Encountering a “File not found” error, flagged by your web browser, indicates a 404 error message. This error may result from user mistakes, such as mistyping the URL, or from the website publisher’s oversight. Often, it occurs when a web page has been deleted, resulting in a broken link.
To mitigate such errors, it’s advisable to set up redirects that guide users to the new location of the page. Additionally, establishing a standardized error 404 page for your domain can significantly enhance the user experience. This page could feature helpful elements like a search bar or a list of similar content, facilitating navigation and minimizing user frustration.
An example of a 404 error would be if a user attempts to visit a specific webpage on a website, but the page does not exist or has been removed. For instance, if a user tries to access “www.example.com/nonexistentpage,” and there is no page at that URL, the web server will return a 404 error message, indicating that the requested page could not be found. This alerts the user that the content they are looking for is not available at the specified location.