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Author: Lauri Harpf
In a previous article, I discussed the advantages of using a
customized 404 error page on your site and gave instructions on
how to create one. As I explained back then, these pages are
highly useful because they enable you to benefit from traffic
that would otherwise be lost. They
that can make maintaining your site significantly more difficult
than what it has been before.
What is this problem I'm talking about? Well, it is quite
simple. Usually when a server encounters a 404 error, it records
the details about the event into its log file. Should you
suddenly notice that the log shows multiple 404 errors due to a
page named "abutme.html" not being found, you can deduct that
you've probably accidentally linked to "abutme.html" somewhere
on your pages instead of using the correct filename
"aboutme.html". As you can see from the above, the functionality
offered by log files makes them a great help in tracking down
such simple mistakes and enables you to keep your site
relatively free of in-site broken links.
However, if you happen to have replaced the standard 404 error
with your own HTML 404 error page, you can't utilize this useful
feature. Yes, you will still see that a 404 error has occurred,
but you won't get any further details that would help you figure
out what exactly happened. Finding and fixing these errors
becomes nearly impossible, causing them to pile up over time and
deteriorate the professional image of your site. Now you're
facing the tough choice of either showing your visitors a very
unfriendly error message that drives them away or accepting ( Next Page )
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