For people who do not know what a 404 is, it is a blunder that is displayed when a user requests a net page that is not free anymore on the server. This frequently takes place when sites change layout and or page info but 404s are in no fashion unavoidable. Sadly too many sites appear to slide thru the net.
But, as the search engine hasn’t sent another spider to the site since the page was removed, it thinks the page is still free, and serves the link in the search results. And just like that you have lost a future client. 404 mistakes caused a genuine problem for a customer of mine who run an internet stock site that provides users with revelations and tips into the arena of trading.
They were extremely new to the entire SEO arena and wished to get more traffic to their site. After performing a little research at some search engines I was amazed at what I found : they’d some good rankings but the pages that were listed were no longer free on their site. When I realized what was taking place I could help to solve the issue. I could only guess how many visitors were lost due to these missing pages. I showed them how, rather than ever taking a page down, they should redirect the page to a main page of their site ( or a page that displays a message pronouncing “Sorry but the current page isn’t updated. Another choice is to check with your hosting company to see whether they supply a 404 redirect.
It is the easiest way to guarantee a future customer is rarely lost because of a page not being found. Another brilliant idea is to resubmit new pages to search engines for reindexing. While it’s sweet to inform visitors a page they are searching for no longer exists, it’s even better to have the new page with all of the info the visitor wants appear when they perform a search.
Do yourself a favour and check continually to make certain your website lists are not taking possible customers to 404 pages.
This way you can make sure that folk who search for info on your internet site will be brought to the right page till the new page is indexed and make sure you don’t lose potential sales due to missing pages.
Keep notes : maintaining a domain is a huge job, so don’t rely only on your memory. Keep a notebook or digital log full of your internet site changes to help refresh your memory and guarantee you chase up changes with the search engines.
