Difference between revisions of "Learn/404-Errors-Drive-Visitors-Away"

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==What does a "page not found" message mean?==
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{{ArticleTemplate2
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Have you ever typed a URL in the navigation bar only to receive a "404 error message" or learn that the page doesn't exist? It can be frustrating and feel like a waste of time, especially when repeated attempts produce the same results.
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| Writer = SuziZiegler
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| Name = Suzi Ziegler
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| Header = 404%20Errors%20Drive%20Visitors%20Away
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| Subhead = Don't hang a "Closed" sign on your website
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| Bitly = http://bit.ly/404message
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| Date = January 13, 2011
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}}
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==Don't hang a "Closed" sign on your website==
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----
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{{SiteReportMedRecAd}}A "Page not found" message - also called a 404 error message - is the standard response from a web server when it can't find a requested URL, or web address.
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<br />
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Imagine driving across town to visit a business and finding a "Closed" sign on the door during open hours. A 404 message is like that "Closed" sign - it says your site isn't open for business. If you're trying to do business on the web, you want to make sure your site can be easily found, around the clock.
  
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==When and why do these messages occur?==
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The web is like a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week mall. People expect websites to be available all the time. When someone clicks a link to your website and gets a "Page not found" error, they'll likely regard your website as broken, or nonexistent. If they're really motivated, they ''might'' try to find your website by other means. If they aren't strongly motivated, they won't.
  
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==What is a 404 error message?==
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==Why Do 404 Errors Occur?==
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When a legitimate robot wants to vist a web page like '''www.example.com/good-content''' it firsts checks for '''www.example.com/robots.txt'''. The robot wants to make sure the site owner is OK with the robot examining the content.
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[[Image:404.png|270px|left]]
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Anyone can recieve a 404 message if they're trying to get to your site by clicking on a broken link. This is the most common cause of 404 errors.
  
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The robot looks for several things:
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A link can become broken for a number of reasons. People often rewrite web page [[Glossary/URL|URLs]] when they're redesigning their site, or they may try to enhance search engine optimization ([[SEO]]) by including [[Glossary/Keyword|keywords]] in the URLs.  
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* Does a robots.txt file exist?
 
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* Is the robot explicitly excluded in the robots.txt file?
 
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* Is the page or the directory the page is in explicitly excluded?
 
  
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If the robot isn't explicitly excluded and the site owner doesn't explicitly exclude the page the robot is interested in, the robot will continue on to the page and do what ever it was set up to do.
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When a URL gets rewritten, any link to that page using the old URL is instantly broken. It can't take someone to the page anymore.
  
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==How to create a Robots.txt file==
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==How to Avoid 404 Errors==
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Robots.txt is a standard text file that you can create in Notepad or any other text editor. You can use Word or another word processor, but be sure to save the file as raw text (.txt) when you are done.
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Help would-be visitors to your site avoid the dreaded "Page not found" error by following these tips: 
  
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The file name should be all lower case: "robots.txt", not "Robots.Txt.
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:* Submit new pages to search engines immediately.
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:** [http://www.google.com/addurl/ Submit to Google]
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:** [http://www.bing.com/webmaster/SubmitSitePage.aspx Submit to Bing]
  
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When the file is ready, you need to upload it to the top-level directory of your web server. It should be accessible from www.<yourdomain.com>/robots.txt.
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:* Read [[Link Juice: Save Every Drop]] for tips on making sure links to old pages are changed to point to the new pages. The article includes a list of tools for locating your old links, both on your own site and around the web.
  
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==What belongs in a robots.txt file?==
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:* If you've changed the URL for a page on your website, redirect visitors to the new page from the old one, using a [[Glossary/301-redirect|301 redirect]].  
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Robots.txt files usually contain a single record. They look something like this:
 
  
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:User-agent: *
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:* You can also redirect people manually. You can revise the web page at an old URL, inviting people to visit your new page. Make sure you include a link to the new page. It's also good to offer your contact information if you think people may be confused and may need to communicate with you directly. It's a good way to build trust with your site visitors.
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:Disallow: /print/
 
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:Disallow: /temp/
 
  
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In this example, the /print and /temp directories are excluded from all robots.
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:* You can check with your web hosting company to see if it offers a 404 redirect. When a user enters the URL for an old page, your web hosting company can redirect a visitor to a page you specify, instead of returning a 404 error.
  
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==How do I prevent robots scanning my site?==
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:* Stay organized by recording changes to your site. Then you can go back and fix links when you're done.
  
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There is no easy way to prevent all robots from visiting your site. However, you can request that well-behaved robots not visit your site by adding these two lines into your robots.txt file:
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==Mistypes and 404 Errors==
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People can get a 404 error if they mistype your website's domain name in the navigation bar of their web browser.  
  
