Avoiding Error 404
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One of the biggest disappointments that web surfers may have is seeing a 404 error on a website they enjoyed looking at. These 404 errors are pages that appear with the text “Error 404” along with a few explanations of the cause of the error. Often, these errors are caused by a mistyped URL or by visiting a page that has been deleted or moved. These errors tend to disrupt your customers’ interest, as well as prevent some users to get to your website.

Sometimes, 404s are unavoidable. The simplest way to avoid them is to put up a default 404 page that has similar design as the rest of your site. In that page, you could put a few sentences such as "“he page you are trying to access has been removed"” etc, as well as an option for your customer to go back to the previously viewed page or to your website’s main page. Some webhosts also provide a service known as a “404 redirect”. This service means that when a user attempts to view a page off your site that doesn’t exist, he or she will be redirected to a specific page on your website. Often, webmasters redirect their customers to the main page during a 404 error.

It may also help you to keep a list of all your website’s pages. Keep track of any pages that are renamed, deleted or moved. Make all the necessary changes and updates based on your logs. You can also use search engines to look for the pages on your site to ensure that search engines aren’t leading your possible customers to 404 pages. If you find out that this is happening, submit any new pages through the search engine submission page.

Your site visitors may want to contact you for any 404 errors they see. Therefore, it’s advisable to list your email address in your custom made 404 page. In the place of an email address, you may also place a form on the 404 page that automatically submits the complaint to you. Having this interaction with an actual visitor allows you to spot errors that a search engine would normally miss.

Routinely looking over your server logs allows you to see all the activity on your site. This is often accessible through your webmaster control panel, but it’s best to ask your web host where to get it. This server log allows you to see any pages under your site that failed to load because of a 404 error. Check how your viewers got to the broken link. If it’s an internal link, then fix it yourself as soon as you can. If it’s an external link, then it may help to email the respective webmasters that linked to the “dead” web page and notify him or her of other pages that can substitute for the one that isn’t there anymore.

Error 404 pages can cost you your potential customers, as well as make your site appear disorganized. You can easily avoid this by following the tips mentioned above.

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