What Is A 404 Page?

Tom Barron

Author

What You Will Learn

On This Page (4 sections)

What Is A 404 Page And Why Is It Important?
Why Is A 404 Page Important?
What Makes A 404 Page Good?
What’s The Takeaway On 404 Pages?

What next?

A 404 is what your browser shows when it asks a server for something and the server can’t find it. No matching page, no redirect set up, nothing to serve; so instead of your homepage, or that blog post someone linked from LinkedIn, the visitor gets an error.

What Is A 404 Page And Why Is It Important?

A 404 is that page you see when a website can’t load the link you clicked or entered. It is what the browser shows when it asks a server for something and the server can’t find it.

It usually comes down to one of two things:

The page moved or got deleted. A redesign, a rebrand, a URL structure change — the address that used to work doesn’t anymore.
The visitor mistyped or followed a dead link. Sometimes it’s them, sometimes it’s a stale link sitting on someone else’s site pointing at yours.

Either way, the outcome is the same: someone hits a wall on your site. What’s on the other side of that wall is entirely up to you.

Why Is A 404 Page Important?

A 404 page is important because it’s often the only page a frustrated visitor sees at that moment. It’s tempting to treat the 404 as a technicality, a server response code, not a design decision. But it’s still a page on your website, and for the person looking at it, it’s the only page on your website in that moment.

If your site exists to bring in enquiries, sell something, or hold someone’s attention long enough to explain what you do, a dead-end error page is actively working against that. It’s one of the few moments where a visitor’s next move is entirely in your hands: bounce, or keep going.

What Makes A 404 Page Good?

A good 404 page is simple, on-brand, and gives visitors a clear way forward instead of a dead end. At kunu labs, we build a lot of these into client sites, and the pattern holds regardless of industry.

What’s The Takeaway On 404 Pages?

The takeaway is that a 404 page is easy to ignore right up until it’s the only thing standing between a visitor and leaving for good. Treat it like any other page: on-brand, useful, and built to move someone forward rather than out the door.

Frequently Asked Questions

Clear answers to common questions about our UX audits, redesign process, and strategic approach.

How to fix a 404 page?

To fix a 404 page, find out why it’s showing (a deleted page, a renamed URL, or a broken link pointing at your site), then either restore the page, set up a 301 redirect to its new location, or update the link that’s sending people there.

Do you need a 404 page?

Yes, you need a 404 page; every website generates broken links eventually, and without a custom one your visitors just get your host or CMS’s default error message. A branded 404 with a clear next step keeps that visitor on your site instead of losing them.

What should a 404 page look like?

A 404 page should look like the rest of your site — same branding, tone, and navigation — with a short, clear explanation that the page can’t be found, plus at least one obvious way forward: a link home, a search bar, or a link to your most useful content.

How do I see a 404 page?

To see a 404 page, type a URL on your domain that doesn’t exist, such as yoursite.com/this-page-is-not-real. If your site has a 404 template set up, it’ll load automatically; if not, you’ll see your hosting provider or CMS’s default error message instead.

Is a 404 error bad for SEO?

A 404 error itself isn’t bad for SEO; search engines expect some to exist and won’t penalise you for them. What hurts is leaving them unfixed at scale, having important pages return 404s by accident, or having other sites link to pages that no longer exist without a redirect in place.