Handling a 404 Error

 

Everybody who has browsed the web has encountered a Not Found, or 404, error message. You clicked a link and then saw that generic white page that said "Not Found: The requested URL /whatever was not found on this server." It is one of the more annoying error messages to find and generally speaking it is not a good idea to annoy people who are trying to visit your website.

While you can minimize some of these errors by putting in 301 redirects when you delete, rename or move files it is inevitable that occasionally broken links will be found or users will type in the wrong address when trying to reach a page on your website. As a result, you want to find a way to handle those "not found" errors without annoying your website visitors too much.

The most effective solution is a fairly simple one: create a custom "Not Found" page. Instead of getting that generic white page all of us have seen at one time or another, your customers visiting the broken page on your website, will see a friendly page that is designed like the rest of your website.

The content on the custom "Not Found" page needs to help users find what they were looking for before they encountered the broken link. This page doesn't need to be terribly involved but you do need to give some thought to what content should be here. For example, if you have a search engine on your website, link to it or present the search box on this page. It is also useful to provide a link back to the main sections of your website. In short, you want the custom "Not Found" page to help your users get to where they wanted to get to in the first place without making them work too much harder.

Another common tactic, that you should avoid, is having the "Not Found" errors redirected to your home page. There are numerous problems with this approach but the largest problem is that the home page doesn't necessarily do what the "Not Found" error page needs to do. While the home page is about promoting the highlights of the website, the "Not Found" page is about helping people who are lost find what they were looking for. In short, these are two entirely separate pages with two entirely separate purposes.

For more information or to setup a custom "Not Found" error page on your website, contact QW Consulting today.