10 tips on how to create an effective 404 page

The error page 404 is a service responsible for notifying the user that the page he is looking for does not exist. The absence of such may be caused by its movement or transfer to a different address, the possible unavailability of the server, an error when typing in address by the user and even by numerous other reasons.

Page 404 of the error can have a negative impact on your audience and on the search engines rankings during the SEO campaign site. Obviously, we the website owners are interested in keeping our guests on our resources and however we too agree that the default 404 page is not too attractive.

Let’s try to summarize 10 basic rules for creating a page error 404 correctly and efficiently.

1. Tell visitors that the page they are looking for does not exist. Above all, be honest with your visitors and tell them that the page they wanted does not exist. This can be done with a simple phrase “page not found”.
2. A link to the home page must be a good idea: Visitors should easily find a link to the homepage of the site. First of all it is preferable that the logo on each page should link on the home page, because users are accustomed to, and use it intuitively. If the idea with the logo cannot be achieved, allow time to place a highlighted link.
3. Use the model of the site for the design of the 404 error page: The design of the 404 error page should not be different from the other pages of your site. That way you show your visitor that you care about them.
4. Remember the search field… This is necessary to give visitors the opportunity to try to find a hot desired page by entering titles of the articles.
5. Interested visitors with a list of the most popular publications. On top it shows the most interesting materials and readings of your site. The visitor will notice them and probably inevitably take interest in something. As a result, the visitor will remain glad as he found interesting and useful content and you have been able to attract and retain the visitors on the site.
6. Sheets help, FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and guides on the site: Does your website contain fact sheets which can help the user contact fell into an embarrassing situation during his visit? If your site has a complicated structure, and if Google Analytics shows that the 404 error page is the page for most of the site, it is the time to think that maybe you have reason to create a help page.
7. Do not overload visitors with links: Many webmasters who want to help lost visitors tends to place lots of links to other pages on the page 404. Hence force them instead of helping visitors. It is reasonable to propose them 10-15 most important links. It certainly will be enough to find what interests them.
8. No advertising: We recommend don’t placing advertising on the page of the 404 error, since its essential purpose is to help visitors navigate your site and not give you the opportunity to grab some bucks from them.
9. No redirections: lot of webmasters make redirections to the home page, which is certainly a wrong practice. It’s not useful, you can inform the visitor the page is not here anymore.
10. Give the opportunity to share with you the 404 error: If 404 errors are becoming common place on your site and you cannot identify them in time, ask your users for help.

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