How to turn a 404 page into a useful landing page

A 404 landing page is a custom "page not found" screen that helps lost visitors instead of leaving them at a dead end. It says the page is missing, offers search or links to your most useful pages, and can carry one relevant offer. It will not rank in Google, and it does not replace fixing broken links. It can keep some visitors who would otherwise leave.

How to do it

1. Find out how many people hit your 404 page and where they come from. Check your analytics for views of the 404 template, and Search Console's page indexing report for "Not found (404)" URLs. Fix broken internal links first, and redirect old URLs that have a real replacement.
2. Keep the real 404 status code. Google says it treats a user-friendly "not found" message that returns an ordinary 200 status as a soft 404 and recommends returning a 404 response code for pages that are really missing. Check with your browser's network tab or curl -I.
3. Say plainly that the page was not found. Avoid jokes that bury the message.
4. Add a search box, links to your top three or four pages, and a way to contact you. For a store, link to bestsellers and categories. For software, link to the product tour, pricing and docs.
5. Add one offer that suits a person who was looking for something on your site, such as a signup, a discount or a newsletter. Keep it secondary to the navigation links.
6. Pass the missing URL to your analytics so you can see which broken URLs get the most visits. Fix the top ones.

Examples

All three pages below were loaded on Oct 8, 2026, using an address that does not exist, and each returned a real HTTP 404 status.

Stripe. The page says it could not find the page and links to the homepage and to six destinations: pricing, careers, documentation, the API reference, system status and support. It also shows a "chat now with sales" prompt.

Mailchimp. The page says "We lost this page" and points to email marketing, SMS marketing, how to use them together, marketing resources and success stories. A banner above offers a free 14-day trial.

Shopify. The page says "Time is money, so we won't waste yours. This page doesn't exist." It links to the Help Center and has top navigation for Start, Pricing, Website Builder and Blog.

Stripe's page leans on navigation, Mailchimp's adds a trial offer, and Shopify's keeps it short. There is no public data from these companies on how many visitors they keep this way.

When it backfires

• It will not rank. Google does not index URLs that return a 4xx status and removes ones already indexed. A 404 page is for visitors who arrive by broken link, so do not plan SEO around it.
• Soft 404s. If your 404 page returns a 200 status, Google may report soft 404 errors in Search Console. Return a real 404.
• Redirecting every dead URL to the homepage. Visitors who wanted a specific page land somewhere unrelated and get no explanation. Redirect only when there is a close replacement.
• A pushy offer. A visitor who just hit an error is annoyed, not ready for a hard sell. Put help first.
• Covering up broken links. A good 404 page does not fix links from other sites or your own. Review the 404 report each month.

Questions people ask

What is a 404 landing page? A custom error page for missing URLs, designed to send visitors somewhere useful. Unlike a normal landing page, it is not built to get search traffic.

Does a 404 redirect help SEO? A 301 redirect to a closely matching page sends visitors to the right place. Redirecting every missing page to the homepage leaves people confused about why they landed there.

Sources

• Google Search Central: HTTP status codes and network errors, read Oct 8, 2026
• Search Console Help: Page indexing report (soft 404), read Oct 8, 2026
• Stripe 404 page, read Oct 8, 2026
• Mailchimp 404 page, read Oct 8, 2026
• Shopify 404 page, read Oct 8, 2026