I have long read about the importance of having a 404 page on my blog but I have never taken any action to sit down and code it. If you don’t already know it, a customized ERROR 404 - PAGE NOT FOUND page is important and it gives visitors who have clicked on a broken link some options on what to do next.
You may suggest that they search for whatever they were looking for earlier by providing a search form. Or if that fails, you may suggest that they contact you via the contact form or your email address so that you could help them find it. You may also provide a sitemap if you have one.
Besides helping your visitors look for whatever missing pages that brought them to the 404 page, you may also highlight some of your best posts, or highlight some of your most popular posts, or take the opportunity to inform them of your other blogs/sites/forums.
Finally, you could take the opportunity to promote your RSS feeds. Your visitors might not subscribe to you since they can’t find whatever they were looking for, but there is still a small chance that they might.
Check out my Error 404 page and if you haven’t customized yours, what are you waiting for?! 
P/S: This is still my favourite 404 page!
If you think this post might benefit other bloggers:
Good on you!
Wow - that typing one is random!
I tweaked our 404 up a few months ago, but I think it could probably use a revisit soon… It’s functional, but a little dull.
http://www.2dolphins.com/notfound.html
Here’s another cool one:
http://www.plinko.net/nevermore.htm
Your error page is cute
I don’t believe I can change my error page, the website company I use probably set it up. But, I will look into it in the next day or so, just in case. Thanks for the post!
My Error 404 page is cute?!
Mine’s a measly Blogger 404. This is what happens when you’re too cheap to get a proper hosted WP on
PS: A very informative 404, yours is.
Yep, cute! Upside down is different, so it’s cute
Nice work on your 404 page! I’ve not bothered doing anything with mine. Maybe one day I’ll get around to it.
Mine is still the default Blogspot’s 404 page. Guess it’s good enough for now until I have the time to change it to a better one.
Wow, dai kah cher, your 404 page is definitely one of the best error pages I’ve seen on the Net. Makes people feel that they didn’t run into an error page…at all!
As someone that reaches error page on occasion I see all sorts of error page and usually realize that the link was remove and try finding the page from the home page, I know many people are doing it and I don’t feel there is a need to think that the blogers can’t do a few extra steps by themselves when reaching an error page.
Ohh this is soo cool I hope I can make one, I’ll have a go and post it here if I can get it to work!
Nice 404 you have… A “not-like-404″’s 404… =p Can standard 404 from blogger be customized?
I remember doing this and it didn’t work right away.. took some time to figure out.
I think mine is still defaulted, I really have to do something about it — thanks for the reminder!
I like yours, the sign is perfect for that page! Was it hard to customize?
There was one 404 I saw back in the late 90s, it was something like “What the heck did you do? You broke my server!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” then had a little flash animation of a server blowing up. That’s probably still my favorite - wish I bookmarked it.
I got a simple 404 page, time to update it perhaps.
Thanks for the reminder yo!