When most people encounter a ‘404 Error Page’ or ‘Page Cannot Be Found’, they will either close their web browser or hit the back button. They then go back to the search engine and look again for the particular site they targeted.

If you are a website owner who owns an online business site and someone lands on your 404 error page, then you have effectively lost a customer. The chances of that potential customer coming back to your site could be slim. So what is a 404 error page and how can we overcome this problem?

‘Page cannot be found’, ‘The requested URL was not found on this server’, are commonly known as 404 error pages. A 404 error page informs the browser that the server cannot find the file that is being searched for. . If, for example, the browser enters your website address incorrectly, a 404 error page will be displayed. The same problem will occur if you change links or delete a linked page because the server will not be able to locate the old link.

Although you must accept the fact that sometimes your potential customers will encounter a 404 error page when they visit your site, it is possible to take advantage of these pages. You could create a sales page, for example, similar to your other sales pages. Don’t just put a bunch of links on the page though, as this will scare away your potential customers. Include your web page header and make the page as attractive as your other pages.

Some ideas to use on the page are:

-Make a special offer at a reduced price.

-Have the page as a landing page.

-Make it an AdSense page.

-Redirect you to a related affiliate product.

-Offer browser alternatives, such as links to different pages or topics.

These are just a few of the many different ways to benefit from 404 error pages.

As you can see, then if you don’t customize your pages, you may be losing money. Having something on those pages can really prove beneficial.