Create Websites with CHEETAH
Thinking about SEO (9)
Create 404 error page
Whenever the requested web page is not available, the 404 error is generated. It is not uncommon for a page to be displayed in the browser with messages such as "404 Not Found", "404 Page not available" or simply "404 Error". The number "404" stands for a special http status code that indicates that the resource requested by the browser was not found on the web server and thus informs the client (web browser) in the form of a response.
The most common reason for displaying a 404 error page is the removal of website content or its relocation to another web address (URL). But this does not always have to be the reason, because there are several other causes for the display of a 404 error page. Such causes can be for example (selection):
-
A web address has been deleted without adjusting the internal links to it in the website.
-
The responsible web server is not available or the connection has been interrupted
-
The URL structure of the page has changed and the corresponding links were not forwarded automatically
-
The web address was entered incorrectly in the browser bar
-
There was a page move to a new web address and not all URLs were forwarded to the new domain via 301 redirect
Many of these errors often go unnoticed for a long period of time if the website creator has failed to configure a special 404 error page. Because if no 404 error page is stored, the web server naturally cannot send back a suitable response to the requesting client (browser). Such a case also leads to a negative signal, which can have a medium-term effect on the ranking of the website in search engines such as Google or Bing in terms of SEO.
Some content management systems (CMS) ignore a 404 error message and display the page that is the last to be visible without errors via the URL when interpreted serially. Others automatically generate a standard 404 error page, but this is rarely optimal for the website visitor. Therefore, it should always be an option - at least for more extensive web projects - to design an individual error page. And this is very easy with "Cheetah".
-
create and design a new web page with the name "404". It should contain a button that will take you back to the home page.
-
the error page must have the following settings:
Name: 404
Title: 404
Address URL: 404
Description: optional
If now an attempt is made to call an erroneous or non-existent web address, then a still functioning page is no longer displayed, but the self-created 404 error page.
Note: The error page must not be set to "noindex" in Robots.txt.