404 Document Not Found: Customize Your 404
A dead link to what used to be a page at your site appears in search results. When searchers click on that link and you don’t have a custom 404 page, they see a “Not Found” message instead of the page they were looking for. With nothing on the page to help them, chances are high that they’ll use the Back button. But if you have a custom 404 page, those searchers may spend more time at your site.
What is a 404 page?
A 404 page is the page displayed when there is no page at the URL. Type in any non-existent URL in your browser, and if the site doesn’t have a custom URL, you’ll get a generic page telling you that the page cannot be found. “404 Not Found” will appear as the page title. The 404 response code means that the browser …