{"id":3651,"date":"2025-04-09T13:40:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T18:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/?p=3651"},"modified":"2025-04-09T13:40:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T18:40:30","slug":"why-make-a-custom-404-page","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Make a Custom 404 Page"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Prior to taking this class, I had never thought twice about why the contents of an error page are so important. Ending up on an error page was always frustrating, but the rise of funny and engaging error pages is a great way to differentiate yourself- that is a custom 404 page! I was able to investigate this topic more by reading the article 404 Error Pages: The Ultimate Guide for SEOs by Seo Sherpa. You can read the article here<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start with the basics- what even is a 404 page?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A 404 page is a landing page that tells the visitors that the page they requested is either currently unavailable or doesn\u2019t exist. The article mentioned 2 main consequences of not creating a 404 page- users won\u2019t know the URL they\u2019re trying to visit isn\u2019t working and Googlebot won\u2019t get the correct status code to know it\u2019s not there. Both of these options negatively impact your rank on Google\u2019s SERP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many reasons why you might be sent to a 404 page. Some of the reasons are that the page got deleted from the website, the page got moved, the URL was simply typed incorrectly, the domain name doesn\u2019t exist anymore, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to evaluate your site, you can run a crawl to identify your website\u2019s 404\u2019s. You can fix the broken link by redirecting the error, restoring the page, or correcting the link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now to the main point of this blog post: \u201cHow to find new opportunities from lost traffic\u201d\u2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are multiple ways of doing this. One way is to create a generic 404 page, but let’s focus on creating a custom 404 page. The main point here is how to minimize the frustration caused by not finding your search intent and returning to a 404 page. If you are able to lighten the mood by using games, humor, and exciting visuals, you are much more likely to keep the user engaged. Some specific elements of an engaging 404 page are the following: a simple error message, a consistent feel to the rest of the site, links from the 404 page to your best content, a search box, contact details, and by implementing a little humor!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some of your favorite custom 404 pages that you\u2019ve come across?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prior to taking this class, I had never thought twice about why the contents of an error page are so important. Ending up on an error page was always frustrating, but the rise of funny and engaging error pages is a great way to differentiate yourself- that is a custom 404 page! I was able […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Make a Custom 404 Page - ENTR 330 SEO Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Make a Custom 404 Page - ENTR 330 SEO Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Prior to taking this class, I had never thought twice about why the contents of an error page are so important. Ending up on an error page was always frustrating, but the rise of funny and engaging error pages is a great way to differentiate yourself- that is a custom 404 page! I was able […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ENTR 330 SEO Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-09T18:40:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-09T18:40:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/visuals-JpTY4gUviJM-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1792\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"kriegeral21\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"kriegeral21\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"kriegeral21\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/993ca614a7f246849fe379c85a895e29\"},\"headline\":\"Why Make a Custom 404 Page\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-09T18:40:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-09T18:40:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":389,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/visuals-JpTY4gUviJM-unsplash-1024x717.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why Make a Custom 404 Page - ENTR 330 SEO Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/visuals-JpTY4gUviJM-unsplash-1024x717.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-09T18:40:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-09T18:40:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/993ca614a7f246849fe379c85a895e29\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/visuals-JpTY4gUviJM-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/visuals-JpTY4gUviJM-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1792},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/09\\\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Make a Custom 404 Page\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/\",\"name\":\"ENTR 330 SEO Blog\",\"description\":\"Course Blog of ENTR 330\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/993ca614a7f246849fe379c85a895e29\",\"name\":\"kriegeral21\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e585c1bbfe169b0977e03dad8a2ba040937970fb8be371b67fa2fb0979401465?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e585c1bbfe169b0977e03dad8a2ba040937970fb8be371b67fa2fb0979401465?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e585c1bbfe169b0977e03dad8a2ba040937970fb8be371b67fa2fb0979401465?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"kriegeral21\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gccwebsites.com\\\/seoblog\\\/author\\\/kriegeral21\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Make a Custom 404 Page - ENTR 330 SEO Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Make a Custom 404 Page - ENTR 330 SEO Blog","og_description":"Prior to taking this class, I had never thought twice about why the contents of an error page are so important. Ending up on an error page was always frustrating, but the rise of funny and engaging error pages is a great way to differentiate yourself- that is a custom 404 page! I was able […]","og_url":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/","og_site_name":"ENTR 330 SEO Blog","article_published_time":"2025-04-09T18:40:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-09T18:40:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1792,"url":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/visuals-JpTY4gUviJM-unsplash-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"kriegeral21","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"kriegeral21","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/"},"author":{"name":"kriegeral21","@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/#\/schema\/person\/993ca614a7f246849fe379c85a895e29"},"headline":"Why Make a Custom 404 Page","datePublished":"2025-04-09T18:40:27+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-09T18:40:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/"},"wordCount":389,"commentCount":2,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/visuals-JpTY4gUviJM-unsplash-1024x717.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/","url":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/","name":"Why Make a Custom 404 Page - ENTR 330 SEO Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/visuals-JpTY4gUviJM-unsplash-1024x717.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-09T18:40:27+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-09T18:40:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/#\/schema\/person\/993ca614a7f246849fe379c85a895e29"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/visuals-JpTY4gUviJM-unsplash-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/visuals-JpTY4gUviJM-unsplash-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1792},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/2025\/04\/09\/why-make-a-custom-404-page\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Make a Custom 404 Page"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/","name":"ENTR 330 SEO Blog","description":"Course Blog of ENTR 330","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/#\/schema\/person\/993ca614a7f246849fe379c85a895e29","name":"kriegeral21","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e585c1bbfe169b0977e03dad8a2ba040937970fb8be371b67fa2fb0979401465?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e585c1bbfe169b0977e03dad8a2ba040937970fb8be371b67fa2fb0979401465?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e585c1bbfe169b0977e03dad8a2ba040937970fb8be371b67fa2fb0979401465?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"kriegeral21"},"url":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/author\/kriegeral21\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3651"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3653,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3651\/revisions\/3653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gccwebsites.com\/seoblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}