What is a 404 page?
A 404 page is the error message that appears when a visitor requests a URLthat nolonger exists.The 404 status code means “not found”.A well-designed 404 page neatly captures that visitor and helps them along, instead of letting them leave with a dead-end experience.Why do 404 errors occur?404s are caused by deleted pages, changed URLs
without a redirect or
typos in links.Occasional 404s are normal, but many broken links hurt the user experience and can waste crawl budget.Creating a good 404 pageShow a friendly notification, yourcrawlingand a search
function, and refer to
popular pages or the homepage.This is how you keep the visitor on your site.Important: A real 404 page must also return the 404 status code.404 vs redirectIf a page has been permanently moved, use a 301 redirect to the new URL
instead of sending
visitors to a 404.If there is no relevant301 and 302 redirectthen a 404 (or 410) is correct.Are 404 errors bad for SEO?A few is normal and not a problem.Many 404s on important pages are;solve that with redirects or recovery.How do I find 404s on my site?Via Google
Search Console and with crawling
tools that detect broken links.