A 404 Page That Keeps Visitors Instead of Losing Them
Short answer: A good 404 page says plainly that the page isn't here, offers a search box and three or four likely destinations, and gives a way to contact you, while the server still sends a genuine 404 status code. If the page shows a friendly message but returns "200 OK", Google reports it as a soft 404. Fix broken links you control, redirect pages that moved, and let truly dead URLs return 404.
Why the 404 page deserves ten minutes
Every site gets 404s. People mistype addresses, old flyers point to pages you deleted, and someone links to you with a typo. MDN lists mistyped URLs and pages "moved or deleted without redirection" as the common causes. You can't stop that traffic arriving, but you decide whether it leaves straight away or finds what it came for.
There's also a technical side. A 404 status tells Google the page doesn't exist. Its documentation on HTTP status codes says URLs that return a 4xx code aren't indexed, and already-indexed ones are removed. That's what you want for a page that's gone. The problem starts when the design is right but the status code is wrong.
Anatomy of a good 404 page
Think of the page as a small set of parts, each with one job.
1. A plain headline
"We can't find that page" or "This page has moved or no longer exists." Skip the joke that leaves people unsure whether the site is broken. MDN's note on custom 404 pages puts it well: be humorous and human if you like, but don't confuse visitors about why they're seeing something unexpected.
2. One sentence of likely reasons
"The link may be out of date, or the address may have a typo." This reassures the visitor that the rest of the site works.
3. A search box
On any site with more than about 20 pages, search is the fastest way back. If your platform has site search, put it here, in the middle of the page, not hidden in the header.
4. Three or four useful links
Pick them from your analytics: the pages people actually visit most. For a Cork café that might be the menu, opening hours, the booking page and the gift voucher page. For a Dublin accountancy practice it might be services, fees enquiry, the team and contact. Fewer, well-chosen links beat a full sitemap dump.
5. Your normal header and footer
Keep the site's navigation on the 404 page so it feels like part of the site, not an error from a server. Visitors use the menu without thinking about it.
6. A contact route
A phone number, email or short "Tell us what you were looking for" form. If someone arrived from a link in a newsletter you sent, they'll tell you which one, and you've found a broken link for free.
7. The right status code (invisible, but essential)
The page must be served with an HTTP 404 status. Many site builders handle this automatically; some custom setups and single-page apps don't. Check it with your browser's developer tools (Network tab) or by inspecting the URL in Search Console. MDN also notes that a page permanently removed can send 410 Gone instead; Google's documentation treats 4xx codes other than 429 the same way, so for most small sites 404 is fine.
Soft 404s: the friendly page that lies
Google's Page indexing report describes a soft 404 as a page that "returns a user-friendly 'not found' message but not a 404 HTTP response code." Google discouraged this pattern in a 2008 Search Central post, explaining that it wastes crawling on non-existent URLs and recommending a real 404 with a clear message instead.
Soft 404s usually come from three habits:
- Redirecting every missing URL to the homepage. The visitor lands somewhere unrelated, and Google may still report the old URL as a soft 404, because what it finds there isn't the page that was asked for.
- Error pages that return 200. A theme or JavaScript app shows "not found" text but the server says everything is fine.
- Thin pages. Empty category pages or "no results" pages can also be flagged, even if they technically exist.
The fix is simple: return 404 for pages that don't exist, redirect only when a genuine replacement exists, and add real content to thin pages you want to keep.
Finding your 404s
| Where to look | What it tells you | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Search Console, Page indexing report | URLs Google tried that returned 404 or soft 404 | Monthly |
| Analytics, page title of your 404 page | Which missing URLs real visitors hit, and where they came from | Monthly |
| A site crawler (free tiers exist) | Broken internal links on your own pages | After any restructure |
| Your contact form or inbox | "Your link doesn't work" messages | As they come |
The analytics row is the most useful for a small business. If your 404 page has a distinct page title, you can filter for it and see the requested URL and the referring page. That tells you whether the problem is your own menu, an old Google Business Profile link, or someone else's website.
Fix it, redirect it, or leave it
Not every 404 needs action. Google's Page indexing help says 404s "are not necessarily a problem, if the page has been removed without any replacement," and that Googlebot will crawl such URLs less and less often. Use this decision list:
- The broken link is on your own site. Fix the link. Always.
- The page moved or has a close replacement. Add a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. A discontinued product can point to its category; a renamed service page points to the new page.
- Another site links to a mistyped URL of yours and sends visitors. Redirect the typo to the correct page, and if you know the site owner, ask them to fix it.
- The page is gone and nothing replaces it. Leave it as a 404. Don't redirect it to the homepage to "save" it.
- The URL is junk (random strings, old spam, URLs you never had). Ignore it.
FAQ
Do 404 errors hurt my rankings?
Google's documentation says 404s for removed pages aren't necessarily a problem. What hurts is the visitor experience when your own links are broken, and the time wasted when Google crawls lots of soft 404s.
Should I use 410 instead of 404?
You can for pages you've removed on purpose. MDN describes 410 as the code for permanent removal, but Google's crawling documentation treats 404 and 410 alike, so it rarely matters for a small site.
My site builder created the 404 page. Do I need to check it?
Yes, once. Confirm it returns a 404 status, carries your header and footer, and includes a search box or useful links. Then edit the text so it sounds like your business.
Can I track how many people see my 404 page?
Yes. Give it a unique page title and look it up in your analytics. The referring pages show you where broken links live.
If your 404 page currently sends visitors to the homepage or returns the wrong status, we can sort out both in one go.