You probably know the situation: You click on a link, but instead of landing on the desired page, an error appears. This indicates that the desired page is not available. Something along the lines of 'Error 404 - Page could not be found'. A 404 error is the standardized HTTP status code.
The message is sent from the web server of an online presence to the web browser that sent the HTTP request. The Browser then displays this error code.
Fact:
Links that do not lead anywhere are called 'dead links' or 'broken links'. The HTTP status code 404 is often referred to as 'error 404', 'HTTP 404' or '404 code'.
Error 404: What does the error message mean and how best to use it?
First of all, a brief overview of possible Status codes.
Types of Status codes
The following are the most frequently returned Status codes listed:
- 200 OK: The page you requested was found.
- 301 Moved permanently: The page you requested has moved permanently from the position you requested (position A) to another position (position B).
- 302 FoundThe page you requested has temporarily moved from the position you requested (position A) to another position (position B).
- 404 - Not FoundThe server from which you are requesting the page has confirmed your request, but the page you requested could not be found.
Error 404 is an ambiguous status code. The server cannot find the website it is looking for, but does not attempt to give the reason for this.
We have collected information on error messages and show you how to create your own 404 page.
How does a '404 error' occur?
The typical trigger for an Error 404 is when web page content is removed or moved to a different URL have been moved. However, there are other reasons why an error message may occur. These include:
- The URL or their content (e.g. files or images) was either deleted or moved (without internal links being adjusted accordingly).
- The URL was misspelled (during the creation process or a redesign), incorrectly linked, or included in the Browser entered.
- The server responsible for the website is not running or the connection is interrupted.
- The requested Domain name cannot be converted to an IP by the domain name system (DNS).
- The entered Domain name does not exist (anymore).
Dead links often remain for a longer period of time, as the operators have no idea that the linked content has been deleted or moved. Many websites still appear in the search engine results pages (SERPs), although they are no longer available online (or at least not under the specified URL).
Other linked websites such as blogs, news portals, etc. are often not informed that the website has been removed or is now under a new URL can be found. Also, many website owners do not check their external links regularly, so a working link can easily become a dead link.
How to fix the "Error 404"
The appearance of a 404 page does not necessarily mean that the user is looking for a Content is not available.
In many cases, the solution to the original error is easy to find. This allows the visitor to be quickly redirected to the website they were originally looking for. So how exactly can you achieve a 404 error fix? We recommend trying these solutions (in the order they are listed):
Reload the pageError 404 may have occurred for the simple reason that the page has not loaded correctly. This can be easily fixed by clicking on the "Refresh" button in your Browser be achieved.
Check the URL: It is possible that an error has crept in. Regardless of whether you have URL-address manually or were directed via a link. For this reason, you should check the given path of the website. It is possible that either you or the person who entered the link made a typo.
Go back through the directory levels: For example, if a URL the following structure example.com/Directory1/Directory2/Directory3 causes a 404 error page, then you can always return to the previous directory level. In this example: example.com/directory1/directory2. All you need to do is to change the last directory in the URL to delete. The link for the page you are looking for should be visible on the previous page.
Use the search function of the website: Many websites offer a search function as part of their Homepage an. By entering one or more keywords, it can help you find the specific page you are looking for.
Use a Search EngineYou also have the option of finding a website via the website of your choice. As long as the page you want exists, you should find it by entering the website domain and/or a Keyword-transcription of the topic.
HTTP 404 errors can affect the ranking and reputation of a website.
Search engines use so-called crawlers to check websites. If Google, Bing, etc. determine that the website has a conspicuously large number of Error 404 error pages, the "impression" will logically be negative. If many crawler queries are answered with 404 codes, they will assume that the website is not very well maintained.
Dead links influence the Ranking of a website and Google can reduce its ranking in the SERPs or even stop indexing it if too many 404 error pages occur. This can lead to a significant drop in traffic to the website.
In addition, a website with many dead/defective pages usually leads to the user losing trust in the website. The result will most likely be a high Bounce rate be
How to identify 404 error pages on your own website?
It is important for website operators to prevent HTTP Error 404 pages. This applies to internal 404 error pages on your own website as well as external 404 error pages on other websites. There are numerous free tools that can help you find these broken links more easily. Three of the best and most popular are
Google Search Console (formerly known as "Google Webmaster Tools"): If you already have a Google account and your website is registered there, you should use the Google Search Console option. Any 404 errors found by the Google crawler are displayed in the web tool and can also be marked as corrected here. With additional functions, you can find errors in robots.txt files and correct them with the help of Crawling-Find out how often your website was crawled by Google crawlers.
Dead Link Checker: One of the easiest and fastest tools for finding internally and externally linked 404 pages is Dead Link Checker. With this web app you simply enter the URL of the website to be inspected and then start the check. Here you have the option of checking an individual website or an entire page. The app lists all tracked error pages with Status codes and URL on.
W3C Link Checker: This online tool of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is particularly detailed when it comes to testing individual web pages. As a result, the process of checking the links takes longer than for other websites. The W3C Link Checker works in exactly the same way as the Dead Link Checker: you enter the URL and let the tool do the rest. It is also possible to add more details.
Create a 404 error page
Some Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla and Drupal automatically generate a 404 error page when the URL of a website cannot be found. HTTP 404 page is just a simple standard error message, but most of them can be personalized with special CMS extensions (plugins).
If your CMS does not allow you to create or modify your own 404 page, or if your website is based solely on HTML, PHP, etc., things get a little more complicated. You can create an error page as follows:
- Create an error page ('404.html' or '404.php') in the root directory (if none is already available).
- Open the .htaccess-file (or create one if needed) in the root directoryenter them in 'ErrorDocument 404 /404.html' and save the change. The error page is generated with this code.
- To see if it works, try clicking on a unavailable website to access. Now the Error 404 error message should appear in the Browser appear.
Why should you personalize your 404 error page?
Of course, it is better to have a standard 404 error page than none at all. However, a customized 404 page for your website should be preferred. This is partly because you can be sure that users will receive an accurate HTTP status code. For example, if the requested Content is no longer available on the website, this should be communicated with the message "410 Gone". The visitor then knows that this content has been permanently deleted.
On the other hand, you can provide a specially designed error page with related links. So links to your Homepage or subpages whose content overlaps with that which the visitor originally requested. You can even add a search function to your website. By taking these additional measures and creating incentives, you can help the Bounce rate of the users.
Get creative! Personalized/creative 404 messages have been shown to keep users on a website. When done correctly, error pages have a certain potential.
So make sure that the design of the error message matches the style of your website. You have already laid the foundation for a good 404 error page!
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