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error 304?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by puzzlebox, Jul 28, 2005.

  1. #1
    er, I have high hits which has a response code of 304. My question is what does error 304 mean? I believe it has something to do with pages not updating since the last cache, and I believe it's mostly search engines who gets this.

    Is this bad for my site? I know one solution is that I should update that page but what if there's nothing really to update? I can't really give an example but I hope you get the point. :confused:
     
    puzzlebox, Jul 28, 2005 IP
  2. kjewat

    kjewat Active Member

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    #2
    304 Not Modified

    I think apache logs error 304 when someone loads your website from theire web browsers cache. So I wouldn't reallt call it an error.

    It simply means that they have been on your website before and loads it from the cache instead of the server.

    The word error seems a bit misleading...
     
    kjewat, Jul 28, 2005 IP
  3. puzzlebox

    puzzlebox Guest

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    #3
    oh.. so basically I don't really have a problem with the search engines? is it bad for my site, though?
     
    puzzlebox, Jul 28, 2005 IP
  4. just-4-teens

    just-4-teens Peon

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    #4
    i think the 304 code means un-modified, so basicly the page hasnt changed since there last visit.
     
    just-4-teens, Jul 28, 2005 IP
  5. puzzlebox

    puzzlebox Guest

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    #5
    that is what I'm afraid of. Is it a problem or am I just making a big deal out of it?
     
    puzzlebox, Jul 28, 2005 IP
  6. aboyd

    aboyd Well-Known Member

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    #6
    I haven't checked to verify that 304 is the "Not Modified" response. However, if it is, then it's fine fine fine. No worries.

    Basically, when you view this page, or an image on the page, the browser stores it on disk, so that if you look at the page again (or a page that reuses the same button/icon), it can show the file ASAP from the disk. Sometimes, the browser will go back to the server and basically say, "I have this logo on disk, I got it 1 hour ago, has it changed since then?" If the server says yes, the browser re-downloads the file. If the server says no (Not Modified), the browser shows the file on disk, no redownloading.

    That's why, when you see 304s, they typically have a small size of data transferred -- usually, no file needs to be sent. It's good, it means people are browsing your site, but your bandwidth is being conserved.

    -Tony
     
    aboyd, Jul 28, 2005 IP
  7. kjewat

    kjewat Active Member

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    #7
    According to this website, and several other, 304 means Not Modified.

    A 304 is a good thing, and not a problem :)
     
    kjewat, Jul 28, 2005 IP
  8. frankm

    frankm Active Member

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    #8
    Most likely the 304 entries were from images. Browsers can check the last-modified header and will not reload the image if it is not newer than the one stored in the cache.

    the checking will get you a 304 response (if not modified)

    you can prevent (some) of the 304's (and the checking of timestamps) by giving the images a Expiration date. MSIE/FF will then not even check the timestamp (saving you some bandwidth, and speeding up the site)
    by adding

    ExpiresActive On
    ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 3 days"

    to your server config (can work in .htaccess aswell I guess)


    this translates to: all *.gif images will expire after 3 days, please do not check (304) images.
     
    frankm, Jul 28, 2005 IP
  9. puzzlebox

    puzzlebox Guest

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    #9
    mmmm.. thank you all for your inputs. I just was worried that almost 1/5 of my hits have a response code 304..

    thank you again. :)
     
    puzzlebox, Jul 28, 2005 IP