Why are custom 404 pages a good idea?

If a search engine is indexing your site and hits a 404 page with no links, it’s not going to be able to continue. A custom 404 page ensures that this doesn’t happen by providing links to all the relevant parts of your site (or possibly even a site map) so that search engines have access to your complete site.

What is the purpose of a 404 page?

It lets your user know that there is an error with their request. Perhaps they mistyped the URL, the page is temporarily unavailable, or the page no longer exists. An effective 404 page will recognize the mistake and guide them back to relevant pages of the site.

Why do you need custom error pages?

Custom error pages enable you to customize the pages that are displayed when an error occurs. Not only do they make your website more professional, they can also save you from losing visits to your site. If a visitor sees a generic error page, they are likely to leave your site.

Is 404 page good for SEO?

404 error pages don’t really hurt your SEO, but there’s definitely a lot you can miss out if you don’t fix them. If you have backlinks pointing to pages on your website that return a 404, try to fix those backlinks and 301 redirect your broken URLs to relevant location.

What should you do with 404 pages?

Often, it’s best to not show a 404 page at all, and instead simply redirect people to a different page. If you update a page and change the URL, make sure you redirect the old URL to the new page so visitors don’t wind up on a 404 page.

Should a 404 page be indexed?

404 errors are not worth fixing because 404s don’t harm your site’s indexing or ranking. If it is a submitted URL (an error), it is worth fixing. If it is a deleted page that has no replacement or equivalent, returning a 404 is the right thing to do. The report should stop showing the 404 after about a month.

What should I do with 404 pages?

Do you need a 404 page?

404 errors can be frustrating for users, so the main purpose of a 404 page is to turn the potential negative user experience of encountering an error into a positive one. The key to this is links. Links on 404 pages are so important because they give users a way out of the error page.

How do I create a 404 page in WordPress?

How to customize your WordPress 404 page.

1. Open your WordPress admin panel:
2. Choose Appearance menu.
3. Choose the Theme Editor page.
4. Check to see if your theme includes a ‘404 Template’ in the list of files.
5. Click the link for ‘404 Template’ along the right side of the page.

How do SEO handle 404 pages?

Best Practices for Redirecting 404 Pages

1. 404s should not always be redirected.
2. 404s should not be redirected globally to the home page.
3. 404s should only be redirected to a category or parent page if that’s the most relevant user experience available.

Why is soft 404 bad?

By failing to serve a 404 status code, your website is telling search engines that there’s a real page at the URL they’re attempting to access. As a result, the URL you’ve deleted (with no content) will be crawled and indexed, thus wasting valuable crawl budget on redundant pages.

Should I redirect 404 to homepage?

404s should not always be redirected. 404s should not be redirected globally to the home page. 404s should only be redirected to a category or parent page if that’s the most relevant user experience available. It’s okay to serve a 404 when the page doesn’t exist anymore (crazy, I know).

Is it hard to create a 404 page?

Creating a functioning custom 404 page isn’t hard. By following the steps in this guide, you can deliver a 404 page that will keep users from leaving your site by helping them find what they are looking for. At the start of your design process, you need to decide how funny and creative you want your custom 404 page to be.

Why should you avoid blunt 404 pages?

Thus, an unfriendly and blunt 404 page may result in visitors being dissatisfied or annoyed with the site’s user interface and cause them to swiftly exit your site.

What are the best practices for a 404 error page?

However your infrastructure is configured, there are a few best practices we must have in place for a proper 404 error page. Displaying the missing content message and returning a 200 status code (the normal response given for a working web page) will confuse crawlers, and you will receive soft 404 errors in search consoles.

How do I create a 404 error page in WordPress?

If you need to create one, its simple. Just open up a text editor, such as Notepad, and name the file “.htaccess”. Step 2: Add the following text to the .htaccess file: “ErrorDocument 404 /404.html”. This line names your 404 error page as ‘404.html’ and locates it in your web site’s root directory.