When visitors mistakingly type the wrong address into their browser bar they receive the dreaded “page not found” page. If you check your site statistics you may find hundreds of people are receiving this error message. You need to put a stop to this by creating a customized 404 error page.

How to create a 404 error page

1. Use your hosting administration panel

Login to the cpanel that comes with the hosting package of your web site and click on the icon that’s named “error pages.”

Select “404” and insert the parameters in the top box ie

referring URL
visitor’s IP address
requested URL
server name
visitor’s browser
redirect status code

Click save

The 404 error page will automatically be created on the server.

2. Create a customized 404 error page

This is the best option because you have control over what to place on the page.
This is what you should include:

* Write the message “Sorry, you have reached this page in error.”
* Direct visitors to your home page or site map by including the URLS.
* Ask visitors to report the error by including your email address.
* Save the page as 404error.html and upload it to the server.
* Test the error page by typing the incorrect spelling for your web site URL

3. Zen Cart – edit: define_page_not_found.php

Zen Cart has an error page built in to it that contains the site map listing all the pages on your site. It still needs to be customized by adding text to the top of the page that explains why your visitor has arrived there and what they should do…return to the home page or click on any of the site map links.

Edit the error page by by logging in to your admin panel-tools-define pages editor-define_page_not_found.php-click save.

Test the error page by typing www.domain.com/define_page_not_found.php

By creating a custom 404 error page, you will stop losing visitors and make more sales.

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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Design, Web Hosting, SEO