Avoid Bad Requests

A bad request can occur when a user navigates to a page, or resource, and that page or resource does not exist, resulting in a 400 Bad Request error status code. Obviously, this does not give the user the best experience, but typically, the 400 Bad Request response is due to an error in the user’s request, like a typo in the URL. Sometimes these can be resolved by the user by retrying, but in other cases, they need to be resolved internally.

Sometimes, the 400 Bad Request response is not due to a user error. In some cases, if a resource or file path was moved and not updated properly, it can cause another attempt to retrieve the resource from the server, which ends up wasting more time, slowing page load speed, and making for a bad user experience. So, to fix this issue, it is important to review your site for any broken links and updating accordingly. Running regular website speed tests or reviewing your Google Search Console can alert you to any requests that may be going to a nonexistent resource.