Create a unique 404 page

16 January 2024 | lisa

A 404 page is what a visitor sees when the page they were looking for on a website can’t be found. This can happen when a visitor has entered a web address incorrectly, navigated to a page that has been removed from your site, or have clicked a broken link. Creating a unique 404 page provides a helpful user experience, and can be a great way to add personality to your online shop.

How can a unique 404 page help?

Having a unique 404 page can provide visitors with helpful information of what has happened and what to do next. This helps to keep them engaged with your site and encourages them to remain on your site, where they may still purchase. This then reduces your Bounce Rate (percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page) and Exit Rate (percentage of visitors who leave a site after visiting any number of pages) in Google. Reducing these rates may improve the SEO value of your site.

Providing visitors with a positive experience, even when they can't find the page they were looking for, can leave them with a good feeling. Therefore, they are more likely to return to your site and possibly become a repeat customers.

A unique 404 page that you've added yourself also maintains brand consistency across your site. This is because Bluepark displays a default 404 page, if a unique 404 page isn't defined. This page shows the basic information to a visitor about what has happened, including a returning link to the site and also a search function. However, as it has none of your branding on it, or any navigation options, visitors may thing they've been taken away from your site and will go elsewhere.

Set up a unique 404 page

In the Admin Panel, go to Pages and then View.
Create a new page by clicking the Create New icon at the top right.
On the Properties tab, untick Add to navigation bar and input a Page title, for example '404 Page'. Then click into the URL text field and the system will automatically generate the URL from the Page title.
On the Content tab, input the information the visitor will see when landing on this page. It’s important to strike a balance between being informative and uniqueness. Include a title and a message that clearly states that the page cannot be found.
Other things you can include on the page are a link to your homepage, the Search box, the Latest Products or Top Sellers block, and a way for visitors to report the broken link. Both the Search box and the product blocks can quickly be added to the page within the Inserts tab in the Page Editor.
To preview the page, Save and then click Preview . Here, you can check to make sure any links you've added are working properly.
Once you're happy, go to Settings > Settings > Website tab. Scroll down to the Site Options and Important Pages section to see the 404 error page (URL) field. Enter in the URL of the page you've just created or search for the page using the Link to dropdown.
Once you click Save , your unique 404 page will be set and will replace the default Bluepark one.