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:User-agent: *
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You can't account for every possible mistyping of your domain name. But if your domain name is easy to mistype or misspell, you can [[Learn/Getting-a-Website-for-the-First-Time|purchase these commonly mistyped domain names]]. Then create a [[Glossary/301-redirect|301 redirect]] from each of the mistypes back to your website. It's a good way to [[Website-Visibility-Report|capture website visitors]] who might otherwise go astray.
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:Disallow: /
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{{LearnBottomBio
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| Writer        = SuziZiegler
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This asks all robots to please not visit any pages on the site.
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| Name          = Suzi Ziegler
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| Image        = Image:Pink Wig.jpg
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==Things to be aware of==
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| AuthorWebsite = AboutUs.org
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* You need a separate "Disallow" line for every page, file, or directory that you want to exclude.
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| ShortBio      = Suzi shares her love of words with [[AboutUs.org]] as a writer and editor. <small>Have a question for Ms. Ziegler? Contact her [[User:Suzi_Ziegler|here]]...</small>
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* You can't have blank lines in a record. Blank lines are used to separate multiple records.
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}}This article has been [http://www.sitepronews.com/2011/04/16/404-errors-drive-visitors-away/ republished] on webmaster news site {{LinkPair|SiteProNews.com}}.
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* Regular expression are not supported in either the User-agent or Disallow lines. The '*' in the User-agent field is a special value meaning "any robot". Lines like "User-agent: *bot*", "Disallow: /tmp/*" or "Disallow: *.gif" won't work.
 
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* Everything not explicitly disallowed is considered fair game to retrieve.
 
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* The robots.txt file is a polite request to robots and not a mandate they have to follow. Robots that scan the web for security vulnerabilities, email address harvesters used by spammers, and other malicious bots will pay no attention to the request.
 
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* The robots.txt file is a publicly available file. Anyone can see what sections of your server you don't want robots to examine. If you want to hide information, password protect the section instead of trying to rely on robots.txt to hide information.
 
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==Examples==
 
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__NOTOC__
 

Latest revision as of 00:06, 7 November 2013

By [[User:|]] on

Don't hang a "Closed" sign on your website

A "Page not found" message - also called a 404 error message - is the standard response from a web server when it can't find a requested URL, or web address.
Imagine driving across town to visit a business and finding a "Closed" sign on the door during open hours. A 404 message is like that "Closed" sign - it says your site isn't open for business. If you're trying to do business on the web, you want to make sure your site can be easily found, around the clock.

The web is like a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week mall. People expect websites to be available all the time. When someone clicks a link to your website and gets a "Page not found" error, they'll likely regard your website as broken, or nonexistent. If they're really motivated, they might try to find your website by other means. If they aren't strongly motivated, they won't.

Why Do 404 Errors Occur?

404.png

Anyone can recieve a 404 message if they're trying to get to your site by clicking on a broken link. This is the most common cause of 404 errors.

A link can become broken for a number of reasons. People often rewrite web page URLs when they're redesigning their site, or they may try to enhance search engine optimization (SEO) by including keywords in the URLs.

When a URL gets rewritten, any link to that page using the old URL is instantly broken. It can't take someone to the page anymore.

How to Avoid 404 Errors

Help would-be visitors to your site avoid the dreaded "Page not found" error by following these tips:

  • Read Link Juice: Save Every Drop for tips on making sure links to old pages are changed to point to the new pages. The article includes a list of tools for locating your old links, both on your own site and around the web.
  • If you've changed the URL for a page on your website, redirect visitors to the new page from the old one, using a 301 redirect.
  • You can also redirect people manually. You can revise the web page at an old URL, inviting people to visit your new page. Make sure you include a link to the new page. It's also good to offer your contact information if you think people may be confused and may need to communicate with you directly. It's a good way to build trust with your site visitors.
  • You can check with your web hosting company to see if it offers a 404 redirect. When a user enters the URL for an old page, your web hosting company can redirect a visitor to a page you specify, instead of returning a 404 error.
  • Stay organized by recording changes to your site. Then you can go back and fix links when you're done.

Mistypes and 404 Errors

People can get a 404 error if they mistype your website's domain name in the navigation bar of their web browser.

You can't account for every possible mistyping of your domain name. But if your domain name is easy to mistype or misspell, you can purchase these commonly mistyped domain names. Then create a 301 redirect from each of the mistypes back to your website. It's a good way to capture website visitors who might otherwise go astray. This article has been republished on webmaster news site {{{2}}} (visit).

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