404 Page Design: Turning Dead Ends Into Detours
What a good 404 page includes, technical requirements, finding and fixing broken links, platform notes and whether 404s hurt SEO.
On this page
A 404 page appears when someone visits a URL on your site that does not exist. It might come from a mistyped address, an outdated link, a deleted page or a broken link from another website. A default 404 page with just “Not Found” is a dead end that sends visitors away. A well-designed 404 page acknowledges the problem and helps people find what they were looking for, keeping them on your site.
Why 404 pages happen
- Pages deleted or moved without redirects.
- URL changes during redesigns or migrations.
- Typos in links or in addresses visitors type.
- Outdated links from other websites, emails or social posts.
- Broken internal links.
Some 404s are normal and unavoidable. The goal is to minimise avoidable ones and handle the rest gracefully.
What a good 404 page includes
A clear, friendly message
Explain plainly that the page cannot be found. Avoid technical jargon. A touch of personality can work if it suits the brand, but clarity comes first.
Site navigation
Keep the normal header and footer so visitors can continue browsing.
Search
A search box helps visitors who know what they want, particularly on larger sites and stores.
Helpful links
Links to popular pages, main services, key product categories, recent articles or the contact page.
A clear call to action
For service businesses, a contact or booking option. For stores, popular products or categories.
Consistent branding
The page should look like part of your site, reassuring visitors that they are in the right place.
Technical requirements
Return a real 404 status code. The page must tell browsers and search engines that the page does not exist. A “not found” message that returns a 200 status creates soft 404 problems in Google Search Console. See our guide to soft 404 errors.
Do not redirect all 404s to the homepage. Mass redirects confuse visitors and are often treated as soft 404s by Google.
Keep it lightweight. The 404 page should load quickly.
Finding and fixing broken links
A good 404 page handles mistakes, but it is better to prevent them where possible:
- Google Search Console: the Page indexing report lists URLs returning 404 that Google has found.
- Analytics: track views of the 404 page and the URLs that triggered it.
- Crawlers: tools such as Screaming Frog find broken internal links.
- Backlink tools: find external links pointing to missing pages.
When an important or frequently visited URL returns 404, add a 301 redirect to the most relevant existing page. Fix internal links at the source rather than relying on redirects. See our guides to redirects in Search Console and website migration SEO.
Platform notes
WordPress: the theme controls the 404 template, usually a file called 404.php or a template in the site editor or page builder. Many SEO plugins also log 404s and help create redirects.
Shopify: the 404 page is part of the theme and can be customised. Shopify’s URL redirects tool handles redirects for changed URLs.
Do 404s hurt SEO?
404s on pages that genuinely no longer exist are normal and do not harm the rest of the site. Google has said that 404 errors on invalid URLs do not hurt rankings. Problems arise when important pages return 404 unintentionally, when valuable backlinks point to missing pages, or when internal links are broken at scale. Those are worth fixing.
Turning a dead end into a detour
A thoughtful 404 page keeps visitors who would otherwise leave, and regular monitoring keeps broken links to a minimum. Both are quick wins for user experience. See our guide to website UX mistakes for other common issues.
If your site has many broken links or an unhelpful 404 page, our website design and development service can fix links, set up redirects and design a 404 page that keeps visitors engaged.