Optimizing 404 Pages?? Have a look. - DevHunters.com l Webmaster Forum - Web Advertising - Web Design

Hunter1 · 01-16-2008, 02:36 AM

The Importance of Optimizing Your 404 Pages
Reprinted from searchmarketingstandard.com - original post from Joe Whyte

One of the most overlooked SEO techniques is optimizing your 404 error pages. It's a very simple process, especially if you have a formula or a template you build your sites in. Many SEOs today are unfamiliar with optimizing 404 pages or have not put the time and effort into developing these pages properly.

A 404 error message is a response delivered via an HTML document indicating that the request was unable to communicate with the server. Usually this is caused by a request not being able to locate a file or a link is broken on a site. Let's say you put up a site and when a spider crawls it, for some reason, the page is not loaded, requested or the link is broken. The unoptimized 404 error page will KILL the potential site spidering, causing a site to not rank in the search engines. This can also cause a novice user to get frustrated and abandon your site.

One of the best 404 error pages I have seen created is Searchenginewatch.com's 404 error page. The searchenginewatch.com error page implements its entire navigation, search box, RSS feed, advertisers, links to popular posts, news links and more. This means if a spider finds a 404 error page the spider will continue crawling and indexing the entire site without getting stopped by an unoptimized 404 page.

Some of the ways 404 pages are reached are:

Bookmarked sites that have since been moved
Made an error when typing in a url
An moved page is still indexed in the SERPS
Broken links in your link structure

What are some tips?

1. Put a link to your FAQ page
2. Put a link to your top level categories
3. Put a link to your sitemap
4. Create a templated 404 page that blends with your site
5. Add a search box
6. Make your 404 pages look as close to your site theme as possible
7. Add a true navigation to your site.

Optimizing your 404 error page is one of the most overlooked SEO techniques I have seen in the industry. When doing SEO it is easy to become overwhelmed with doing your on-page and off-page optimization but failure to optimize this can lead to problems down the road and more importantly a tarnished reputation.

bizwiz · 01-16-2008, 06:08 AM

Cool article! I never imagined you could optimize a 404 page.

stackhacks · 01-16-2008, 03:00 PM

I believe there are scripts out there that can organize this page for you. My web host enables us to configure which ever style we wish to be visible in the 404 error page.

sunken · 01-16-2008, 06:16 PM

Hmmm, very good advice. Never really thought about the 404 page as being an SEO thing. Learn something new every day. Thanks for sharing.

weblord · 01-16-2008, 08:17 PM

combine these wild card dns and you got an unbeatable page.

Hunter1 · 01-16-2008, 08:53 PM

I actually have been lazy for this kind of thing for my sites but with all of the trouble that we had with Dev, it made me think so we are in the process of building a custom 404 for here! I will post it when it's done.

DarknessX · 01-17-2008, 11:18 PM

Hmmm this is actually quite a good idea. I knew it was possible to optimize them but never even thought of it! I will have to edit my current 404 pages to include optimization tomorrow, even though I hope to have very few :)

ketum · 01-17-2008, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hunter1

What are some tips?[/i]

1. Put a link to your FAQ page
2. Put a link to your top level categories
3. Put a link to your sitemap
4. Create a templated 404 page that blends with your site
5. Add a search box
6. Make your 404 pages look as close to your site theme as possible
7. Add a true navigation to your site.

Optimizing your 404 error page is one of the most overlooked SEO techniques I have seen in the industry. When doing SEO it is easy to become overwhelmed with doing your on-page and off-page optimization but failure to optimize this can lead to problems down the road and more importantly a tarnished reputation.

I think these are really cool tips for a 404 page. I will do this soon.
Thanks for sharing as well.

Hafsoh · 01-18-2008, 12:58 AM

Thanks for sharing! i will try it out

mntor · 01-18-2008, 09:53 AM

Thanks for sharing Hunter1. Never thought of optimising these pages before. Nice things to ponder with.

