404 Pages and SEO

I am a bit clueless about web development and SEO so please stick with me!

I'm getting a website built for me. The designer made a mistake and created 40 incorrect pages. I want these pages deleted and I have asked him to do so. If he deletes the pages then if I go to the urls again I will get a 404 error. He has advised me not to delete the pages but rather redirect them to somewhere else. He is saying 404 pages are bad for SEO.

Is this true? Are 404 pages bad for SEO? I thought a 404 page would appear even if some mis-typed a url within a website. If so then does it really make a difference if he deletes pages? Also does that mean no one should ever delete any pages on a website as it would be bad for SEO?

Any help is much appreciated! I'm really confused by all this!

 

Never allowing a 301 page redirection to homepage for more link juice. Create a custom 404 error page http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/404-error-pages-one-more-time/ of your website. And Try to correct or delete some directories or links of your website. If you fail to delete the directories or links. Its ok to let it 404.

 

Create a good look and feel custom 404 Error Page from server side with Title as 'Page Not Fount'. Give some other pages links on that page, so that the user can visit other pages on your website.

 

Add your website to Google Webmaster Tools. You will then be able to see any 404 pages that Google sees.

Edit your htaccess file to do a 301 redirect on all the 404 pages.

http://www.inmotionhosting.com/supp...ting-up-a-301-permanent-redirect-via-htaccess

 

You do not want 404 pages. If he's building the site and the pages haven't been indexed, then delete them and you have nothing more to do. If google indexed the pages already then 301 them to the corrected pages or homepage.
If the site is new I highly doubt the pages were indexed. You can delete them and remove the URL's from your sitemap.

 

thankew for suggestion our team site not index in google amlijatt.com how to index ?

 

make sitemap perfectly then submit your sitemap into webmaster tools and also add url in to google url submit tool thats it.

 

Is true 404 pages always bad for seo.

 

yes you should use the redirection on your error pages

 

Your site is indexed in Google . com. Just checked.
You need to research how to use "anchor text" for your backlinks and how to get backlinks also.

 

404 pages within the site must be fixed as much as possible not only for SEO but for the users experience in the site.