If your 404 error page in WordPress still looks like this:
Then your site or blog is leaking traffic, leads and money.
It’s time to plug the leaky holes and run this thing like it is a real business.
Keep reading and watch the video down below as I walk through the play-by-play of how to make a 404 page. In WordPress, with Hostgator or with Godaddy – I’ve got you covered.
If you know all the basics then skip to the video and get it done. But if you still have a few questions, then stick with me as I shed some light on what is an error 404 page, how to create or modify your own free 404 page and how to make changes to a 404 page in WordPress.
What is an error 404 page anyway?
Let me put it this way.
You want to make money on line. You set up your blog like I showed you. You set up a Facebook page. You tweet from time to time. You send out an email to your list when it seems right. And you are getting some people to click on the link to your most recent stuff.
- You’re posting your link on Facebook your profile, your business fan page, a few relevant groups.
- You’re posting it on your Google+ account. (You’re not quite sure if anyone is seeing it but you do it anyway…)
- You added it to your linked in groups (I don’t. I personally hate LinkedIn. It is not attractive. And so text based. Needs more pics and jokes…)
- You tweeted it to your followers.
- You entered a comment on some lucky dog blog and you linked to your post.
- You tell a friend on the phone. (The friend is driving and will try to recall it when they get home, pull off their shoes and grab a soda from the fridge.)
- You buy some traffic in a coop or from a supplier. (Yep, the guy who you have never spoken to but you have traded 3 emails with.)
And guess what.
On the Internet your stuff must be perfect. One missing or wrong character and your potential customer ends up at a dead end – the 404 error page for Page Not Found – the internet equivalent of a brick wall.
No stunning content, no wow pics, no witty jokes or problems solved. All that work and nothing. The traffic is draining out as fast as it it flowing in.
Just a error 404 page. You got the domain right but the blog post or page title was off. Just by a bit . One stinking little character. Son of a @#$.
From time to time, something goes wrong. For example I have a page named http://www.empoweredspouse.com/leadpages-net-review-clay-collins/. But my wanna-be-visitor types in empoweredspouse.com/leadpages.net-review-clay-collins or whatever. We all make mistakes. It happens.
And they end up staring at a blank wall. What do you think they are going to do when they run into your boring 404 error page?
They are likely to back up, close the window or go back to watching funny cat videos on YouTube.
All of these are bad news for you. Like I said, you just lost a visitor, a lead and maybe some money. What if you paid for a solo ad and they got the link wrong. You just wasted a lot of money!
Somebody tries to remember the title of your blog post rather than copy and pasting it. Oops.
Instead of the drab default message that I showed above, wouldn’t it rock if they actually got an apology, if they got a bonus for just showing up on your domain at all and if you got their email address. It sounds like a win-win (I really hate it when people say that). So let’s say that everybody got theirs.
What if you could learn how to make a 404 page that actually offered a bonus and highlighted your best stuff?
Are you gonna limp along with the same old tired 404 page like everyone else or are you going to suit up like the ninja blogger you know you can be?
I’m all about ninja mode so let’s rock.
I’m gonna show you a free version that you can create right in WordPress with very little coding yuckiness and then I’m gonna show you how to make a really sleek one in that Leadpages.net program that I mentioned above.
Get this and then follow along below. Check out my review here and see all of the other lead capture pages that you’ll be able to rock in minutes. But right now, let’s focus on the plugging this leak on your blog.
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