A 404 error page is an error page offered by a web server when a page is unavailable on a domain, or when there was an error in opening a particular page. Dead links that point to deleted or moved pages are a common cause and the result is a very basic page that imparts no information. Worse still, when a search engine spider hits that page, it essentially runs up against a brick wall.

The Problem With Standard 404 Error Pages

Standard 404 error pages contain little or no information pertaining to your website. A spider will be provided with no more links to follow and no content to index. This can, in extreme circumstances, prevent the spider from crawling the remainder of your site. However, by optimising this page, you can give your visitors a means to navigate to other pages and provide spiders with navigational links to follow.

Templates And Navigation

If your website uses a template, which most do, then you should use this template as the basis for a custom 404 error page. Hopefully, it will include all the necessary navigational links including a link to your sitemap. This ensures that spiders can continue to effectively crawl all of your pages without having to miss chunks out because pages are inaccessible or have been moved.

Give Your Visitors An Alternative

You might also include extra information for the benefit of visitors. Give a little insight into your service, provide links to the most important pages, and don’t forget to politely inform them that they are viewing an error page. If you don’t offer visitors an alternative method of escaping a 404 error page, then the only option is the exit button and you’ll lose a potential customer.

A cursory search on any of the major search engines for Search Engine Optimization services will
throw up results that often look too good to be true. Those services that offer
incredible results and even more incredible prices, and backed up by unbeatable
guarantees. Unfortunately, they often turn out to be more effort than they
are really worth. Results are usually limited, at best, and may cause serious
damage to your website’s ability to attain high rankings in the future.

Guarantees in Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is not a precise science. Nobody knows the exact contents of the search
engine algorithms and this makes it genuinely impossible guarantee top rankings.
Furthermore, Search Engine Optimization should be viewed as an ongoing process and results will typically
take several weeks, even months to really show rewards. Those services that
offer guarantees will usually guarantee top spots on terms that result in no
traffic because these are easier to achieve than others.

Black Hat SEO

Unethical Search Engine Optimization often referred to as black hat Search Engine Optimization, can be extremely damaging.
Search engines don’t like to feel like they’re being artificially manipulated.
They attempt to offer genuinely useful information to their users. While they
do appreciate that ethical Search Engine Optimization helps them towards this end, they will heavily
penalise those sites that employ black hat Search Engine Optimization.

Black Hat in Disguise

Search Engine Optimization schemes come in a number of guises. As a general rule, if it looks too
good to be true then it probably is. Clichéd though it may sound, this old
adage really does ring true. Stick to ethical services and you will enjoy access
to one of the cheapest and most effective methods of building traffic anyway.
By using black hat Search Engine Optimization techniques you will, in contrast, negatively affect
your site for months or even years to come.