If your business depends entirely on a website, you must take into account that there are errors and you must avoid them, the most common. The most feared...code 404!
The 404 code is a "server status message" (status code) that appears when a user tries to access a Site that does not exist. This 404 code can be found in a page added on a website or a complete landing page. It means that there is a broken link or the URL is incorrectly specified. It is normal that when a web server does not find the destination page, the HTTP 404 status is returned.
The best thing to do in these cases is to create a custom error page providing information to the user on what to do when they can't find what they were looking for.
It is very important to avoid these errors because it will be a bad user experience, and when they see the error they may not want to return to your site. Your bounce rate will increase and Google will score you negatively. In addition, to the bad experience you may lose positions in searches and your acquired positioning will be lost.
1. Wrong written URLs, try to promote your URL's with simple names.
2. Removed or moved content. When you make an update on your website, try to test all the links and that you have not forgotten to remove one.
3. Incorrect link. It is possible that a link takes you somewhere that is not configured yet.
In addition to this code, there are different types that you may not be as familiar with:
- Status codes 100 (100 - 103): normally these errors are informational, they will only come up internally and never face the user.
- Status codes 200 (200 - 204): unlike the others, these codes are positive, meaning that your data has been processed correctly or has been accepted.
- Status codes 300 (300 - 208): these are related to redirects. This code is used to indicate that the page you requested to go has been moved and takes you to another one automatically. It is very important that your site avoids redirects.
To avoid these problems you should make an analysis of your site to know if your URL's are healthy for your site.
