Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [174]
What’s a 404?
Your users may not even know what a 404 error is. Some of you reading this book may still not know. A 404 Not Found code is a server response code (like the 301 Moved Permanently). However, web surfers may not know (or care) what a 404 code is or means. They have already landed on a page that they didn’t expect, so don’t confuse things even further by labeling the page “404” or “404 Error Page.”
There are a lot of wonderfully creative error pages on the Web; unfortunately, many make use of the 404 code, which the primary audience of the website may not understand. Rethink your use of “programmer-speak” and server codes, especially if your audience is not tech-savvy and may not understand the usage of the 404 code designation and design into the error page. The message needs to be friendlier and more informative than the default message of “Error 404, Page not Found.” This is a server code and message, which is not written for the visitor.
On the technical side, do not use a redirect to divert people from the error page to the home page, especially with a 302 redirect. Let visitors hit the error page and find their way from there. Redirecting errors to the home page or to the site map creates havoc with the search engines, which rely upon the 404 error code to know whether the page is no longer available.
Don’t Assign Blame
Most of the error pages seem to imply that the visitor is at fault for discovering the error. Typical error messages reinforce this notion that the user is at fault:
“Make sure you haven’t mistyped the URL.”
“You may have bookmarked a page that no longer exists.”
“The content you requested couldn’t be found.”
“Check that the web address that you entered doesn’t contain a typo.”
“It is possible that you may have typed the address incorrectly?”
Now let’s make this very clear. When you imply the user is at fault for mistyping an address, you are assuming the following:
Visitors use the URL bar as their primary navigation interface.
Visitors are typing in a page destination that is beyond the domain level.
Your site has no broken links.
If you watch your analytics, you will find that the majority of visitors to your error pages will come from links from other websites or search engines. This is mainly from old links that have not been updated (maybe from your last redesign or two). In this case, it is not the fault of the visitor for following a link that has no destination. The fault is with you for not redirecting an old link to the new destination page.
To assure the visitor that they are in the right place and the fault is most likely not theirs, the message of the error page is critical. This is not a “blame game.” Keep the message on task, which is getting your visitor to the information they intended to access as soon and as directly as possible.
I tell marketing departments that the responsibility for designing and writing the messaging on the error page is theirs and not the IT department. When the IT department is told to create an error page, they do just that, and you have an error page. Instead, the error page is the realm of the marketer, and the purpose is to clarify and assist the user experience, because it was just interrupted. This is a high-risk situation that needs to be handled well, because it could mean that visitors will leave your website.
Essential Parts of an Error Page
Typically, error pages lack even the most basic navigation tools, which is amazingly counterintuitive. A visitor has just been stranded, and very few sites offer a little help. The error page should be the most navigation-and-tool-friendly page on your website.
Every 404 error page should contain the following (at a minimum):
Main navigation
Search box
Friendly message (without blame)
Primary hierarchy of links to content
Check out the examples in the next section; they are excellent inspiration.
Great Error-Page Examples
I have always found that seeing some examples of others’ 404 error pages can provide inspiration for your error pages. Here are a few