404s are the bane of every website’s existence. You can’t have a site without them, but they also represent lost traffic and wasted time for the owner.
404 pages are often used to redirect users who have gone to a broken page. Websites with a custom 404 page are more likely to be found by search engines than those without one.
The all-too-familiar 404 error page.
It’s something we’ve all experienced at some time.
And, in my view, nothing is more annoying than receiving a 404 error when visiting a website.
You’re in the midst of looking over some intriguing material when you’re suddenly given a curveball.
Let’s look at a formal definition of a 404 page if you’re not sure what it is.
Google claims that
A 404 page is what a user sees when they attempt to access a page on your site that doesn’t exist (either they clicked on a broken link, the page was removed, or they mistyped a URL).
Here’s how an unattractive, generic 404 looks:
Isn’t it unflattering?
You can, however, make them seem nice, like I did on Quick Sprout:
You’ve seen 404s before. You’ve been cursed with 404 errors. You may even have 404 errors on your site.
The issue with 404 errors
What’s the big deal about 404 errors?
Is it true that they’re that bad?
First and first, let me state the obvious.
It’s normal for 404s to appear on any website. When people—potential site visitors—type in the incorrect URL, 404s occur.
If I put in “businessinsider.com” in my browser and keep entering nonsense, I’ll receive a 404 error.
It’s not the fault of Business Insider. I received a 404 error. It’s all my fault.
You’ll never be able to fully remove 404 errors.
However, there are certain 404s that are under your control and that you should be aware of.
This is why.
When a user meets a web server problem, such as a 404 page, they are likely to click the back button and return to the search engine.
When a large number of your visitors do this, it causes a phenomena known as “pogo sticking,” which looks like this:
This is an issue since it indicates to Google that your material does not provide value to a certain keyword query.
If this occurs often enough, your rankings are likely to suffer.
Not cool.
404 errors are unavoidable.
As I have said, 404 errors will occur. It’s not a matter of whether, but when your visitors will come across them.
Many of the 404 errors will not be your fault. However, some will be your fault, and it will be difficult to manage them. Even if you’re an incredible SEO or webmaster, certain things will go between the cracks.
The larger your site, the more 404s you’ll get.
Broken links are one of the most common reasons of 404 errors.
Websites evolve. There are no links that go somewhere. And 404 errors do occur.
Indeed, some large websites may accumulate up to ten new broken links each day.
Consider the amount of broken links discovered on some of the world’s most popular websites:
You can guarantee it will happen to you if it occurs to behemoths like Cisco and Apple.
And, as I have said, broken links are just one cause of 404 errors. Sometimes it’s just a case of a visitor mistyping a URL.
The main conclusion is that 404s are unavoidable, and you must be prepared to handle them effectively.
So, what’s the answer?
It’s really very straightforward.
You must build a 404 page that is personalized and branded.
Save all of your 404 ideas in one place, across all of your document applications.
Here’s one from MailChimp as an example:
Another example from Hootsuite:
Consider that for a moment.
Would you rather get an unattractive, generic 404 error message or one that is well-designed and smartly branded?
Most individuals, I’m sure, would choose the latter.
But that’s just half of the story.
These 404 pages are lovely, but they won’t help your SEO at all.
Use 404s to your advantage.
Not only do you want to avoid 404s harming your SEO, but you also want to utilize them to your advantage.
Isn’t that, though, a bit counterintuitive? How may 404 errors be helpful to SEO?
Here’s how you go about it.
Create a bespoke 404 page with a branded look, similar to MailChimp’s and Hootsuite’s, and include numerous internal connections.
I prefer to aim for 25 to 50 links when I’m building a website.
Bam!
Instead of leaving your site in a hurry, visitors will be tempted to look around and see what else is available.
Many people will stay for a long and work their way further into your sales funnel if the links you offer lead to interesting, useful information.
In terms of SEO value, this prevents any pogo sticking and provides your site with extra SEO juice. Rather than being a liability for your SEO, 404s may really be beneficial.
You’re essentially converting a negative into a positive, which is really cool.
There are a number of additional advantages as well:
- You’ll be far less likely to irritate your guests.
- It has the potential to boost your brand’s equity.
- You may lengthen the average time spent on your website.
- Your bounce rate may be reduced.
- Additional material is more likely to be checked out by visitors.
- This should have a beneficial effect on conversions and revenue in the long term.
