Google’s recently introduced custom 404 error pages make your site more user-friendly. How often have you either clicked a link to a page that no longer existed or typed in an incorrect URL? The result is typically either a bland 404 page not found error (see example at right) or a static page that offers nothing more than a message stating the page was not found. Google’s custom 404 widget takes the 404 page one step further by giving the user more relevant options so that they don’t abandon your site.
The same day that Google released this new 404 widget to the public, we added it to our Motivity Web Site Marketing Platform to extend the existing ability to customize 404 error messages. Web site managers using Motivity already had the ability to replace the non-friendly server message (shown above) with a custom branded page and now they also have the option to enable or disable this Google 404 widget. Using this custom 404 functionality, the website visitor is greeted with a more user-friendly, branded page that offers them other things to try instead of an arcane server error message that makes it appear the site may be offline.
More specifically, the Google 404 widget offers the user a search box that they can use to find the content they are looking for; with default keywords filled in from the incorrect URL. As Google expands coverage, the 404 widget will allow the site to offer up even more valuable information such as corrections and suggestions based upon the sitemap of the website.
To see an example of this in action, visit the following broken URL: http://www.blastam.com/sacramento-web-designs.aspx
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Posted by Joe on Thu, Sep 11, 2008
Filed Under | Ecommerce