What is a 404 error? How to fix a 404 error?

What is a 404 error

Do all the pages on your website offers users a powerful and simple navigating experience?

Detecting and improving pages with error codes, which is a very important part of technical optimization, is now much easier with Seorative! We detect these error pages, which can leave a very negative brand image to both search engines and users, and make done your technical optimization by improving them to provide the highest contribution to the visibility and SEO process.

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What is a 404 error?

The 404 error code, one of the standardized HTTP status codes, indicates that the content on the relevant web page has been completely removed or transferred to another page, so cannot be found. Therefore, when the user enters this page, he encounters a big nothing.

You must be guessing what that means: a fast-rising bounce rate.

Many people choose to remove the page completely from the index to solve this kind of problem. However, since this would mean destroying the contribution of a previously authoritative page, it is possible to come across many people who solved the 404 status code problem with the 301 redirect method.

A small tip: Did you know that Seorative offers powerful training related to the technical optimization process of your site and also explains the status codes in detail during the training? Moreover, the training consists of not only theoretical knowledge but also practical studies. Contact now to become your own SEO expert!

Why Do I Get 404 Errors?

Potential reasons for encountering a 404 error code include:

  1. The content on the relevant page may have been deleted or moved to another page. If an internal link is not given to the migrated content, the browser will not find it and will return the 404 code.
  2. The user may have mistyped the URL. In this case, there is not much you can do. If it’s a problem that you encounter a lot, you can try to make your URL structure simpler.
  3. The server you are using may be giving an error during the loading of the pages, if downtime is experienced frequently, a 404 code may be seen due to a connection problem.
  4. Even if the requested domain name is not converted to an IP by DNS, the search engine may not find the domain. This will cause the 404 code to be displayed.

How do I fix error 404?

There are multiple ways to fix the 404 error code:

  1. You can redirect a deleted or moved page to a new page using 301 redirect. But be careful not to do this too often, as redirection can also slow down the page load speed. If you choose this method, the search engine will direct the user directly to the redirected page, so the error code will not be displayed.
  2. Have you tried improving your URL? If a lot of your visitors are typing the URL wrong, maybe it’s time to improve the UX a bit. Try making the URL slug simpler, catchy and powerful.
  3. If the page that gives the 404 code is an unimportant page with low authority, it may be a good solution to completely remove it from your sitemap, that is, to delete the page.

How do I create an error page?

The appearance of an error page on your website with a custom design can strengthen the brand image and preserve the corporate appearance. For this, follow the steps below:

  1. Design the 404 not found page (Add the clear statement, advice on what users should do, footer navigations, internal links to navigate to other areas of the website).
  2. Configure the server to enable the design of the 404 error page.
  3. Make sure your configuration is as you requested.
  4. Make sure there is a response code, descriptive title tag on the web page. Also, activate a web analysis tool to understand how often error pages are encountered. Google Analytics is one of the good tools for error code tracking.

Well, why do you need a 404 page? Because instead of an unprofessional error page, which is loaded by default and leaves users no choice but to bounce from the site, a page that tells users “stop, there are still good things here” will be much more useful for your site statistics.

Why URL is not opening?

The content on the relevant page of the website may have been deleted or moved. Take a look at the error code you see. If it is the 404 error code, make the improvement with the methods mentioned in the content.

Why are there so many 404 errors?

If you come across many 404 errors while examining your site statistics via Google Analytics, it may be because of URL structures that are difficult to remember or to write, or too much deleted / moved content. Optimize your site with a strong team!

Are you ready to discover more? The Seorative team is ready to eliminate all errors, including HTTP status codes, on your site. With our strong team, we regularly review and scan your site and leave no room for mistakes. Our goal is to manage an optimization process that will yield excellent results in terms of both UX and SERP rankings.

Don’t forget to contact us for more!

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