Ecommerce Tip: Make Lemonade Out of Error Lemons

As owners of large ecommerce websites know, products get discontinued, new models replace old models, or products that aren’t profitable get removed from your shopping cart. This means some shoppers will get error pages (aka lemons) instead of finding what they want. Those error pages are often a missed opportunity to convert visitors into customers.

404 Page Not Found Errors happen any time a searcher clicks on a link for a page of your site that is no longer there. The page could have been removed, like when you discontinue a product.  Or, it may never have existed, like when you accidentally mistyped the URL in your email newsletter (oops) or is simply mistyped.

But why won’t they just go away?

• Google still has the page in its index. It can take search engines days or even months to update their index and remove that non-existent page. In the mean time, it’s still out there for people to click.
• Past marketing efforts, like emails, press releases or articles have a link to the non-existent page.
• People bookmarked the page because they wanted to come back to it later.
• Someone liked it so much they shared it through social media, and now their “friends” are clicking on the shared link.

So, how do you make lemonade out of these error lemons?

If there is a replacement or newer version of a discontinued product, or if you merely changed the URL, then you should 301-redirect the old URL to the new URL. Then, visitors will simply be taken to the new page.

If there isn’t a great replacement product, then allowing the 404, but maximizing the 404 page to be helpful to searchers is the best option.

Must Do’s:

• Customize your 404 page to include your website header, footer and navigation. That way, searchers won’t just get a plain old browser page that makes it look like your site doesn’t even exist.
• Make sure the message test is clear and offer to help in other ways. Whatever you do, don’t blame the visitor (or make them feel stupid) with text that says, “You’ve typed in a URL that doesn’t exist.”

Worth Trying (make sure to test):

• Consider adding a little humor and personality to your 404 pages. This is where knowing your audience comes in handy – it can be fun, but shouldn’t be off-putting. I know this can be challenging in the industrial sector, but why not do something that makes you stand out from the crowd?
• Add links to popular categories or products. Adding images with the links can help people visually decide what to click on.
• Add your phone number so it’s easy for people to call with questions. And, if you have a live chat feature, this is a great place for that too. Be as helpful as possible.
• Add another search box. Even if you have the search box in your header, try adding one in the content area so it’s even easier to find.

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