Is it perfectly fine to redirect my 404 error page?

by MrDay
6 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
  • |
Hey Warriors,

I just recently added a 301 redirect code into my 404.php template. Now any 404 error, gets redirected to the homepage of my blog.

Is this perfectly OK to do?

Or, are there some drawbacks to doing this?

It seems that every webmaster I talk to, has a different opinion on this matter.

There's 2 reasons why I did this,

1. Instead of my visitors seeing a 404 error page, they get redirected automatically to any page of my blog that I choose. I chose the homepage.

2. Any link juice going to my 404 error page can be redirected to a different page that I want to get ranked higher.

I know they have several Wordpress plugins for redirecting 404 errors, but I chose to just insert a simple 301 redirect code to handle this instead.

I would love to hear any feedback on this matter, appreciate it.

My bad, this probably should've gone in programming talk forum.
#301 redirect #404 #error #fine #page #perfectly #redirect #redirect 404 errors
  • Profile picture of the author SteveJohnson
    A 404 that redirects to an uninformative home page is a bad visitor experience.

    You're better off parsing the bad URL and offering your visitor choices on how to find what they were looking for - in other words, send them to a dedicated 404 page that HELPS them, which in turn would increase your visitor on-site time.

    Where did you dream up the #2 reason? That's just funny
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  • Profile picture of the author Freddy Rodriguez
    In my experience, that is perfectly fine.

    But, as SteveJohnson mentions above...your point #2 is inaccurate. The 301 redirect will not be getting you any linkjuice or improved rankings.

    But, it's a good thing that you're doing the 301 redirect.
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  • Profile picture of the author MrDay
    Thanks guys, appreciate it.

    And I totally agree with you, Steve Johnson.

    I actually got the idea of reason #2 from a thread on digital point forums.

    That's probably why I don't spend to much time over there, anymore.

    But I've been doing some more research and I found this very good post about this whole matter 301 404 Error Page Redirect for SEO - McAnerin International Inc. just in case anyone was interested.
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  • Profile picture of the author vjboc
    You could make a custom 404 page. Add what you want to the page for information.
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  • Profile picture of the author spa3
    I like customized 404 pages. Some are pretty funny and then you don't get so upset that something went wrong.
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  • Profile picture of the author mgreener
    Actually, #2 depends on if the user is reaching a 404 from a link that used to go to a real page. If there are broken links, then you should definitely 301 them to relevant pages of your site instead of just allowing them to 404.
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