A 404 error page is a page of your website that displays whenever visitors fail to gain access to a page they are attempting to open. This can happen for many different reasons. Dead links within your own site and from other sites, or failed site searches are among the most common although server errors and coding errors may also lead to the same error. The 404 error page itself is, by default, a dull and basically pointless page. Customising the 404 error page assists lost visitors, enables you to improve brand awareness, and can prove effective real estate on your site.

Using Your Site Template

The 404 error page should ideally use the same template as the rest of your website. This way it will have the appearance of being a main page and not a default error page. Using the template should also provide search engine spiders with access to the rest of your site. Spiders follow on page links and if they come across a 404 error page while attempting to index the page then they will stop if that page does not offer a link out.

Informing Your Visitors Of The Error

The 404 error page should always include some kind of indication that that’s what it is. Use a brief section of the page content to explain that there has been an error. Use the same voice that you have used throughout the site and make it personalised so that you can begin the online relationship with all of your visitors, even those that have arrived under less than perfect circumstances.

Links To Important Pages

You might also consider offering contextual links to the main pages or categories in your site. At the very least include a prominent link to your home page, contact page, and about page. Adding a search box or a link to a search page can assist greatly in retaining visitors even after they hit an error. The information contained in the main body content should be general to avoid confusion and because the 404 error page may be displayed t various groups of visitors looking for different pages and expecting different results.

Site Search Function

A search function helps any visitor locate their desired pages and by either including a search box on the 404 error page, or by placing a link in the general content that you include it’s possible to offer this same convenience to lost visitors. Even if there is a link to the search box or a search box placed somewhere on the template you should still consider adding it to the custom error page.

404 Error Page Optimisation

A 404 error page is displayed whenever a file or web page cannot be displayed. The server may fail to find the requested file for a number of reasons but the most common is a link to a page that no longer exists on your domain. Others may click the link or attempt to visit that page but because the address of the page has changed the error page is displayed instead. Optimising this page can help with search engine optimisation and with general site usability.

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