A customized 404 page with internal links is similar to an SEO magic bullet in many respects.
It has the potential to accomplish a lot of good with little effort on your side.
Examples and specific techniques
Let’s dive into the details now that we’ve established that adding internal links is the method you want to use.
Linking to some of your most popular articles as well as your homepage is one method to execute this technique.
This is something that even Google recommends:
I suggest reviewing your statistics to determine which posts got the most attention (clicks, shares, comments, and so on).
Then, on your 404 page, add these.
This may help your SEO by increasing the amount of pages on your site that are indexed.
And it’s completely effective.
In fact, when I was working at TechCrunch a few years ago, I utilized this same approach.
I was able to significantly increase their search traffic in only 30 days (9 percent to be exact).
Include a search box.
This is a really basic feature, but it has the potential to make a big difference.
Econsultancy claims that
…conversion rates through site search may be up to 50% higher than the industry norm. Visitors converted at a rate of 4.63 percent, compared to 2.77 percent on average on websites, making it 1.8 times more successful. As a result, search visitors accounted for 13.8 percent of total income.
To put it another way, “searchers are more inclined to buy.”
Put yourself in the shoes of a visitor for a moment.
They’ve come to your site in search of information on a certain subject or product.
They hit a stumbling hurdle in the form of an unexpected 404 page.
Rather of becoming irritated, kids may use the search bar to seek up anything that interests them.
Voila! They immediately seek for additional useful material to satisfy their desire.
On its 404 page, Twitter does a good job of this:
GitHub agrees:
Add product links.
Assume you own an e-commerce business.
Linking to different sections of your website is one method to enhance the consumer buying experience.
You may build connections based on various product categories, for example.
Here’s an excellent example from ModCloth, a women’s clothing retailer:
This not only improves SEO and keeps visitors pleased, but it also makes shopping more pleasant and should increase conversions.
What a great way to convert lemons into lemonade!
Include a link to your sitemap in your description.
I’m sure you’ve heard of sitemaps and how they impact search engine optimization.
If you’re not sure, here’s a snapshot showing some of OnCrawl’s top SEO benefits:
Include a link to your sitemap if possible.
That’s exactly what Starbucks has done:
And the 404 page turned out to be fantastic.
Here’s one final piece of advice:
Make a point of explaining what went wrong.
This, I’ve discovered, helps to minimize customer dissatisfaction.
I know I feel relieved when I just understand what’s going on.
This 404 page from X-Cart does this admirably:
There isn’t any lingo here.
It describes some of the potential causes of the 404 error you experienced on their site in simple English.
How to make a personalized 404 page
Now that we’ve demonstrated how helpful a customized 404 page can be for SEO, we need to ask ourselves one crucial question.
How do you go about making one?
I’m a big admirer of WordPress, as you know.
It’s a lifesaver for anybody who doesn’t know much about coding but wants to create a gorgeous, professional-looking website.
For WordPress, I recommend the 404page plugin.
It’s a one-stop shop for putting up a simple 404 page.
You may personalize it and add any information you want for visitors who land on your 404 page.
The greatest thing is that you don’t need any programming knowledge to utilize it.
If you want your 404 page to be very specialized and brand-centric, however, you may want to invest in hiring a professional developer.
This is generally the best option to go if you have the money and want it to appear very professional.
Sites like Guru and Upwork may help you discover qualified developers.
Many of them are less expensive than you would expect.
Conclusion
404s, in my opinion, are an unpleasant but inevitable aspect of maintaining a website.
You can utilize tools like the Online Broken Link Checker to help, but you’ll still run across problems.
Even if you catch all of the broken links, users will still enter URLs incorrectly.
Customizing 404s and including pertinent internal links is the best approach to manage them.
A personalized 404 page will not only safeguard but also enhance your SEO.
Not to mention that it provides a much more enjoyable user experience.
Check out this article I published on NeilPatel.com to learn more about the many types of 404 pages.
A 404 error is a response code that means not found. It’s not a bad thing to use 404s. In fact, it can be a good way to boost your SEO. Reference: how to handle 404 error.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do 404s affect SEO?
404s do not affect SEO.
What do you do with 404s?
404s are used for when a website cannot be found.
Why is 404 page important for SEO?
Related Tags
- should you redirect 404 to homepage
- what is a 404 page
- 404 redirect seo
- 404 custom page
- how to optimize 404 page
