At some point or another, we’ve all seen an “Error code: 404 – Page not found” message. This error occurs when a user lands on a non-existent page — the proverbial “dead-end” of your school site. Stumbling upon these messages can often result from a user error, like typing the wrong URL, for instance, but it's more likely the consequence of a page's URL changing because of an edit made in your sitemap.

Luckily, there are a few strategies to avoid these frustrating little roadblocks. Creating redirects that point your old, retired URLs to new URLs prevents a 404 error from occurring and will help improve the user experience. But how do you sift through dozens, or maybe even hundreds, of pages to check if you have 404s? A robust Content Management System (CMS) provider will have tools to help mitigate a lot of these errors.

To find your site’s 404 error pages, log in to your Google Analytics account and navigate to Behavior / Site Content / All Pages.  Switch the Primary Dimension to “Page Title,” and then use the search box to find your 404 pages (most are usually titled “404” or “Page Not Found.”) Click on the page title in the search results, and you’ll see the culprits. You can add a secondary dimension of "Previous Page Path" and you'll see the path folks took to get there. Once you've identified what URLs you'd like to fix, editors can easily create redirects using the Redirect module within Finalsite’s CMS, Composer, shown below.

Redirects can be created on a one-to-one basis or imported in bulk. Importing redirects in bulk is particularly important when you redesign your school’s website, as many URLs are likely to change.

Landing on an Error 404 page is frustrating for users, but you can help ease the frustration by creating a helpful and light-hearted page. The best 404 pages combine your school’s brand, a little humor, and helpful navigation to  get your users where they wanted to go in the first place. Not only are you softening the blow, but you can make things right and win back their confidence. 

1. Oh, Gnome!

Moore Norman Technology Center in Oklahoma uses a tech-trades garden gnome to add a bit of humor and serves students and families with wayfinding links. Wayfinding links can be frequently visited pages or links to content that you want to promote. 

2. “I’ll be your invest-gator.”

When Glenview 34 in Illinois launched its new website in early 2020, it added custom 404 pages to its school sites! Some of our favorites are below:

3. “We aren’t Lyon….”

Glenview 34’s Lyon Elementary school brings its mascot to life and helps users through wayfinding links. 

4. “This page has been purrrged.”

It’s clear Glenview 34 loves a good pun, and they kept with that trend at Springman Middle School!

5. Dragons’ Gate

The Internation School of Bejing creatively uses its mascot to convey pride and help families find popular links.

6. Keeping it Simple and Fun

All Saints’ Episcopal School in Fort Worth, Texas, has used a comic to make visitors chuckle.

7. Oops!

Shalom Christian Academy in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, has a charming 404 page with calls-to-action to the school’s top-hit pages.

8. The Bearer of Bad News

Harpeth Hall in Nashville, Tennessee, goes above and beyond with humor and connects users to a dynamic sitemap built easily with Finalsite Composer. 

9. Ruh-roh!

The team here at Finalsite loves to have fun, and when we redesigned our company website in early 2022, we were prepared to help users find their way to a better place. 

Key Takeaway 

When users reach a page that does not exist, the next best thing is to have a fun, friendly, and useful 404 page as shown above. In addition to adding humor, it’s always a good idea to use data from a source like Google Analytics to serve users with commonly-visited links from your site(s). Additionally, adding a link to “request information” or “contact us” is a customer service best practice.

School communications veteran Lesley Bruinton, APR of Nichols Strategies, gives her thoughts on custom 404 pages:

What I appreciate most as a former journalist is the opportunity it gives you to “write tight.”This is a great opportunity to really flex that writing muscle! 404 pages are definitely next level for district use.

This comes to the forefront with the book I am reading now… pic.twitter.com/NQtH0aEFRt

— Lesley Bruinton, APR 🥋 (@lesleybruinton) January 26, 2022

Josh Sauer, APR, is one of Finalsite's Educational Sales Consultants for public school districts, helping district communicators leverage Finalsite’s robust suite of digital tools to speed up day-to-day communications work and tell impactful stories. Josh’s background is a mixture of public school communications and marketing, having worked in both industries for several years. Josh is accredited in public relations and has served on the National School PR Association (NSPRA) and the Oklahoma School PR Association (OKSPRA) executive boards. Josh lives in the Oklahoma City area with his partner and two dogs.