Having an imaginative 404 Error Page won’t make your business a success, but success is in the detail. A creative 404 page is a great opportunity to make an impression to your visitors, turning a negative into a positive.
In an ideal world, you will want very few people ever seeing your 404 Error Page, but the reality is it will happen. An incorrect link posted on social media; someone references the wrong URL, a page changes or moves. There are many reasons why a visitor may see a 404; the key is to guide them back into your website and avoid them bouncing, unlikely to ever visit again.
What is a 404 Error
A 404 Error Page is an HTTP response that is served to users when a link or page they have requested on your website is not there. Standard 404 pages aren’t very helpful to the user but with a little imagination, they can be. Google also recognise this and encourage some effort here to improve the user experience.
6 Tips to Create a 404 Error Page
- Never blame the user for the Error
- Have a personable approach and help the user
- Ensure style and menu navigation remains uniform
- Include a search feature
- In addition to links back to your main site, consider showcasing your best work, products, popular articles or pages
- Technical – de-Index your 404 page, you don’t want it to appear in Search Engine Results
25 of the Best 404 Error Pages
Lacking ideas or inspiration? There is a stack of clever ideas, creativity and humour in the examples below.
25 – backcountry.com/404
24 – bobwassermann.me/404
23 – eyeem.com/p/1234
22 – brandcrowd.com/404
21 – krit.it/404
Nice video of a typical IT department when something breaks.
20 – larkef.com/404
Shout out to the IT Crowd.
19 – incore.com/404notfound
18 – lexception.com/404notfound
17 – worrydream.com/404notfound
16 – magnt.com/404/
15 – coolappse.com/404notfound
14 – theglenngroup.com/404notfound
13 – wearespry.com/404notfound
Video of a cute puppy wondering why you are even there.
12 – visitsteve.com/404.html
A slightly uncomfortable interaction with Steve, very memorable and creative.
11 – mobiles.co.uk/404
Will you be able to resist a game of Snake?
10 – bluegg.co.uk/404
A goat screaming like a human, we get the message.
09 – bluedaniel.com/404
Possibly the most creative 404 page the Internet has ever seen, check it out.
08 – hootsuite.com/404notfound
07 – mashable.com/404/
Mashable are collecting all of those missing socks.
06 – marvelapp.com/404/
05 – kitkat.com/404notfound
Creatively combining a KitKat with a game of Ping Pong, who knew!
04 – emailcenteruk.com/404notfound
Funny, curious if they keep a running total on who to fire.
03 – eharmony.com/404/
02 – lego.com/404
01 – bluefountainmedia.com/404/
Who could resist Pacman, I bet the time on page statistics are impressive.
