Error pages can be greatly improved to make them more engaging and a better experience for users. The usability and tracking perspective is the most important issue to consider when web designers are tackling the improvement of maintenance pages, as this will improve the pages’ user experience.
In order to optimize the error pages you should ask yourself a few important questions, such as how to reduce the number of users arriving on your 404 page, how to control the traffic of this page and if this page engages the readers?
Here are some tips to help your users even if they cannot get to your website.
Have your page explain to the users why it cannot be found and suggest ways to reach it. A message that simply states the obvious is no good. The users know it cannot be found if they land on a 404 page, so give them a hand and help them find the website they are trying to arrive at.
You can do so by adding some additional information on the 404 page, including the company’s logo and name, a list of mistakes that may have led to the problem, a reason why the user probably ended up on the error page, a link back to the home page of the company or any other page that can provide more information, an e-mail they can use to signal problems with the link and another search engine readers can use to find the website.
Another important issue is to monitor the traffic on your 404 page. It is surprising how many do not bother to do this. It is fundamental to monitor this error page regularly with the use of specific tools, such as creating an alert of Google Analytics that will create an alert every time users have problems with the link to the website. You can even use the dashboard to add these reports on, making it easier to check on how visitors browse through the pages.
While it is true that keeping 404 pages under constant check is important, there are other issues to tackle. You need to make a real effort in decreasing the number of users who are directed to the 404 page and making it easier for them to finally land on the website they are looking for. To do this you have to start fixing the broken links, which comprise both the external and internal ones.
By checking the navigation summary report you can find out how users landed on the 404 page, showing you which links are broken. This report will show you the percentage of users arriving on the 404 page by using external or internal sources. You can also check the sources of traffic that took users to the 404 page. Here you can find which websites have broken links leading to yours.
Other general tips that can help you improve the 404 page are basically to keep your website simple and direct, to get to know who your visitors are and allowing them to decide how your website should evolve. After all, the website is meant to please the users not the web designer!
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