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There are a lot of subtleties in search engine optimization.   Learning those subtleties and applying them can make a large difference in your site’s overall performance.  Lets say for example that you have some broken links in your site that are causing visitors to get 404 errors.  Can those hurt your rankings?

Yes.  At least in Google they can.  Here’s what Google has said about 404 errors and your rankings

“When you’re moving your site, pesky 404 (File Not Found) errors can harm the user experience and negatively impact your site’s performance in Google search results.”*

Of course this doesn’t just apply when you’re moving your site.  If 404 errors can negatively impact your site’s results during a move they can negatively impact them any time.

The solution?  Simple, check your site’s links and make sure they aren’t returning 404’s.
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http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-05-09T14%3A02%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7