In the age of the internet, it is common that sometimes the complex coding present behind a successful website goes wrong, and there is suddenly a 404 Error page popup on the screen. This is quite frustrating for both users and the site owners and can create a bad reputation for the site. Today, we will be trying to understand the reasoning behind this error and discuss some ways to fix the problem. Please visit Digital Marketing Services India to get further information about various errors and internet client attraction methods.
General discussion regarding 404 Error
Sometimes users may come across a 404 not-found error page. Whenever this happens, you must know a few things regarding the error, including how it affects the site’s organic traffic, search ranking as per google, and how to google web bots view your page. It must be kept in mind that such problems must be confronted to avoid lowering conversation rates which will ultimately cost you your valuable daily user traffic. Also, broken or not-found errors can impart your SEO ranking and SEO performance regarding the attraction of users. It is very important for SEO companies in India.
Thus, some of the questions which you must know for solving this matter includes,
- What is a 404 not-found error page?
- What is the reason behind this error?
- How to find the core reason behind this error?
- How to fix this error?
- How to prevent any future incidents related to 404 not-found errors?
How do you fix the 404 not-found page error?
The most important question of all is how do you fix this problem? One of the most commonly used ways to fix this is to redirect the link which might be broken due to several factors to another related link. This is a very simple and efficient method that solves the problem in the majority of the cases. But, if the error persists, make sure to read further below.
Method-1 Redirecting broken link.
Suppose you found the broken link or the link causing the 404 not-found error page to popup. Then, you can safely replace the broken link with a new link which will bring the people to another related page. For example, you might be getting an error on your site while clicking the link to reach the “/Contact Us” page. So, instead of keeping the broken link for that page, you can easily replace it on your site server with another link that will bring users to Contact. This is a very efficient and simple process that anyone can do and doesn’t involve special tools.
Method-2 Updating the broken link.
In case the broken link is associated with one of your owned sites only, then, in that case, the most recommended option is to update and change the link to direct users to a working page. This is not the solution in the majority of the cases, as the redirecting links are of websites belonging to other owners and corporations.
Method-3 Adding back the deleted page and its content
Sometimes, you might want to give your site a new shape and look. So, you may have deleted some old content from your site, which was very popular earlier. So, after deleting, when any user tries to reach that site, it will give them a 404 not-found error. Thus, if the site deleted is good at attracting users and you might still want to keep it, the best option is to restore the content and page, which will automatically restore the old link associated with that page. This will also fix the not-found problem.
Method-4 Leave the broken link as it is
Sometimes it is recommended to keep the link on your site and wait for it to become a low priority by the Google Search Index. It might be the case when the broken link is of an old page that is no longer needed and is outdated. Under such circumstances, you can leave and ignore the broken link.
Why do the 404 not-found pages occur?
If your site gets the 404 error page, it indicates that your website coding has some bugs due to recent changes or may contain some broken links. Some of the more prominent reason for this error to occur includes,
Reason-1 Changing site content or file locations
Sudden changes in files or content pages from the site will also change the URL responsible for reaching that page. This is very important to keep in mind. A majority of the time, it is found that the problem lies with the suddenly changed URL, which the owners or the site maintainer misses and forgets to change.
Reason-2 Removal of content page
You can also get a 404 not-found error if you suddenly delete a page but still don’t remove the links associated with that page. Due to the absence of that page, the URL will lead nowhere, which will give a 404 error.
Reason-3 Wrong address
It is also a very common phenomenon that instead of writing the correct URL, someone makes some minor mistakes; this will completely make the URL useless. Also, keep in mind that URLs are case sensitive, and they must be written as they are if typed manually.
These are some of the most observed phenomenon responsible for 404 not-found errors.
