Page Not Found - Custom 404 Pages
By Sock Puppet
The Page You Are Looking For Cannot be Displayed
404 Error Pages
This hub discusses 404 error pages and how you can customize them to help promote your site and keep visitors from leaving.
A 404 error page is the default page which is displayed when a visitor to your site stumbles upon a page that does not exist. This can happen in a number of ways: you may have created a broken link somehwhere on your site, and when someone clicks on the link they are led to a non-existent page; or they may have typed the address of the page incorrectly; or you may have deleted or renamed a page, but search engines may still be directing traffic to its old location.
When a visitor reaches a non existent page, your web server will produce a 404 page not found error, which triggers the display of a default Page Not Found. The ubiquitous Page Not Found is (paradoxically) a page, and gives the visitor a bunch of useless information about how they can trouble shoot to find out why the page they were looking for is not loading. No one reads this and no one cares.
The standard page not found error does provide a link that you can click to go back to the main page of the site, but it is a small link buried in a lot of wording that no one reads, so chances are that most people will not click it. They will most likely go to a different website or hit backspace which may bring them back to the search engine that they came from. The result: you have lost a valuable visitor. Whatever you are selling, they are not going to buy it.
Custom Page Not Found
- 404 page not found
This error page looks identical to a standard windows error page, but look closer and you will see that some witty webmaster has changed the text to include some humorous instructions. - A Page Not Found Error
Click on the wrong page on patterntap.com and you will find an elaborate error page that uses a flow chart to map a decision matrix, the purpose of which is to take you back to the main site. This is the sort error page Rube Goldberg might design. - 404 File Not Found
An interesting page not found which uses flash animation of a subway station. When the train comes you can click on the doors and take a journey to other sections of the site. Or you can follow the signs back to the "main level" of the site.
Quick Tips on How to Create a Custom Error Page
- use an web page editor such as FrontPage to create a nice looking error page. Although you can use your server's online text editor, you are better off designing the page offline and then pasting into the document on your server.
- You can add graphics, flash animation and other bells and whistles to your error page. A custom 404 error pages does not have to be text and it should not be boring. In fact, it should entice the viewer to explore other parts of your site.
- Do not place any Adsense code on your error page. This is against Adsense's terms of service and may get you banned.
- Your error page can display a site map, or provide some links to selected content. You can also provide links to other sites that you wish to promote.
- If you have an ecommerce site you can use your error page to promote some of your products. Who knows, the visitor may not have been looking for those items but they may be interested any way.
Creating Custom Error Pages
If you have access to your server, you can create a custom page not found error page. In fact you can add whatever content you like to your page.For example, if you have an e-commerce site, you can make your error page display products, or a search box. You also can put a search box or a site map on your error page.
The goal is to keep your visitor on your site and not let him or her click away when the page they were looking for does not exist.
If you have access to your web server account, use the control panel to access and edit a file called .htaccess
Note: The .htaccess file is usually only accessible through your server control panel; it cannot normally be uploaded or downloaded using an FTP program and you cannot access it directly by typing its web address.
Using your Web Server's control panel, open the .htaccess file and edit it. Add the following wording:
ErrorDocument 404 /errorpage.html
The code above tells the server that whenever a visitor to your site goes to a page that does not exist and a 404 error is generated, the server should display the page called errorpage.html
In other words, this code creates a default page called errorpage.html which will be displayed whenever the actual page is missing. You can call your own custom error page anything you like. In fact, you could make the default error page your main page by inserting the following code:
ErrorDocument 404/index.html
In this example, whenever a visitor clicks on a non-existent page they would be brought back to the index.
Its important that you create your custom error page. So if you create a custom 404 error page, and call it errorpage.html, it is important that you create an actual file called errorpage.html and upload it to your server. The content you put on your error page is up to you.
The box to the right provides links to some pretty creative custom error pages. A more standard type of error page on an ecommerce site is to display some featured products from your catalog in hopes of generating a sale.
Whatever you decide to put on your custom error page, make sure that it is engaging and interesting so that it keeps people on your site. Otherwise they are likely to just backspace their way out of your site as quickly as they got there.
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