What do you say when your not found?
Posted 12th August 2009 at 06:23 PM by oZestretch
It never fails to amaze me how people have become impervious to faults they stumble upon when 'surfing the net'. Let me explain.
I have several sites, a couple are simply there for fun, whether it be fun for me to make, or fun for the end user, doesn't really matter for this blog. The fact is they are sites which are live, active and receiving free traffic.
Have you ever seen this message before?
error 404
This usually occurs from 2 main reasons:
Now, you can break each of these down to sub-reasons etc, but that is the balls of it.
My dilemma... why oh why do 'surfers' never report these errors, when clearly, it is an error that is unknown to the webmaster.
Well my friend, that is easy. Who has time to find the contact page, fill it out, copy and paste the bad link to the form, hit send... not me!
The webmaster should make it clear that this error has occurred and then make it easy for these things to be reported!
Take for example a site I am slowly making
http://www.facepuller.com/thisisreal...tryanylinkhere!
The above link was rushed and.. ohhh no, there is a typo in it.
So what does the 'surfer' find when the bad link is clicked?
You may notice I made the error 404 contact form with a captcha and asking for an email. I only have done this as the site is under construction. Once completed, clicking the link in the 404 page will fully automate an email to the webmaster with just 1 click.
Using this in your sites (even if you only have a 1,2,3.... page minisite) will ensure you maximise each users potential to be a customer/purchaser/subscriber etc.
----------------
P.S. Good use of wasted real estate on affiliate sites can be found in your custom 404 page like so http://blog.whataboutwork.com/ohhcrapthereisnothinghere!
I have several sites, a couple are simply there for fun, whether it be fun for me to make, or fun for the end user, doesn't really matter for this blog. The fact is they are sites which are live, active and receiving free traffic.
Have you ever seen this message before?
error 404
This usually occurs from 2 main reasons:
- The link you clicked was typed incorrectly by the author; or
- The link you clicked has had it's location removed.
Now, you can break each of these down to sub-reasons etc, but that is the balls of it.
My dilemma... why oh why do 'surfers' never report these errors, when clearly, it is an error that is unknown to the webmaster.
Well my friend, that is easy. Who has time to find the contact page, fill it out, copy and paste the bad link to the form, hit send... not me!
The webmaster should make it clear that this error has occurred and then make it easy for these things to be reported!
Take for example a site I am slowly making
http://www.facepuller.com/thisisreal...tryanylinkhere!
The above link was rushed and.. ohhh no, there is a typo in it.
So what does the 'surfer' find when the bad link is clicked?
- Clearly States There Was An Error
- Provides A Direct Link To A Pre-filled Form For Notifying The Webmaster
- BONUS - Maintains the website theme/style/appearance so the user is less inclined to catch the next wave (is that even a surfers saying?) go to a different site
- BONUS - Provides interaction with the user, making them feel special and wanted.
- BONUS - Gives the webmaster extra 'real estate' for doing what it is they are online for (adspace? information?).
You may notice I made the error 404 contact form with a captcha and asking for an email. I only have done this as the site is under construction. Once completed, clicking the link in the 404 page will fully automate an email to the webmaster with just 1 click.
Using this in your sites (even if you only have a 1,2,3.... page minisite) will ensure you maximise each users potential to be a customer/purchaser/subscriber etc.
----------------
P.S. Good use of wasted real estate on affiliate sites can be found in your custom 404 page like so http://blog.whataboutwork.com/ohhcrapthereisnothinghere!
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