Increase
Your Traffic by Recovering Your Lost Visitors
If you spend any time surfing the Internet, you've probably
encountered a few error messages.
Error messages have numerous causes, such as misspellings,
outdated links or internal server errors. When an error is
encountered, your server will display specific generic error
pages according to the error. These error pages are not only
dead ends, but they are also very frustrating for your potential
visitors.
When your visitors mistype your web address or click on an
outdated link and receive the dreaded error page, they'll
most-likely click on their back button and never return. However,
you can recover a majority of your lost visitors simply by
taking the time to create some customized, user friendly error
pages.
As servers run different types of software and do not function
in the same manner, there isn't a simple method for creating
custom error pages that will work with every system. However,
if you have your own domain and your site is hosted on a Unix/Linux
server running Apache, this article will assist you in creating
custom error pages.
If you're not sure what type of server you're on, visit the
following web address to find out:
http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/
Before we begin, keep in mind, editing your server files is
serious business. Even one small typographical error can wreak
havoc -- make sure you make a backup copy of any file you're
planning to edit.
Guidelines for creating your error pages:
1. Create your error pages in standard HTML -- just as you
would create any other web page for your site.
2. Don't alarm your visitors. Never include the word "ERROR"
in large, bold text. Your visitors may immediately become
alarmed and think they've done something to cause the error.
Instead, be apologetic and encourage your visitors to click
on the navigational links to locate additional resources and
information.
3. Your error pages should look just like the rest of your
web pages. Each error page should contain good navigational
links, a search feature, and provide information in regard
to the specific error they received.
If you'd like to see an example error page, visit the following
web address:
http://www.web-source.net/error.htm
Once you've created an error page, save it as the error name.
For example, if you're creating a customized error page for
a 400 Bad Request error, your page should be saved as 400.html.
Here are some of the more common errors:
400 Bad Request
401 Authorization Required
403 Forbidden
404 File Not Found
405 Method Not Allowed
500 Internal Server Error
501 Method Not Implemented
502 Bad Gateway
503 Service Temporarily Unavailable
Once you've created your pages, you'll need to access your
server via FTP and create a new folder called "errordocs"
where you store your HTML files. Upload your new error documents
into your new folder.
Your next step will be to locate your .htaccess file and download
it to your computer. (If you use FrontPage to publish your
web pages, you cannot customize the .htaccess file, as FrontPage
uses the .htaccess file. Editing the file may cause errors
in your configuration.) The .htaccess file should be located
on your server where you store your HTML files.
If the .htaccess file isn't visible, you can create one within
a plain text editor. However, you must first make sure your
server isn't configured to hide the file. Your FTP program
should enable you to choose to display hidden files and folders
on your server.
Once you've downloaded your .htaccess file, open it within
a plain text editor, such as Note Pad, and add the following
lines below any other text that may be present:
ErrorDocument 400 /errordocs/400.html
ErrorDocument 401 /errordocs/401.html
ErrorDocument 403 /errordocs/403.html
ErrorDocument 404 /errordocs/404.html
ErrorDocument 405 /errordocs/405.html
ErrorDocument 500 /errordocs/500.html
ErrorDocument 501 /errordocs/501.html
ErrorDocument 502 /errordocs/502.html
ErrorDocument 503 /errordocs/503.html
If you're creating your own .htaccess file, open a plain text
editor and add the above lines.
When typing in the information, make certain you type it exactly
as it appears above. You can include the error documents of
your choice.
Once the file is complete, save it as .htaccess and upload
it to your server, via FTP in ASCII mode, where you store
your HTML files.
For additional information on File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
you may visit:
http://www.web-source.net/ftp_basics.htm
If you have a Windows operating system, you will be unable
to save the file as .htaccess. You'll need to save it as htaccess.txt.
Once you upload the file to your server, you can rename it
to .htaccess.
That's all there is to it. When your visitors click on an
outdated link, your custom error page will now be displayed.
Creating your own custom error pages is well worth the time
and effort, as they will enable you to recover an unlimited
number of your visitors. If you follow this step by step guide,
you can have your pages up and running in no time.
Copyright © Shelley Lowery
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