It can be quite frustrating when you land up on blank pages or error messages, while browsing the websites in hopes of getting some information from them. The message “page not found”, or “404 not found” is a real plague for your website users.
This error can also adversely impact your website SEO results and performance. You need not worry abut them, as there are effective ways to correct them. Let us know more about a WordPress 404 error in detail.
What is an Error 404?
404 is the HTTP code that is returned by the web server, when you access a web page that doesn’t exist at that location. These errors are quite common post a website redesign, as old webpages no longer exist, but are still listed on other websites, or indexed on search engines.
Official website of WebFactory Ltd is the best place to find useful WordPress plugins that offer a lot of functionality to the users. The 301 redirect WordPress plugin is designed to have a simple interface and is very simple to use. This plugin prevents users to get frustrated after reaching at 404 pages. Instead, it redirects them to the updated web page that they had expected to see.
What are the reasons for the 404 errors?
There are mainly three reasons why 404 errors can occur.
- Change in the permalink structure on the website
- The resource page is deleted, moved, or even renamed.
- Input errors or typo mistakes
Ways to figure out 404 errors on the WordPress site
With Google Search Console
Use the Google Search Console to find out the webpages that Google fails to locate on the website. This tool helps you supervise 404 errors, and website ranking in the search engine’s index.
Using the Broken Link Checker plugin
The Broken Link Checker plugin scans your website and also find out any broken links. This plugin is quite helpful when your website has several webpages, internal links, and articles. Be reminded that this resource takes up a lot of resources, and can slow down the website.
Using the Redirection plugin
This plugin is the best way to keep a complete history of all those pages that encounter 404 errors on the website by “real” users. This is one of the best ways to solve 404 errors.
So, you must have understood why it is important to find out the 404 errors that occur on your website. Monitor them with Google Search Console. You need to get a customized 404 page as soon as possible.
Redirect obsolete locations on the website to real webpages on the site, enhances not just the user experience but also optimizes the SEO results. The Redirection plugin could be the best way to accomplish it.
However, you must make sure that the users don’t keep going in circles because of redirect chains or loops. In the worst case, you might have to go for WP Reset with the help of another successful plugin by WebFactory.
