Custom 404 pages, fixing Page Not Found

Ever visited a website and got that awful looking ‘Page Not Found’ error message? 404 errors, thus named for the number assigned to that problem, are more than just frustrating for your website visitors. They can cost you valuable leads and sales – as what do you think usually happens when someone lands on one of those pages?

Here are a few tips on understanding and then fixing 404 errors.

What is a 404 error?

When it comes down to it, a 404 error essentially means someone has clicked through a link to a page that doesn’t exist. The code 404 means a client error, general syntax or spelling error, or a bad or unauthorised request.

These errors can be caused by:

• Typo’s in the URL (page address)
• Typo’s in an external or internal page link
• Moving documents on your website and not updating links
• Changing a page name and not renaming the link
• Mixing up upper and lower in page names
• Removing a page that the search engines have indexed
• Some viruses or worms
• Broken links

Finding and Fixing 404 Errors

Because these errors can be caused by so many things, it’s important to be able to diagnose which is the problem in your particular case.

There are several tools that can help you identify and resolve your 404 error, one of which is the Google Webmaster tool. It not only finds your 404 errors, but it shows you why they’re happening as well, and so all you have to do is go to the source to fix it.  For example, if your visitors are receiving a 404 error because a link was misspelled then all you have to do is fix the link.

Custom 404 Pages

So you’ve used Google Webmaster’s tools and your site is all nice and clean. But what about people who are linking to you, or old pages in search engine indexes. You’re never going to be able to solve every 404 error, and so your website also needs a Custom 404 page.

These are basically templates that are shown to visitors when they encounter a 404 error, and so rather than seeing the ugly browser default page, you can style one up to look just like the rest of your website, and have information that will help the visitor continue through your site to find what they need.

Ideally it should provide a link back to your home page, and perhaps also your sitemap (you do have one, don’t you?), your contact us page or even some links to your most recently added products or content. Include a cheerful message that lets people know that they’ve landed on a page that isn’t available, but here are some links and info to get you on your way again.

404 errors aren’t a good experience for a website owner or visitor, and they can cost you real income in your business. Using webmaster tools and creating a custom 404 error can go a long way toward alleviating the headaches they cause.