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400 Bad Requests: How to Identify and Fix it?

While accessing a webpage, you may encounter the error message “400 Bad Request,”. It left you confused and flabbergasted until an alternate option was available. 

But what happened to the website that couldn’t process the request? It lost credibility, accountability, and, most significantly, it lost a valuable customer with the worst user experience.

BEWARE! This could happen to your website. You can lose an extensive audience volume if a proactive measure is not taken to fix this glitch. 

So, in this blog, we will study the definition, causes, and ways to debug the system when you are reported with such errors. 

Excited? Well, let’s proceed!

What is the 400 Status Code?

400 Bad Request is a “HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)” status code that shows the process’s inability or denial of request due to some defined technical issues. 

These issues may include Malformed request syntax, Deceptive request routing, Invalid request message framing, or other similar stuff. Technically, you can say that the web server is not able to identify the request and process it. 

Such HTTP error code entails a complicated relation between the server, web application, clients, and third-party web services. There are multiple messages that your server may display to indicate a 400 status code. 

These include:

  1. 400 Bad Request
  2. Bad Request: Error 400
  3. HTTP 400 Bad Request
  4. HTTP Error 400
  5. HTTP Status 400 — Bad Request
  6. HTTP Error 400 — Bad Request
  7. 400 Bad Request Error

Well, whatever the display is, you need to know how to identify and eradicate this unfathomable problem. 

Let’s proceed to the section that teaches you how to recognize and eliminate 400 Bad Request Error. 

What Causes 400 Status Code?

To fix the adversity of 400 Bad Request Code, you must first know the cause of its occurrence. So, let us first know why return code 400 haunts your website.

URL String Syntax Error

This is a condition when the requested URL does not have a proper and valid structure. The availability of some invalid characters makes the server unable to recognize the address, and as a result, HTTP status 400 pops up on the screen. 

Disrupted Cache & Cookies

Caches and cookies are supposed to improve the user experience, loading speed, and other similar functionalities for the visitors. But if the browser has saved some outdated or expired information, the server won’t correctly recognize the requested site or webpage, and you will end up with a return code 400. 

Incompatible Extensions & Plugins

Sometimes, improper extensions and plugins that are incompatible with the search engine browser may cause 400 status codes in the system. It is better to uninstall such extensions and remove return code 400 Errors. 

Unsynchronized DNS Cache

If the domain DNS is not updated and in out-of-sync status, your website may return with HTTP status 400 bad request Code. 

Wrong File Size

If the file uploaded to the server exceeds the limit the hosting service provider offers, your system will come up with HTTP status 400. Thus, checking the limitations before uploading a file is very important. 

Misconfiguration of Website

An unrecognized website misconfiguration can also cause HTTP status 400 Bad Request errors. 

How to Find & Fix 400 Status Code?

After knowing the reason for the occurrence of the 400 Bad Request Error, you must know the process to identify and fix it. Let’s find out the procedure.

Firstly, having a site audit tool that helps you identify the persisting HTTP status 400 across your domain is better. The functionality of a site audit tool should be programmed in such a way that it crawls over the domain URLs and lists out all HTTP issues in one go. 

RankWatch is one such tool. With its own AI algorithm, the site audit feature would instantly crawl over your website and figure out all HTTP issues within seconds. 

How to do it?

Login to RankWatch or take a 14-day free trial as a new user. Set the domain URL in the project column and click on the site audit option.

Just after that, you get a long list of website aspects like HTTP issues, issue distribution in the order of criticality, page depth, page response time distribution, non-indexable pages, and a lot more. 

After getting the HTTP status code 400, you will have to take a few proactive measures that will help you eradicate this adversity from your website.

Some of them are:

  1. Cross-Check Domain Address
  2. Verify the Given URL
  3. Clear Cache & Cookies
  4. Turn off the Extensions
  5. Remove DNS Cache
  6. Correct the File Size
  7. Contact the Hosting Service provider

These are the proven measures by which you can save your website from the threat of HTTP code 400. Although many market professionals promise better methods, their conviction would subside after you imply them. 

Meanwhile, the above strategies have a proven track record with global clients and customers. They have worked for innumerable enterprises in countless business industries and have made their website stay clean chit from http status 400 bad request issues. Don’t be late and quickly try them. 

Conclusion

So, in this blog, we have done a scratch-to-end detailing of 400 response codes, the impact they bring to your website, and ways to find and fix them. Further, we learned that more than having skilled resources in your team, you also need to have a good auditing tool to get it done.

RankWatch is a favorable internet marketing platform that gives you online free SEO tools to make your journey easier. SEO is not only about eliminating HTTP issues. There are countless other verticals that one has to work on. 

Get a mobile friendly checker tool, seo web page analyzer, and free backlink tool, all under one roof. There are infinite happy customer testimonials at a global scale that could vouch for its operational excellence. 

So, here’s the bottom line. Don’t beat around the bush. Try the RankWatch tool to get rid of HTTP code 400 and accomplish other vital benchmarks.

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