HOW TO FIX AN ERROR 404 ON YOUR WEBSITE

Error 404s are frustrating and can penalize your website. To maintain the performance of your site and improve its user experience, learn how to detect and correct error 404s.

A Error 404 often means a page that cannot be found. The visitor to your site is trying to access a page on your platform, but the server is unable to find it. As a result, the page cannot display any content. 

Depending on your browser, you will find on an erreur 404 the message « 404 not found » or « http 404 ».

Plusieurs raisons peuvent expliquer la présence d’une erreur 404 sur une page de site web :

• Le lien sur lequel le visiteur tente de se rendre a été supprimé par le développeur du site, ou directement depuis le CMS sur lequel vous travaillez
• Le lien écrit par le visiteur dans la barre de recherche comporte une erreur de syntaxe
• Le lien comporte une redirection mais elle a été mal configurée
• Le problème vient du serveur qui héberge le site web

The presence of too many error 404s on your site can have a negative impact on visitor behavior. Users who come across a 404 page will tend to leave the website more quickly, without going to other pages.

 
Furthermore, this problem may be penalized by Google: your site may be judged of lower quality and be less visible on search engines.

The main tool for detecting ''404'' errors is Google Search Console. By going to the "Coverage" tab of this free tool, you will find the list of your web pages and the potential errors detected. With a few clicks, you will be able to identify the different broken links of your website.
Other tools exists, like Dead Link Checker or oven SEMRush, which is not free of charge.

After having identified the error 404 of your site, you will now be able to correct them to make them disappear. Several solutions are possible : 

• Remove the broken link: simply remove the link from the affected page and make sure that no link, image or video redirects to that URL
• Replace broken link: changed the link on your page? Make sure the new URL redirects to the relevant content you created or want 
• Perform a 301 redirect: The 301 redirect allows you to indicate to search engines that the web page that was located at an old URL has been permanently moved to a new web page. 

Another important thing to do is to create a custom error 404 page. This page must be in the image of your brand (colors, logo, typography...) and must contain a link to your home page or other pages of your choice. This will bring the lost user to another page of your site and give you the chance to keep him on your site.

Are you experiencing difficulties in managing your website? Call on Dubuc Marketing, web agency in Montreal recognized by SMEs for its experience in websites! Contact us now to correct error 404s, to improve the SEO of your website or to create Google advertising campaigns!