Creating a Custom 404 Page

Posted by Michelle Stephens Mar 18, 2007

There is nothing more annoying to Web surfers than to trying to visit a page just to get the dreaded 404 not found page. Not only is it annoying to users, but it can also mean the loss of a customer to a Website owner. Most visitors will click on the back button and try to find another site with the information they are searching for.

This day in the Internet age, getting and keeping a customer or visitor is very important to your Websites’ overall success. To avoid losing and possibly annoying your visitors, you can create a custom 404 not found page for your Website. The custom 404 page will allow you to direct your visitors to other areas of your Website.

The first thing you need to do is find out from your Web hosting company what files you need to modify in order to customize the page. Typically, if you are on an Apache Web server, you will need to modify the .htaccess file. Once you have that information, you can start creating your page.

So, what are some of the items should you include in your 404 page? Probably the best item for you to put there would be a link to your main page with a pleasant message, rather than the standard default message. You could also create a link to your sitemap page that displays all the areas of your site. If your site uses a template, you should customize the page so that it displays your navigational links throughout your site.

Lastly, make sure that you test out your 404 page by typing in a URL that you know doesn’t exist; doing this will make sure that the visitor is getting the custom page.