404 Error

404 error also referred to as 'page not found' error is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol standard response code and also one of the most popular errors on internet nowadays that pops up when some content from your website has been removed or transferred to some other URL i.e if a user cannot find the page he was trying to view on your website, the page shows a 404 error. 

Factors that may lead to 404 error 

However, there are various other factors that can result in a 404 error, for example -

• If the URL or its files or images are deleted or moved to some other source without properly adjusting any internal links accordingly, it can result in a 404 error. 
• While creating the website or while redesigning the website, sometimes the URL might be written incorrectly or linked incorrectly, or typed into the browser incorrectly, which can also lead to a 404 error. 
• 404 error can also be caused due to the malfunctioning of the server responsible for the website or a broken connection.
•  Sometimes issues with the domain name can also lead to 404 error, for example - inability of converting the domain name to an IP by the domain name system or if the searched domain name doesn’t exist anymore.
•  A very common encounter of 404 error is when we click on an unoperational link or a link that has become old or inactive. 

However, it is very important that as the owner of an ecommerce website, you work on the optimization of 404 error.

Now you must be thinking why the optimization of 404 error is required, let us understand this with the help of an example. A potential customer can visit your website via various gateways and sometimes it is tough for you to figure out which gateway your customers are taking to reach your website. So in that scenario imagine if a potential customer visits your website and he encounters a 404 error on your website, think about the impression it will leave on a visitor who is visiting your website for the first time. That is one of the reasons because of which it is important for you to optimize a 404 error on your website. 

The pages with a 404 error on your website can be referred to as the 404 pages and these pages should be optimized keeping in mind the strategy behind your brand such that they continue to narrate the story of your business i.e the optimized 404 pages should be fluent in images, voice, colors, font, and the message your brand is trying to send.