Making the most of your 404 Page

What is the 404 page?

This is an annoying page which usually appears whenever a web browser is asked to find an unrecognised file. Usually it happens after the visitor clicks on one of the following:
1. A link within the website that is broken for whatever reason.
2. A link on an external site that may have been incorrectly coded by the webmaster or you may have changed the destination file on your site making the old link invalid.
3. The visitor may have typed in a mis-spelt or incorrect ending, such as ‘www.domain.com/wrongname’.

From a visitor’s perspective the reason the 404 page appearing is not important – what is important is the reaction it triggers and how it makes them feel about your site and your brand: frustration and irritation which may turn them away permanently. It is therefore essential that your 404 page does not add fuel to the fire.

Damage limitation
Ideally you do not want your visitors to ever see the 404 page, so maintaining site links should be a priority (avoiding error type 1). When your website is moved or altered, or file names and destinations changed, those pages should be resubmitted to whichever sites are carrying inward links (avoiding error type 2). If that’s too big a job, at least be aware of the problem and set up redirections as appropriate. Error type 3 is harder to control, but happens less often anyway.

The next step is to ensure your 404 page alleviates visitor frustration rather than aggravates it. Too many 404 pages carry ‘standard’ messages, many of which have the capacity to annoy visitors even more by confusing them or throwing the blame for the error onto them. Things to be avoided:
1. Techie jargon. Calling it a '404 page' means nothing to the average visitor. Even a statement such as ‘the file you are looking for does not exist on our server’ is meaningless to many people.
2. Telling your visitor they have made a mistake. It’s more likely to have been your mistake, and even if it wasn’t, the visitor does not want to be told that.
3. Telling the visitor to ‘please contact the webmaster’ to report the error – why should they do your job for you?
4. Doing all the above in a rude or unhelpful way. At the very least, the visitor deserves an apology.

Some bad examples from well known organisations:
Marks and Spencer - a standard browser error page – Marks and Spencer do not even have a 404 error page!
Google gives no help or navigation to redirect the visitor to where they want to go!
Asda - again, no 404 error page, just a standard browser error page.
Cabinet Office- no attempt is made to redirect the visitor back into the website.
Debenhams - nothing at all but a browser error page.

Making the 404 page work for you
In contrast to what most sites seem to be doing, it is possible to view the 404 page as an opportunity to turn your visitor’s frustration into a more positive experience. Admit the mistake and offer to make it good. Present a human face that your visitor will warm to. Take the visitor into your confidence. They’ve discovered a secret corner of your website that not everyone knows about. Since this tactic is unusual, you have the chance to surprise and delight and even turn a passive browser into an active customer. You also have the chance to set something viral in motion – for example, telling people not to spread the word can often have a positive effect!

Turning error into advantage:
Your 404 page can be an asset to your site. Ideally it should:
i. Be written with an appreciation of the visitor’s point of view. Clear, polite, friendly, apologetic, no jargon, no longwinded or technical explanations.
ii. Avoid negative words and phrases such as ‘error’, ‘mistake’, ‘does not exist’, ‘removed’, ‘unavailable’ etc. Careful use of humour to diffuse the situation may be appropriate.
iii. contain an offer to make good the situation (again always from the visitor’s point of view, not the webmaster’s – what would it take to turn frustration into pleasant surprise?)
iv. Make the visitor want to return to your site – and make it as easy as possible to do so – an incentivised invitation to interact. You want them to move past the error page, but in to your website, not away from it. If the page appears without standard site navigation bars, then there needs to be a clear signposting back to the homepage.

Some possible approaches
Make sure the visitor feels they have stumbled across something exclusive. You could present it as a sorry gesture, or maybe turn it into congratulations for finding the page. Depending on what your objectives are of course, how about offering:
Useful information – perhaps a PDF file they can download.
A chance to win something – capture email addresses for a monthly prize draw and invite them to opt in to your newsletter.
A 10% discount/freebie/two for one when they order something from your site – remembering to make it as easy and attractive as possible for visitors to go back to your virtual store and place an order.
Trial membership for a short period

Some good examples of 404 pages:
Delia Online - complete navigation is offered to the lost visitor
Country Life offer a very comprehensive 404 page to ensure you find what you are looking for
Nationwide- the message is helpful and helps to redirect the visitor back to the home page

You can use the 404 page to redirect the visitor or draw their attention to something they may not have yet seen on your website. This could be a special offer, piece of news or topical information. Just remember that anyone who reaches a 404 page is unlikely to be in the mood for your sales pitch – beware of the temptation to cross sell your way out of it.

The bottom line is that the visitor has been diverted from their chosen route. Providing standard navigation back into the site is therefore wise.

For more about 404 pages, go to the 404 Research Lab from Plinko: Plinko.net/404