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Which of the following are best practices for designing and handling 404 error pages on your site?
What should a 404 page include?
- A light touch. A little comic relief is always welcome on an error page.
- Link to your best content. 3 or 4 links to great content on your site should help guide lost visitors to something they find interesting.
- Call to action.
- Keep it simple.
Why are all errors 404?
A 404 error happens when you try to access a resource on a web server (usually a web page) that doesn’t exist. Some reasons for this happening can for example be a broken link, a mistyped URL, or that the webmaster has moved the requested page somewhere else (or deleted it).
How to create a great custom 404 error page?
Canva has a great list of things you can do to make your 404 page creative and interesting. Not all 404 pages need to be creative, though. Some brands are more serious, and their 404 pages can be just about getting users to where they want to go. Either way, a good 404 page should have these features:
Why do we need a 404 error report?
If we have a time-sensitive need to know which other pages are sending users who are at risk of exiting our site, this report gives us that. The web is not static. Pages are constantly being created and deleted, and the links between those pages are breaking and disappearing every day.
Which is better a 404 page or not found?
A basic 404 error page is better, because it has main navigation, but is still not ideal: The problem is that pages like this aren’t clear about what’s happening, and they don’t help users stay on the site. eFax has a custom 404 page that is pretty good.
Do you Redirect 404 errors to another website?
Never redirect the 404 errors to a different web site. Remember the goal of the custom 404 is to improve your visitors experience. Sending them to a totally different website will frustrate them. Do not redirect 404 errors to the website’s home page. This will only confuse your visitor.