After Launch404 Not Found · Page not found
404 page
A 404 page is the screen that tells customers "Page not found" when they land on an address that doesn't exist.
It's a sign for a customer looking for a room number that doesn't exist: "That room isn't here; the front desk is this way." Without the sign, the customer just leaves.
A little more detail
A 404 appears when someone mistypes an address or arrives through a deleted page or an old link. It often happens after a redesign, when old addresses are still out there on blogs or social media.
The default 404 screen is just one line of English on a white background, so customers leave right away. Adding your business name and buttons to the home page, booking and menu can keep them around.
If a page has moved, the right move is to send visitors to the new address automatically (a 301 redirect) instead of showing a 404. Use 404 only for pages that are truly gone.
What's the difference between a 404 and a 410?
A 404 means "There's no page at this address right now," and a 410 means "This page was removed on purpose, for good." A 404 leaves room for the page being only temporarily missing, while a 410 states that it won't come back.
Google handles both codes by dropping the page from its index. So for a small website, using a 404 for removed pages is enough. If a page has moved, don't use a 404 or 410; send visitors to the new address with a 301.
These numbers are called "status codes." Customers don't see them, but browsers and search engines read this number before the page itself and use it to decide how to treat the page.
Swipe the table sideways to see more
| Status | Meaning | When it's used | What search engines do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200 | OK | When the page exists and works | Read the content and index it |
| 301 | Moved permanently | When the page's address has changed | Treat the new address as the main one |
| 404 | Not found | An address that doesn't exist, or a deleted page | Drop it from the index |
| 410 | Gone for good | A page you'll never bring back | Drop it from the index |
| Soft 404 | The page says "not found" but the code is 200 | A misconfiguration | Flag it as an error and don't index it |
What is a soft 404 and why is it a problem?
A soft 404 is when the screen says "Page not found" but the server answers "OK (200)." People and search engines get signals that contradict each other.
Search engines then treat the empty page as a normal page and waste time coming back to check it. Google Search Console flags these addresses separately as "Soft 404."
Common examples are a sold-out product page left blank, or a past event page with nothing but the word "Ended." If the page is truly gone, return a real 404. If you're keeping the page, fill it with something useful, like products to look at instead or the next scheduled date.
On the other hand, sending every missing address to your home page can also get classified by Google as a soft 404, because customers land on an unrelated page instead of the one they were looking for. The basic rule is a 404 for removed pages and a 301 to the closest new page for moved pages.
What should a good 404 page include?
A good 404 page tells customers right away where they can go from here. Buttons that lead to the next step matter more than an apology.
Your 404 screen should show the top menu and your business name, just like any other page on your website. That way customers don't think they've landed on some other site by mistake.
Word it so it doesn't sound like the customer's fault. "This page has moved or no longer exists" feels better than "You entered the wrong address." A short line that fits your shop's personality is fine too, as long as it doesn't stand out more than the buttons to move on.
- A plain-language message (e.g. "The page you're looking for has been removed or its address has changed")
- Your business name, logo and top menu kept in place
- A button back to the home page
- Links to the pages customers look for most (menu, booking, directions)
- Call and contact buttons, plus a search box if your site has one
How do I find 404 errors in Google Search Console?
In Google Search Console's "Pages" report, you can see the addresses where Google got a 404 while crawling. Search Console is a free search management tool from Google.
The 404 list also includes odd addresses that real customers never visit. They come from other sites typing your address wrong or automated programs trying random addresses, so you don't need to fix them all. Choose which ones to fix based on whether your site actually used that address before.
- 01Log in to Google Search Console and select your website's property.
- 02In the left menu, click "Pages" under "Indexing."
- 03In the "Why pages aren't indexed" table, click "Not found (404)" to see the list of addresses.
- 04Open each address, and if the page has moved, set up a 301 to the new address.
- 05If the page is truly gone, leave it, but check that no links on your own website still point to that address.
- 06Check the "Soft 404" item in the same table too.
- 07After fixing things, click the "Validate fix" button in the report to ask Google to check again.
What are common mistakes when setting up a 404 page?
The most common mistake is sending every missing address to the home page. Customers see the first screen instead of what they were looking for and end up lost again, and Google also advises against redirecting many unrelated old addresses to a single page.
Another frequent mistake is building a nicely designed 404 screen that still returns a 200 status code. When you have an agency build your 404 screen, ask them to confirm not just the screen but also that the status code really comes back as 404.
You can't tell the status code just by looking at the screen. Enter a missing address in the Network tab of your browser's developer tools, or in an online status code checker, and you'll see right away whether it returns 404 or 200.
- Automatically sending missing addresses to the home page after a few seconds
- A designed 404 screen that returns a 200 status code
- Leaving the server's default screen (one line of English) as is
- Not checking the list of old addresses after a redesign
- Leaving broken links inside your website for the 404 screen to handle
When do small-business websites get the most 404s?
For small businesses, 404s pop up most when you delete pages for seasonal menus, past events or finished classes. Blog posts and social media posts that featured those pages stay online, so customers keep arriving through those links months later.
Be especially careful with addresses printed on flyers, business cards and in-store QR codes. Print can't be corrected, so pick a short address you'll use for a long time, like "yourbusiness.kr/menu," and make sure it always leads to your current menu page.
If your website sells products, product pages are a major source of 404s. Don't delete pages for items that are only temporarily sold out; add a restock notice instead. Only retire items you'll never sell again with a 404, or link them to the most similar product.
At ISSYMO, we decide together in a meeting how your 404 screen will look and how old addresses that change during a redesign will be redirected.
For example
- A craft studio deleted its "/class-2024" page, but a link to it is still on its Naver Blog. Redirecting it to the new class page keeps customers from getting lost.
Just check these
- Typing an address that doesn't exist (yourbusiness.kr/abc) shows your own 404 screen
- The 404 screen has front page · booking buttons
- You've checked Google Search Console for addresses returning 404 errors
Does my business need it?
Every website should have one, and it needs extra attention after a redesign.
At ISSYMO
In the meeting, we'll go over together how to design your 404 screen and where to redirect old addresses that change with a redesign.
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