Sooner or later, someone will land on a page of your website that does not exist. They might have followed an old link from another site, mistyped an address or clicked a search result for a page you removed last year. What they see next decides whether they stay or leave.
That page is your 404 page, named after the error code a web server returns when it cannot find something. Most websites treat it as an afterthought. It deserves a few minutes of attention.
Why 404s happen
- Pages are removed or renamed during a redesign without redirecting the old address.
- Other websites, directories or social posts link to an address that has changed.
- Someone types the address by hand and gets one letter wrong.
- An old link in an email newsletter outlives the page it pointed to.
Some 404s are unavoidable. Many are not.
What a bad 404 page looks like
The worst version is the default server message: a white page with "Not Found" and nothing else. No logo, no navigation, no way back. The visitor assumes the business is gone, or that the website is broken, and closes the tab.
Almost as unhelpful is the overly clever version: a joke, an animation and no useful links. A little personality is fine, but the visitor came for something specific.
What a good 404 page includes
- A clear, friendly message that the page could not be found, in plain words, without blaming the visitor.
- Your normal header and footer, so it is obvious they are still on your website and can use the menu.
- Links to the pages people usually want: your services, your work, prices and contact.
- A direct way to get in touch, such as your phone number or contact link, because some visitors were looking for exactly that.
Keep it short. The aim is to get the visitor moving again within a few seconds.
Better still: prevent them
The most effective 404 is the one nobody sees.
- Redirect old addresses. When a page is removed or renamed, set up a permanent redirect from the old address to the most relevant new page. Search engines pass on most of the value of the old page, and visitors land somewhere useful.
- Check after every change. After a redesign or a batch of new pages, check that old links still lead somewhere.
- Watch the reports. Google Search Console lists pages that return "not found", including ones linked from other sites. Error monitoring can show which missing pages real visitors are hitting.
When we brought our own blog back recently, every address from the old blog was handled: articles that have been rewritten load at their original address, and the ones still being rewritten send visitors to the blog's main page instead of a dead end.
Do not hide real errors
One thing to avoid: sending every missing page to your home page without telling the visitor or search engines. It feels tidy, but it confuses people who expected something specific and makes it harder for Google to understand your site. Redirect old pages to genuinely related ones, and let everything else show a helpful 404.
A quick check
Type your website's address followed by something random, such as /this-does-not-exist, and see what appears. If it is a blank page or a generic error, it is a small fix that is worth making. If you would like a hand, get in touch; it takes us very little time.