How to Correctly Customize the 404 Error Page in WordPress

The 404 error is one of the most frequent on websites, it does not matter if you created your website with WordPress or not. When these errors appear on the page the user may think that it is not working. In any case, to maintain the good image you can always customize the 404 error page in WordPress .

How to Correctly Customize the 404 Error Page in WordPress – Quick and Easy

What is the 404 error?

The 404 or Not found error appears when trying to access one of the website links from the browser, the page is not found on the web server. For the purposes of the browser, the page does not exist and it will show a 404 error screen to the user .

You constantly have to check on your website that there are no links to pages that are no longer available to avoid a bad impression and affect the positioning of your website. 

How to detect a 404 error?

The quintessential tool used to detect a 404 error is Search Console . It is a Google tool and it is 100% free that allows us to detect broken links that are linked on the website.

Access the Search Console control panel, in the Index section click on the coverage option . There are all the possible errors that the page may have.

How to properly customize the 404 error page in WordPress?

The first thing you have to keep in mind that what you have to do is correct this type of error as much as possible . In case you can’t, nothing happens, it’s best to have a custom error page.

Install WordPress 404page plugin

The quickest and easiest way to customize the 404 page is through the implementation of a plugin. There are a lot that are useful for making the 404 page, but one of the most stable is 404page .

It is characterized because it can practically be done in a few clicks. In addition to being one of the highest rated among WordPress users .

  • For the installation enter the wordpress content manager of your website. Enter your access data and on the desktop click on the option Plugins – Add new .
  • Put in the search engine the name of the plugin, which in this case is page404. Complete the installation and then activate it .
  • In the appearance section there is a new option available called 404 Error Page , where you must enter to configure the page.
  • You have three configuration tabs which are General, Avanced and Explainer Videos. In the first option you must select the page destined to appear when there is a 404 error. You must have previously created it from the WordPress page section.
  • Once you choose it you can edit the page from the Edit Page button . From that same section you can test how the page would look from the Test 404 error button. When you finish, save the changes in the Save Changes button .
  • The advanced tab allows you to make settings such as whether the page is available to other website users and when the 404 page should appear. Finally, the Explainer Videos section shows a series of videos explaining the plugin settings .

What causes 404 errors?

  • Misspelled the URL of the page . A letter of more or less can be a determining factor so that the user does not find the page they are looking for.
  • Server configuration failures . If you did not configure the nameserver correctly in the domain this could cause errors when trying to access the site.
  • Cache storage failures . The site cache may be showing pages that are no longer available, so the error will continue to show.
  • 404 errors are not unique to WordPress. Although on many occasions this error is generated due to a compatibility problem with WordPress, there may be external problems that are causing it.

 

by Abdullah Sam
I’m a teacher, researcher and writer. I write about study subjects to improve the learning of college and university students. I write top Quality study notes Mostly, Tech, Games, Education, And Solutions/Tips and Tricks. I am a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence or virtue.

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