Customized Error Pages Make Visitors Stay

No site is perfect. This is true. Almost all websites has a broken link. What is a broken link? It refers to a link that is supposed to connect the page to other pages specified in the URL but it does not link at all. Why are we supposed to worry about broken links? Easy! Broken links drive away your site’s visitors and customers. After all, who would want to click on a link that is a dead end – meaning there’s nothing relevant at all.

Broken links lose your site’s visitors and potential customers. This only means one thing: lost money! How will you ever earn dollars in a site that drives away visitors? What will you do with broken links then? Usually, webmasters delete or move the page that has a broken link. The problem here is that they oftentimes forget to update the other pages on the site that link to the deleted or moved page. What could be the effect of this?

If you totally forget to update, there could be a more serious problem. When an online user clicks on your site’s page that links to the deleted page, they will receive a “page not found” notice. This can be frustrating at times and your visitors are left with no choice but leave and find a better site where they won’t experience the same thing. What’s the better solution then regarding broken links?

What to Do With Error Pages

The creative solution to error pages is customization. There are web hosts that let you customize your error pages. This is done simply through online control panel. This is certainly a good way to revert the negative effects of error pages to your advantage.

What happens is that you get to choose a certain page that the server will look for every time it encounters a broken link or error page. The page can be customized according to your preference. You can even apply good web design on that page. This page is what your site visitors see instead of the usual error page notification.

How to Customize Error Page

Suppose your web hosts allow error page customization, you can follow these really simple steps:

• Log in to the site’s online file manager;
• Make a copy of the site’s index file;
• Save the copy as “404.html” in the directory
• Open the control panel option and search for “error pages”; and
• Select “404.html” as the replacement for the error page notification.

Don’t worry about your site’s error pages. You can still benefit from them. Try these simple steps. If you do, your visitors will not be frustrated and definitely won’t leave your site!.

Customize your site’s error pages to avoid site exits. Don’t make your visitors leave. You can do this by having a good site with no error pages. We can help you optimize your site, please see our Web Marketing Services" or apply for a free Website Analysis.