Member Avatar for lingoway

how to handle 404 error in a website?

  • 3 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 92 Views
  • 5 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by charlenej

Dani AI

Generated

: the short answer is keep a custom 404 page, but do not redirect that missing-URL to another page (especially not the homepage). 's .htaccess approach is a common way to point to a custom page, and 's guide is a useful read — but the important, often-missed points are about HTTP behavior and SEO.

Checklist to follow:

  • Serve a user-friendly custom page that helps visitors (short explanation, search box, sitemap or popular links, contact).
  • Ensure the server returns the actual HTTP 404 status for the missing URL (not a 200 OK). Search engines treat a 200 on a missing page as a "soft 404."
  • Do not automatically redirect all 404s to the homepage; use a 301 redirect only when a page has a true replacement location. Use 410 for content intentionally and permanently removed if appropriate.
  • Log and monitor 404s (server logs, analytics, Search Console) and fix high-value broken links with redirects to relevant content.

How to verify and troubleshoot:

  • Check the HTTP response code with browser devtools or an HTTP header tool. If the custom page returns 200, review your server/CMS config (error-document settings, rewrite rules, or CMS routing) so the 404 status is preserved. Use Search Console to find soft-404s and coverage issues.

Further reading on correct status handling is available from MDN (HTTP 404) and SEO sources that explain soft-404s and redirects (MDN: 404 status, ).

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for almostbob

.htaccess error message

ErrorDocument 404 /notfound.htm

a single line of text in the .htaccess file
directing to a html/php/asp/whatever page

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html><head>
<meta name="Language" content="en-US">
<meta http-equiv="content-Script-Type" content="text/javascript">
<title>Oops File Not Found</title></head>
<body style='margin:70px;'><p>MYSITE</p>
<a href='http://www.mysite.com'>©Mysite</a>
<p>Oops:<br>
File not found<br>
The requested resource or page is not available<br>
or<br>
Direct linking to this page is not available.<br><br>
<p><ahref="http://www.mysite.com/">Click here</a> to open MYSITE menu pages</p>
</body></html>

or

ErrorDocument 404 "<body bgcolor=#ffffff><h1>That page dont acutally <b>Exist</b>, Colonel!"
Edited by almostbob because: n/a
Member Avatar for lingoway

ErrorDocument 404 SNIP

I put this code in .htaccess file.

create a page 404NotFound.html and uploaded it to server.


is it enough or should i rediret the "404NotFound.html"
page to anywhere?

Edited by happygeek because: link snipped
Member Avatar for charlenej

Hi there Lingoway! Visit this site I used this as my guide in handling 404 File not found page. I hope this helps.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.