Why should you have a custom 404 error page? View this gallery of inventive and well designed pages for users that reach a lost URL.

1. THE ART OF THE
404 ERROR PAGE
A C O L L E C T I O N O F H I D D E N P A G E S

2. WHAT IS A 404 PAGE?
The 404 page is a standard response code in HTTP
telling the user, in effect, that they've clicked on a
broken link.
This is generally a nuisance to users, but a
well-designed error page at least makes the
experience less frustrating. Here are some really
cool examples of 404 pages...

3. Here we give the user a choice to "fire" the
webmaster. Each choice shows you one of Brent's
expressions.

4. A little humor goes a long way towards disarming
a user's frustration.

5. A good excuse for finding a 404 is that:
a) The user mistyped the URL
b) The webmaster "broke" the URL
Note the large call-to-action back to the homepage.

6. This is a really creative solution, and a fun comic strip.

7. This retailer also gives the user additional navigation
to choose from after the page they want is missing.

8. Embedded YouTube video here is set to loop. The
danger here is annoying your user even more.

9. Great example of showing your product and
possible "causes" of the 404 page.

10. Fun use of popular culture icons and a parallax background
make this 404 stand out. Note: sometimes a search bar
works better than a home button.

11. A 404 gives you an opportunity to create visual
metaphors for "broken," "lost" or "frozen."

12. Starbucks 404 is very customer service centric. It gives a
layman's explanation of what happened, and instructions
on what to do next. This is a great solution if your audience
isn't familiar with 404s.

13. When done right a 404 attracts positive attention.
People liked Hillary Clinton's page and it got national
media exposure.

14. Our own page has a direct message and simple call-to-action
to return home. Try different designs and track which one
works best at preventing the user from abandoning your site.

15. A digital marketing leader since 1996, Didit
provides full-service online advertising and
marketing services with award-winning expertise
and innovation. Our full-service approach applies
multi-faceted skill sets, including SEO, PPC, CSEs,
PLAs, Content Marketing, and Social Media
strategies that create a holistic synergy of online
marketing tools.