Wait, you are on the right page. This post is about “Page not found!”, is the message you get while accessing a non-existing page on a website. It happens when users try to access a page other than a home page, where the main Domain URL is correct(www.mysite.com) but, there’s something after “/” wrong. e.g., www.mysite.com/profilehgjd. Possibilities are,
– They click on a broken link. www.mysite.com/profi…
– They make mistakes while typing a long URL manually in hurry for a coffee date. www.mysite.com/profil/sam
– They goof up while copy pasting a URL. Original: www.mysite.com/abc Copied: www.tatvic.com/a
Showing a user a default page like above is like telling him, “You are a loser and you don’t deserve to be on my site”
Users are most likely to close the window they find the boring “404 Not found message”. However, no one would want to let the user go. While discovering good error pages, we bumped into some interesting error pages. Here’s how some well known site engage.
1. Apple: Site map – not the ditto, but all product links
At Apple, where all products are very popular among all kind of audience, you can’t guess what is someone looking for. So Apple shows important links for all products.
2. Cleartrip: Redirect to Home page
Example of a very smart Indian site, Cleartrip.com. After showing this message, it redirects to the Home page in a few seconds. Not bad!
3. Unbounce: Resources – Some important links and latest Blog posts
Many a times, new users will land on a non-existing page. Talking about what they can do on the site and showing them latest blog posts is a nice way to hook users.
4. Twitter – Search bar
Twitter provides you search bar when you get lost. Obviously, nobody will look for “Pricing plans” or “Contact us” on Twitter. If typed something wrong try to search for it.
5. Firefox – Provide support, try to help
Firefox tries to help you. It tells you possible reasons why you got this page and tells you to Email the problem if you want. If nothing, it tells you to go to Home page and try to look for what you wanted.
6. Elance – Funny hook
This is what I call a very nice attempt. A funny and unique hook always stays remembered and users read it for sure.
You might have seen something better or already using something like this. Please share it with us. We’ll use it in our new Website will mention your help here.
