A 404 error doesn’t mean you reached the end however, when the error comes from your website, visitors who land on the 404 page may leave. That may end your relationship with that visitor.
Besides from never leading a visitor down the path to a 404 error page it’s going to happen. To lessen that fact, every so often run a broken link checker on your website. We use brokenlinkcheck.com. There are other broken link programs, including the link checker for WordPress. Most of these are free and very simple to use.
Once you run one of these tools, you will need to fix what’s broken. And each one needs to be corrected individually. Some may require a simple updated link, and others, just removed. It is worth the time it takes to make these corrections.
You may miss some of these corrections, and when you do, visitors will land on your website’s 404-error page. Take advantage of the 404-error page by putting your best page forward and:
Do not use a generic 404 error page, as visitors will believe they left your website. Brand your 404-error page so your website guest knows they are still somewhere on your site.
Make the page useful. Add a search bar and/or a link (that works 😊 so the guest will navigate back to another website page you consider useful.
If you happen upon a 404-error page, notice what they did to keep guests on their website
Your 404-error page isn’t the end of the line, so make it useful. Create a fun atmosphere for your visitor, so they laugh, smile, and help them find what they are looking for with a custom 404-page.
