3 Ways To Be Creative With 404’s
There are a lot of sites that either change some of their URL’s due to a redesign or remove content frequently due to updates that serve a lot of 404 pages. Below are the top 3 ways to handle this. (#1 can be the most fun and might even be the most rewarding from an ROI and LTV perspective).

3. The website owner could implement a global 301 for all pages with a certain URL variable or within a certain directory to redirect to the home page.
Challenge: This created a poor user experience since when a link is clicked on in the search results it is clicked on based on the title, description, and rank. You are shattering the expectation of the visitor if they are expecting a page about ‘x’ and you serve them the general home page and then make them search the site in hopes they might find something remotely like what they were expecting.

2. For the best user experience the website owner could go through and redirect all these pages to current relevant pages on the website.
Challenge: Most of these sites are unable to manage the pages that have been removed using 301 redirects due to the sheer number of URL’s. Inevitably there will still be pages which show up in the search engines or that are not apparent in search results but have an inbound link from some random site. From sites I worked with these links or search results can be clicked on hundreds or even thousands of times a month and generate the generic 404 error page.

1. Be Creative and Have Fun With Your 404 Page.
The 404 page is a free page that can be used to generate sales by reestablishing trust with the consumer. It’s initial goal is to speak to the visitor in a way that calms them down, gives them valuable information, or makes them laugh, so ultimately they stay on the page long enough so they feel a reestablish trust that your site is where they need to be.

Think of your own habits on the web, what happens when you reach a 404 page from a search result, what do you usually do? Well what I do is click the back button and go to another site within the search results, and this is the exact action you are trying to avoid. This action can be minimized by customizing that 404 page to engage the user and keep their attention on your site and take it away from the “back button”.

How do you keep their attention and engage the user and keep them on your site long enough to guide them to another section that is currently working you might ask? Below are a few suggestions

• You can either give them some great information about what you offer, which is kind of boring.
• You can give them an offer they can’t refuse for example say something like “You found our websites secret page you get 25% off any item on your site”.
• You can make them laugh, which I think is the most fun, by putting a joke on the screen, a funny cartoon, or saying something like “ look what you have done, you broke the internet, click this link to fix it”. (ok maybe not as funny as it sounded in my head)

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