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Out-of-the-box thinking...

by Christian Parillo
13 replies
We ALL think of ways to increase our bottom line...

...As I was doing so, an idea entered my head. Monetizing your "404 error" page, which surfaces any time someone enters an incorrect link to somewhere on your domain.

Surely if you've got a loyal ever-returning audience and a high traffic volume, you're leaving money on the table by not monetizing this page.

Firstly, how would I go about redirecting all non-existent and misspelled link entries to one specific 404 page?

Also, I thought about placing a squeeze page on this 404 page, with a pre-headline along the lines of "Oops! This Page Doesn't Exist But Don't Leave Empty Handed. Download The FREE (whatever the lead magnet is) below...", leading into the headline with an opt-in box below it...

...Sound good?

I'd like to hear other ideas of how people would choose to leverage this page.

Regards,

Chris
#outofthebox #thinking
  • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
    Just basic and simple. I have a full site navigation to help the person get back to where they want to go. Add a little humor and a couple of ads for them to click on, and you're set. At least that's what I do.
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  • Profile picture of the author MartinK8
    Chris, why complicate things if you can just redirect all the 404's to your money page.
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    • Profile picture of the author Christian Parillo
      Hey Martin,

      My reasoning is that people who search for a specific link on my website, lets say a blog, already know it well and would know how to navigate effectively anyway, so capturing leads from a quick accident could be an effortless way of building up a list.

      Also, I'd rather have them in my prospect list than send them straight to an offer.

      And, if coming from an external link to a page that doesn't exist anymore, they'd probably be more likely to enter an e-mail address than purchase a product.

      Thanks.

      Originally Posted by MartinK8 View Post

      Chris, why complicate things if you can just redirect all the 404's to your money page.
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  • Profile picture of the author cferfland247
    I think most of us have a customized 404 error page. Mine have the sitemap and latest posts.
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  • Profile picture of the author James Fame
    Originally Posted by Christian Parillo View Post

    We ALL think of ways to increase our bottom line...

    ...As I was doing so, an idea entered my head. Monetizing your "404 error" page, which surfaces any time someone enters an incorrect link to somewhere on your domain.

    Surely if you've got a loyal ever-returning audience and a high traffic volume, you're leaving money on the table by not monetizing this page.

    Firstly, how would I go about redirecting all non-existent and misspelled link entries to one specific 404 page?

    Also, I thought about placing a squeeze page on this 404 page, with a pre-headline along the lines of "Oops! This Page Doesn't Exist But Don't Leave Empty Handed. Download The FREE (whatever the lead magnet is) below...", leading into the headline with an opt-in box below it...

    ...Sound good?

    I'd like to hear other ideas of how people would choose to leverage this page.

    Regards,

    Chris
    I've been doing that. Sometimes, there are bad links/changed pages and re-routing them to a customized 404 page can actually result in several opt-ins and fewer leaks that click away. Everything should be angled towards the sale.

    James Fame
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    Fire me a pm if you have a question. I build businesses and provide consulting. I do not do finance/money/internet marketing niches. Fitness, self-improvement and various others are welcome.

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    • Profile picture of the author Christian Parillo
      That's exactly what I was planning to do.

      It's good to hear that this strategy resulted in several opt-ins for you...

      Are you talking about manually re-routing particular "bad" links? as I'm looking for a way to just redirect ALL possible alphanumeric combinations that don't currently exist/have been changed, to a custom 404 page.

      Don't suppose you know of any ways to do this?

      Chris

      Originally Posted by James Fame View Post

      I've been doing that. Sometimes, there are bad links/changed pages and re-routing them to a customized 404 page can actually result in several opt-ins and fewer leaks that click away. Everything should be angled towards the sale.

      James Fame
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      • Profile picture of the author James Fame
        Originally Posted by Christian Parillo View Post

        That's exactly what I was planning to do.

        It's good to hear that this strategy resulted in several opt-ins for you...

        Are you talking about manually re-routing particular "bad" links? as I'm looking for a way to just redirect ALL possible alphanumeric combinations that don't currently exist/have been changed, to a custom 404 page.

        Don't suppose you know of any ways to do this?

        Chris
        I'm using the 404 Redirect plugin: WordPress › 404 Redirected « WordPress Plugins

        Keeps a log of the bad links too. Hope that helps!

        James Fame
        Signature

        Fire me a pm if you have a question. I build businesses and provide consulting. I do not do finance/money/internet marketing niches. Fitness, self-improvement and various others are welcome.

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        • Profile picture of the author Christian Parillo
          That's quality!.. Exactly what I needed.

          Thank you; you've helped tremendously.

          Chris
          Originally Posted by James Fame View Post

          I'm using the 404 Redirect plugin: WordPress › 404 Redirected « WordPress Plugins

          Keeps a log of the bad links too. Hope that helps!

          James Fame
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        • Profile picture of the author lostboy516
          Are you using the page suggestion function in 404 Redirected? There doesn't seem to be a way to just send people to the homepage. The tracking capabilities are great...
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  • Profile picture of the author muffty
    Thanks for the info James and Christian for posting this query, it's something I was looking into doing too!
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    • Profile picture of the author Christian Parillo
      No problem muffty ; glad it's helped the both of us.

      Originally Posted by muffty View Post

      Thanks for the info James and Christian for posting this query, it's something I was looking into doing too!
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      • Profile picture of the author James Fame
        Originally Posted by Christian Parillo View Post

        That's quality!.. Exactly what I needed.

        Thank you; you've helped tremendously.

        Chris
        Originally Posted by muffty View Post

        Thanks for the info James and Christian for posting this query, it's something I was looking into doing too!
        Glad to help.

        But ultimately, you might want to find what kind of source of traffic they're coming in from. If they're using a particular search term, you could tailor a page specifically for that query. You'll get higher conversions especially if the search query is pretty common.

        James Fame
        Signature

        Fire me a pm if you have a question. I build businesses and provide consulting. I do not do finance/money/internet marketing niches. Fitness, self-improvement and various others are welcome.

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        • Profile picture of the author Christian Parillo
          Absolutely!

          I'll familiarize myself with the plug-in and do just that.

          Thanks again,

          Chris

          Originally Posted by James Fame View Post

          Glad to help.

          But ultimately, you might want to find what kind of source of traffic they're coming in from. If they're using a particular search term, you could tailor a page specifically for that query. You'll get higher conversions especially if the search query is pretty common.

          James Fame
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