How Creative 404 Page Design Boosts Website Credibility

1.   FEATURED STORIES SUBSCRIBE FREE WEB SERVICES Web Insights GETTING CREATIVE WITH YOUR 404 NOT FOUND PAGE DESIGN Latest & Greatest By Jacqueline Sinex, Tuesday, February 4, 2025 How to Recover a Broken Website Designing for Trust: How to Build Credibility in Your Website Why Humans Still Matter: The Irreplaceable Role of Human Insight in Web Design Web Design Approaches to Login Page Design Unlocking the Power of User-Generated Content Beyond Pretty Pictures: Why Solid Web Design Matters (More Than You May Think) Getting Creative with Your 404 Not Found Page Design Press Room WEBii Celebrates the Launch of ExamiFire WEBii Ranked as a 2024 Top Ethnic Minority-Owned Business in Austin Contributors Creative 404 error page design by WEBii Jacqueline Sinex (217) Every website gives a certain error response when the content for a URL you visit is “not Julianna Truitt (2) found”, known as response code 404. Most of today’s modern website are equipped with at least a basic “404 not found” error page template that alerts the user and search Aimee Johnson (4) engines about the missing content. But just because something is common and standard, doesn’t mean it has to be boring. In fact, you should at least look for Julissa Guadagni (5) opportunities to enhance the user experience. I challenge you to go a bit further and think creatively about this often-overlooked default error page. Jane Baxter Lynn (1) Lara Hollers (1) The basic function of a 404 error page Kathleen Hackney (1) Even if you do the least amount of web design, your server should still return a generic “not found” error if a visitor attempts to reach a URL for a page that does not exist there. Lidia S. Hovhan (1) It will probably have a plain white background and no design elements at all. Common reasons for this to happen are typos in the URL, renamed pages or ?les, and deleted Jessica Perkins (2) content. While you want to try your best to prevent people from experiencing this error, it is bound to happen sometimes. Modern content management software and Megan Marshall (137) professionally designed websites usually have a slightly more customized error page Elizabeth Foley (1) template that will give a clearer stated message and maybe a link to suggest how to ?nd other parts of the website. Nathan Montgomery (1) Considering better user experience with your website 404 errors Melanie Reyna (1) Laura Patterson (1) For quality customer experience and for better SEO, it is recommended to prevent “not Karina Harchandani (6) found” errors as much as possible. If your website has a large amount of these errors compared to the amount of successful tra?c to its content, it will raise a lot of concern. Maisie Cantrell (44) Simple ways you can prevent 404 errors are: Eli Newman (7) Make sure your page names are not misspelled or spelled in complicated ways Ryan Feldman (3) If you delete old content, add proper 301 redirects to another page in your site If you rename or move a page, add the proper 301 redirect to the new URL Marketing Editor (9) If you advertise a link to your site, make sure it is spelled properly Ruth Hawk (198) Even with a basic 404 page design, the user experience will be improved if you specify Stacey Welchley (4) instructions to the visitor on how to continue using the site properly. You can also add a keyword search form to this page that allows them to ?nd what they were trying to locate. Phillip Smith (5)

2. Getting more creative with your 404 page design Web Insights Meredith Schraeder (2) SUBSCRIBE FREE   FEATURED STORIES WEB SERVICES As I mentioned, there will be sometimes when a person runs into this error page. So why Jessica Jones (2) not make that experience a little less stressful and maybe even fun? By customizing the Jen Sayroo (1) design of the page, you can weave your brand into every detail of the website. You can avoid embarrassment from a broken link by adding some helpful information, interesting Samantha Rivera (2) recommendations, or humor. Lizzy Cederberg (6) Examples of creative custom 404 page designs Rachel Schelter (3) In this example from a bakery business, the witty humor that the company is known for is highlighted on an actual sample of one of their products. The type of error is still clear, Alan Safai (5) but the page is colorful, the navigation is easily accessible, and a quick search tool is Carmen Sutherland (1) offered. Even better, it entices you with a little hunger for a delicious cookie that you can probably ?nd in the shop. Brian Disbot (18) Joey McGirr (1) Lanie Crow (3) Ally Hugg (10) Bryan Lokey (13) Bobby Martinez (20) Morgan (6) Rachael Pierce (27) WEBii custom 404 page design example for bakery This example from a recognized UX agency cleverly customizes the “buried” missing content with its brand mascot – a beloved dog. The search function and navigation are still easily accessible at the top of the page. This creative design makes you feel like you are still part of the brand story. UX agency custom 404 page design example In this example from our ?agship website, bold brand colors and customized fonts lead the page. Searching and clicking to the homepage are available in a click.

3.   FEATURED STORIES SUBSCRIBE FREE WEB SERVICES Web Insights WEBii custom 404 page design example For a local transportation-related organization, we introduced a fun light rail track theme for anyone who might have stumbled on an old missing ?le URL. Train track custom 404 page design example What creative elements could you bring into your 404 customization? Do you have a logo element, a mascot, or a theme that inspires ideas? Should your page be simple and clean, or boldly colorful? What kind of navigation elements might be helpful to your visitors that typically ?nd themselves on this type of error page? Don’t forget to watch your analytics Remember that you should still remain mindful of your tra?c patterns the overall usability of your website. Continue to monitor your statistics to see how many people are struggling to ?nd what they need. Some tools such as redirection plugins for WordPress, or analytics report tools, will show you data on how many 404 errors users are experiencing and which page URLs are the most problematic. You should continue to ?x those issues as you maintain your site. The goal here is to take advantage of every aspect of your website with quality design, but we do not necessarily want to encourage more people visiting your beautiful new error page. Jacqueline Sinex, Managing Director custom web design customized error pages seo advice Posted in: Fun Stuff, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, Web Design, Web Design Resource, Website Usability, WWW Learning Center

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