Error Pages on a Web Site

There is nothing I hate more than receiving an error page that doesn’t tell me what happened or how to fix it. Unfortunately, no matter how careful you are with your site design, errors can happen especially with sites that are more data-driven. I’ll admit even though this is a personal pet peeve of mine, I still don’t give error pages a thought until they pop up.

Since these pages are likely to pop up from time to time, you need to think about their design and how to get the person back on track. The message should do the following:

• Explain what happened and why
• Explain how to fix it or who to call

It’s really that simple. Regarding the actual design, the second most important thing after the message is the design. The error page should look just like your site. Some people argue that a “cutesy” design for these messages is not a good business practice, but I think it really depends upon the site and audience.

Here are a few sites of some really good and sometimes funny 404-error page designs:

• http://webdesignledger.com/inspiration/404-error-pages-for-your-viewing-pleasure
• http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2010/11/50-professional-and-creative-404-error-page-designs.html