Custom Error Page

What happens to all your web traffic that clicks on a broken or outdated link, tries to visit your site when the server is down, or types in your URL incorrectly? If you don't have a Custom Error Page, they encounter a standard, white, 404 Not Found error page generated by your web server. And most likely, they won't be contacting the server, backing up to your home page, or trying to find you another way. They'll just go away.

Yes, most web users don't have the time, the patience, or the know-how to get around the error messages. They will simply navigate away from your site, and you'll loose them. These generic white error pages may also leak security information, such as how your code works, making them doubly disagreeable. They can also affect Search Engine Ranking (having a lot of broken links looks bad).

The solution is to create a Custom Error Page, providing a link to your home page and a site map in a friendly, professional manner. This keeps the traffic coming back to you, and can provide security benefits as well. If you want to know which sites have Custom Error Pages, or look at some examples, simply add on a fake file name to the end of a URL. (Such as www.ibm.com/error)

Most Web Servers allow you to create Custom Error Pages. They are most effective if they're designed in the same style and look as the rest of your website, so if someone accidentally navigates to the error page from your site they won't visually notice the difference. Most will just look at the site map you provide, click where they think the need to go, and re-enter your site.

Custom Error Pages also help with Search Engine Optimization. The links and site map you display on your Custom Error Page will be crawled through by search engine spiders, pointing back to your home page.