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01-16-2008, 02:36 AM	#1 (permalink)
Hunter1 The Dev Hunter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Indiana USA Posts: 1,855 iTrader: 9 / 100% Hunter Bux: 18,026.33	Optimizing 404 Pages?? Have a look. The Importance of Optimizing Your 404 Pages Reprinted from searchmarketingstandard.com - original post from Joe Whyte One of the most overlooked SEO techniques is optimizing your 404 error pages. It's a very simple process, especially if you have a formula or a template you build your sites in. Many SEOs today are unfamiliar with optimizing 404 pages or have not put the time and effort into developing these pages properly. A 404 error message is a response delivered via an HTML document indicating that the request was unable to communicate with the server. Usually this is caused by a request not being able to locate a file or a link is broken on a site. Let's say you put up a site and when a spider crawls it, for some reason, the page is not loaded, requested or the link is broken. The unoptimized 404 error page will KILL the potential site spidering, causing a site to not rank in the search engines. This can also cause a novice user to get frustrated and abandon your site. One of the best 404 error pages I have seen created is Searchenginewatch.com's 404 error page. The searchenginewatch.com error page implements its entire navigation, search box, RSS feed, advertisers, links to popular posts, news links and more. This means if a spider finds a 404 error page the spider will continue crawling and indexing the entire site without getting stopped by an unoptimized 404 page. Some of the ways 404 pages are reached are: Bookmarked sites that have since been moved Made an error when typing in a url An moved page is still indexed in the SERPS Broken links in your link structure What are some tips? 1. Put a link to your FAQ page 2. Put a link to your top level categories 3. Put a link to your sitemap 4. Create a templated 404 page that blends with your site 5. Add a search box 6. Make your 404 pages look as close to your site theme as possible 7. Add a true navigation to your site. Optimizing your 404 error page is one of the most overlooked SEO techniques I have seen in the industry. When doing SEO it is easy to become overwhelmed with doing your on-page and off-page optimization but failure to optimize this can lead to problems down the road and more importantly a tarnished reputation. __________________ l Bid for Position l Website Advertising l Web Directory l Be a star in The DevHunters Directory

01-16-2008, 06:08 AM	#2 (permalink)
bizwiz More Than Meets The Eye Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 1,786 iTrader: 0 / 0% Hunter Bux: 715.00	Cool article! I never imagined you could optimize a 404 page. __________________ DropShip Business \| DropShip Business Link Building Service \| Coffee Shop \| 2 Girls 1 Finger \| Pókersuli * Free file hosting * \| $1 Bid Directory \| Dogs for Sale

01-16-2008, 08:17 PM	#5 (permalink)
weblord Sharp Shooter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Philippines Posts: 1,324 iTrader: 1 / 100% Hunter Bux: 611.00	combine these wild card dns and you got an unbeatable page. __________________ Software \| William R. Nabaza Blogs \| U.S.$5 Domains \| FriendTEK \| Arcontica \| Maypajo\| www.sendload.net \| Forums\| Unfolds Videos \| WebTor\| Url Shortener\| 25%discount\| Free Hosting Blogs\| \| Web Directory\| Weblord's Community\| Freebies\| Cash Surf \| Funny Jokes \| www.bloghaven.org \| Videos \| Videos

01-16-2008, 08:53 PM	#6 (permalink)
Hunter1 The Dev Hunter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Indiana USA Posts: 1,855 iTrader: 9 / 100% Hunter Bux: 18,026.33	I actually have been lazy for this kind of thing for my sites but with all of the trouble that we had with Dev, it made me think so we are in the process of building a custom 404 for here! I will post it when it's done. __________________ l Bid for Position l Website Advertising l Web Directory l Be a star in The DevHunters Directory

01-16-2008, 03:00 PM	#3 (permalink)
stackhacks New Hunter Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 56 iTrader: 0 / 0% Hunter Bux: 0	I believe there are scripts out there that can organize this page for you. My web host enables us to configure which ever style we wish to be visible in the 404 error page.

01-16-2008, 06:16 PM	#4 (permalink)
sunken Field Master Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 544 iTrader: 0 / 0% Hunter Bux: 0	Hmmm, very good advice. Never really thought about the 404 page as being an SEO thing. Learn something new every day. Thanks for sharing.

01-17-2008, 11:18 PM	#7 (permalink)
DarknessX New Hunter Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 8 iTrader: 0 / 0% Hunter Bux: 0.05	Hmmm this is actually quite a good idea. I knew it was possible to optimize them but never even thought of it! I will have to edit my current 404 pages to include optimization tomorrow, even though I hope to have very few :) __________________ http://designcommunity.co.uk Free Image Host, CGI Proxy, Rapidshare Link Generator (needs Premium accounts, waiting on ads to pay), Ping, Traceroute, WhatIsMyIP, Whois, Free!

01-18-2008, 12:58 AM	#9 (permalink)
Hafsoh New Hunter Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 25 iTrader: 0 / 0% Hunter Bux: 0	Thanks for sharing! i will try it out

01-18-2008, 09:53 AM	#10 (permalink)
mntor Field Master Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 911 iTrader: 5 / 100% Hunter Bux: 53.00	Thanks for sharing Hunter1. Never thought of optimising these pages before. Nice things to ponder with. __________________ Quality Directory \| Amazon Peacock Bass Fishing Webmaster Forum \| Cellular Ringtones

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