No website works 100% perfectly all the time. Your visitors will inevitably end up clicking on a broken or expired link. When this happens, they’ll get redirected to the 404 page.
1. What does 404 indicate?
It tells the visitor that they successfully communicated with the web server, but the web server couldn’t find the requested page.
2. Why you need a 404 page instead of simply fixing all the broken links?
The problem is that, as your website grows, you won’t be able to identify all of the broken links right away. So there’s a good chance that your visitors will encounter them before you. When this happens, the 404 page comes in as a backup solution until you fix the broken link.
3. Why should you not be satisfied with your default 404 page?
Well, because they’re often too vague.
In the example image, the default status code 404 page tells you nothing except that you encountered a 404 error and the URL was not found.
If your website visitor encounters such an error, what do you think they will do? Because nothing tells them what happened, why, and what they should do next.
After your visitors encounter such a page, they’ll likely leave your site and might not come back again.
“88% of consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience.” – Econsultancy
4. Why should you have a custom 404 page?
- It reduces the frustration and confusion your visitors may feel after clicking on a broken link by providing a much more straightforward explanation
- Provide different options for your visitors so that they may stay on your website a little longer, including other recommended links, a search bar, etc.
- Improve your website’s bounce rate and, combined with a bit of keyword implementation, improve your site’s search results as well.
5. Do 404 Pages from Broken Links Still Pass Link Equity?
If your website returns information other than a 404 error for a non-existent page, it can negatively impact your website’s performance in organic search engines. This means that it can be harmful if your website has a high proportion of soft 404 errors. The search engines will know there’s an actual page at the URL the people are trying to access.
Then, the URL you deleted will be crawled and indexed.
When soft 404 errors are resolved, a website’s performance in organic search results tends to improve.
6. Why Do 404 Error Pages Appear?
We’ve already covered that the 404 error pages appear when a user clicks on a broken link.
So what causes a 404 server error?
The three most common reasons include:
- Removing a page from the website
- Changing the directory in which the page was located previously
- Changing the URL
SUMMARY
It’s important to have a custom 404 page to keep your visitors on your site as well as improve your bounce rate with Google. A custom 404 page can be humorous as well to show you have a sense of humor. Have a look at my custom 404 page.
