A standard ?File Not Found? page is all they need to see to go to make them go someplace else to seek information that they need. So what do you do to make them stay? Very easy- create a custom 404 error page for your visitors so that they know they are not that lost.

?File Not Found? page is the least appealing of web user experience. Its like visitors get to your website through search engines and get lured by your claim that you have the information but eventually they get nothing whatsoever. The message is clear that the information they require is not available. But there is a better way to convey it to them. That's by using a 404 error page. It is a much more professional way of telling them of the amiss piece of information and tells them how to browse through your site and find information related to it.
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What should a 404 Error Page contain?

? Instead of making it clear that the requested file does not exist, the 404 error page should suggest that the particular file is not available in that page but could be somewhere else.

? There should be a link to the search box which the visitors could use to find the required information

? The 404 error page should also include a link to the homepage, so that visitors go to the homepage and see what the website has to offer.

How to create a 404 Error Page?

Before you set out to make a custom page, make sure you own the domain name. If not, do seek permission from the web hosting company for the same. Creating a custom page is a cakewalk, actually! You just have to create an HTML page and save it with the name of your choice. But, for the custom page to display a 404 error page, you need to put in a little more expert.

Here are the steps to follow:

? Go to the main page of your website through FTP

? Locate the .htaccess file. If you don't have such a file, create a new text file and rename it as .htaccess.

? When you are creating a new file type the following line: ErrorDocument 404 http://www.yoursite.com/custom_page.html. Also make sure that you change the URL to the custom page location.

? Make sure al of this is in the same line and there is a space on each side of the number 404. Also ensure the letters ?E? and ?D? of the Error Document are in upper cases.

? In case you already have the file in your folder, you will have to edit it. Look up for the above mentioned line in the file and change its URL accordingly.

? Once you are finished with all this, you can upload the .htaccess file on to the server. After this, to set the permissions to CHMOD 644.you will need to use the CHMOD command through your FTP.

? Again make sure that the custom page is uploaded on the server. If in any case it is not, you will get a 500 server error or something like that.

Now that all is done, test the error page by typing in a wrong URL. You should get a customer 404 error page that redirects you to the homepage or search tool.