What is the 500 Internal Server Error?
The 500 Internal Server Error status code indicates that the server encountered an unexpected issue that prevented it from fulfilling your request. It signifies something went wrong on the server, but the server cannot specify the exact problem.
Understanding the 500 Internal Server Error
The 500 Internal Server Error belongs to the 5xx series of HTTP status codes:
- 5: Indicates an issue with the server or its configuration.
- xx: Placeholder for two numbers that provide more information about the server error.
Why Servers Return the 500 Internal Server Error
Typically, a server will return a 5xx response code when a server error prevents it from fulfilling your request. Servers return a 500 response code when no other 5xx status code represents the specific error they encountered, making the 500 Internal Server Error a generic error message.
When you encounter an HTTP 500 error, check your server logs or contact the website administrator for investigation and resolution.
Causes of the 500 Internal Server Error
The 500 Internal Server Error can be caused by a variety of reasons. Some common ones include:
- Server overload
- Programming errors
- Database issues
- Software bugs
- Faulty scripts or code
- Server misconfigurations
- Server permission issues
- Incompatible server modules or extensions
- Database connection failures
- Corrupted website database
- Corrupted .htaccess files
- Resource exhaustion
- Server hardware issues
Specific to WordPress:
- Theme conflicts
- Plugin conflicts
- Corrupted themes or plugins
- Corrupted WordPress code
- Exhausted PHP memory limit
- PHP version incompatibility
- Database connection errors
- Defective WordPress core files
How Google Handles 500 Internal Server Errors
Google will slow down the rate at which it crawls your site whenever it encounters any 5xx error, including the 500 Internal Server Error. The extent to which Google slows down your crawl rate depends on the frequency of server errors it encounters.
- Crawl Rate Reduction: More frequent 500 errors lead to a greater reduction in crawl rate.
- Index Impact: URLs previously indexed will remain indexed but may be dropped if they continue to return the error over time.
When to Use the 500 Internal Server Error
Google has confirmed that you can use the 500 Internal Server Error to reduce your crawl rate. Here’s why you might consider this:
- Managing Server Load: Crawling uses up server resources, and excessive crawling can slow down or crash your server. Using the 500 error can help manage this.
Crawl Budget: Google assigns a crawl budget to your site, which is the maximum number of pages it will crawl within a period.
If you feel Google is crawling your site too often, you can set some of your pages to return a 500 Internal Server Error status code. Google will reduce your crawl rate when it encounters this status code.
Important: Only use this option to slow the crawl rate temporarily (for a day or two). Prolonged use may cause Google to drop the affected pages from its index.
Conclusion
The 500 Internal Server Error is a generic error message indicating an issue with the server. Understanding its causes and how to manage it can help ensure your website remains accessible and performs well. Use this status code cautiously to manage Google’s crawl rate without negatively impacting your SEO.
