Page not found" message, which is bordered by our global header, footer, side navigation etc.
Google says spammy backlinks to 404 pages are not considered for pagerank.

So, is the "Page Not Found" thing I'm seeing the same as a 404?
How can I check this?
If this isn't a 404 page, how can I set that specific link to return 404.


After I'm able to get the link to return a 404, will I need to go about doing any kind of other mitigation for the poor quality backlinks that were already considered by Google?

Thanks in advance.

[ILoveHostasaurus]

Re: How to set page to return 404 Error instead of Store message

If the forum used to exist within a certain directory, you could recreate that directory, then put a .htaccess file in it containing just the following:

ErrorDocument 404 /notfound2.html

The name can be whatever you want as long as it doesn't conflict with your current 404 page. Then just put whatever you need in that file, such as just html tags, body tags, "Not Found" and that's it.

[Jesse]

Re: How to set page to return 404 Error instead of Store message

Thanks, that sounds like a good solution, but at the moment I do not have access to the server directory.

Is there anything that I can do in the Miva administration console?
And is the "Page Not Found" (NTFD) that is generated through Miva considered a 404 by crawlers like Google's?

[Rick Wilson]

Re: How to set page to return 404 Error instead of Store message

Yes our NTFD page can be considered 404 but that is configurable and you can decide what you want it to return.

Check the www.mivamerchant.com/referenceguide for details on configuring that.

[ILoveHostasaurus]

Re: How to set page to return 404 Error instead of Store message

Thanks, that sounds like a good solution, but at the moment I do not have access to the server directory.

Is there anything that I can do in the Miva administration console?
And is the "Page Not Found" (NTFD) that is generated through Miva considered a 404 by crawlers like Google's?

If your store is up to date on patches, the NTFD page will return a 404 status code. Early versions of that page may not have. If you PM me a link to your site I can test it if you'd like.