If you have a website and it’s placed on the top SERP, then Error 404 page can be a real trouble to it. According to the notable providers of digital marketing services in India, Error 404 is a matter of concern for businesses because it not only annoys the user, but also restricts the web crawlers from indexing your website.
It’s quite obvious that your online customers have already faced the problem. But have you ever tried to decode the message and fix it altogether? Never as such, right? Not to worry! We’re here to help you with everything you need to know about Error 404 and the ways to fix it.
So let’s start with the basics!
What is 404 Error?
404 Error is a standardized HTTP error message. This message occurs when you’re trying to reach a web page but it is no longer in existence. A default 404 error page is an empty page with a message implying the unavailability of the desired web page. Naturally, the message is, for the user and the crawlers, to leave the page.
A web server of the website you’re trying to reach sends this message to the web browser, i.e. you, that sent the HTTP request.
So How Does It Damage Your Website’s Ranking?
Okay, so tell me if you encounter a 404 error while searching for something online, what do you do? You feel annoyed and close the tab or go on a different website right away. Isn’t it? This is exactly what most of the users do while encountering the same on your website.
Although 404 error pages are normal to Google, it sometimes hurts the traffic to your website. As the users are annoyed at the unavailability of their desired contents, they leave your website and land on your competitor’s website. The high bounce rates that the broken links cause can also turn all your SEO efforts upside down. This in turn hampers your website’s traffic and SERP ranking.
But Why Does The “404 Error” Occur?
According to the best SEO company in India there are a lot of reasons for a 404 error to occur. These are the following:
- If the content of the web page you’re searching for has been relocated to another URL.
- The content like images, files etc. or the URL has been deleted or changed without doing necessary changes to the internal links.
- While searching in the browser, the user types the URL wrong.
- The connection somehow breaks or the server for the concerned website is not working properly.
- The DNS can not transform the requested domain name to an IP.
- The requested domain name has no existence at all etc.
Also Read: Improved Website Ranking By Insights From Google Analytics
So How To Check The 404 Error Pages For Your Website?
Broken links are the mistyped links that no longer lead the user to anywhere. Now, often the operator has no clue about the deleted contents. So the broken links are left for a long period of time.
But it’s important to check the 404 Error pages frequently and remove them from your website. For small and medium websites we should check the error once in every month and for big websites it’s once in every week.
Google Search Console: Google provides this free tool to give you information about how it sees your website. You can use Google search console to find 404 errors if your website is listed in Google.
The tool displays the 404 errors in your website found by Google crawler. So you can easily make use of this tool to find the 404 errors, rectify them and enable smooth functioning of your website.
Now You’ve Found The 404 Errors! But How to Fix Them?
The top SEO company in India uses several methods to fix the 404 error in your website. The methods are:
1. 301 Redirection: You can use it to redirect the user from the non-existent URL to a relevant location. This redirection provides your users an alternative source of information they are looking for. Apart from that, it will also ensure that you don’t have any useless bunch of 404 error pages
2. Custom 404 Page: It’s obvious that you won’t always try to redirect your potential customers to somewhere else using 301 redirection. That’s why you can create a custom 404 page. A custom 404 page is a miniature version of the sitemap of your website. You can use it to lead the users and the Google crawler to the essential sections of your website.
Unlike a 404 error page, a custom 404 page gives the crawler something to follow even if it hits a 404 error page on its way to indexing your website. With a creative and funny 404 message you can apologise to the users for not being able to provide the content they are searching for.
3. Source Link Correction: If your website has 404 error pages and the broken links are sending traffic to it, you can fix it effectively by correcting the dead links at the source. This way you can redirect your users to the correct pages of your website.
Wrap Up:
Having a wonderful website and driving lots of traffic and revenue from it requires pretty much effort. And it’s obvious that you won’t want to lose your potential visitors because of this 404 error page.
So now that you’ve known all important aspects of the 404 error and the ways to fix it, why waste time? Find out such errors, sort it out, and ensure a perfect online presence for your brand.
Still confused? Get in Touch with us today and find out what errors are holding you back!
