Even if you have limited experience with the Web, you’ve probably encountered a 404 page at some point. You know–it’s that frustrating page that appears after you type in a URL and looks something like this:
Or it may say that the page was not found on the server. Either way, you’re stuck, because if you typed in the URL correctly (i.e. no spelling errors), there is no way for you to tell if a) the URL of the page changed or the entire page was deleted, b) broken links exist on the site itself or on the external site where you found the link, or c) the site’s CMS is generating misconfigured links.
In other words, these default 404 pages don’t tell the user anything about what may have happened, where else they can go on the site, or what they can do to report a problem. The pages don’t even have any branding to reassure the user that they’re on the right track.
Now, using a default 404 page may not hurt the reputation of some websites, but for online businesses and others who need to attract visitors, this kind of error message can scare potential contacts away. If you’re trying to make conversions, you can’t depend on default messages and styling. You’ve got to hold a contact’s hand every step of the way and always keep your brand in front of their eyes.
Naturally you should customise your 404 page to suit your needs, but here are a few guidelines:
To close, here are some examples of custom 404 pages using best practices.
Feature image © zolverine
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