Nearly one in four of the top 100 web sites in the U.S., including Google and YouTube, have 404 error pages largely devoid of any helpful information, in some cases not even the name of site you were (unsuccessfully) trying to access, according to Royal Pingdom.
GigaOM’s 404 error page met both of Royal Pingdom’s criteria for 404 goodness by being easily identifiable as a GigaOM page and offering comprehensive navigation help via a search box and a sitemap. For that we have WordPress.com to thank, which, as with so many other blog software services, includes a default site template, search box and navigation for 404 error pages.
There are plenty of fun 404 pages out there; the Area 404 page from the 404 Research Lab has found a bunch and grouped them into categories like swanky or poetic. I like The Motley Fool’s.
What’s your favorite 404 page?
9 comments so far
10:38 AM PT
I submit that our 404 page is the best. Here’s a link:
http://www.dawdle.com/pants/
10:52 AM PT
My favorite 404 page by far is this one: http://www.evisibility.com/jsojanaksa
Hilarious! ahahah
Peace out
11:12 AM PT
lol. Both of those are good (though as I click through I’m wondering if I’m going to see one worthy of the “adult” category, not that I don’t trust GigaOM commenters or anything ;)
“you are now lost in the woods with the fuzzy bears” that is kind of poetic in its own way.
12:09 PM PT
Homestarrunner wins the 404 wars by far:
http://www.homestarrunner.com/404
12:53 PM PT
[...] (Via GigaOm) [...]
1:38 PM PT
Homestarrunner, no question!
6:11 AM PT
404 Pages: The Bad, the Good and the Poetic
Nearly one in four of the top 100 web sites in the U.S., including Google and YouTube, have 404 error pages largely devoid of any helpful information, in some cases not even the name of site you were (unsuccessfully) trying to access.
8:22 PM PT
[...] and you can check mine here too. Check out the Article: click here Email This Post Print This [...]
2:55 PM PT
[...] based on its S3 architecture, and Slashdot today points us to Amazon’s patent for displaying 404 errors. That’s right, this patent is no longer pending, it has been granted. Errors, indeed. [...]
Leave a Comment