404 error page in TYPO3: How to turn it into an opportunity

Call up any URL that does not exist on your website. What happens?

If you're honest: probably not much. A standard message, maybe a sad icon. The navigation is still there, but the actual page content? Doesn't do anything for the visitor.

That's a shame. Because every visitor who lands on your 404 page is someone who was interested in your website. Something has led them to you. The URL has changed, a link was out of date, a typo. That happens. The question is: what do you make of it?

Most 404 pages are dead ends

Hand on heart: The standard 404 page in most TYPO3 projects is a template that was quickly put together at some point. "Page not found", maybe a sad icon, done. Sure, the normal navigation is usually still there. But the actual page content? Provides no added value. No orientation, no helpful links, no reason to stay.

And then there's the absolute worst case: TYPO3 installations where error handling is not configured correctly. Visitors only see a bare error message with the TYPO3 logo, without any navigation, without design, without any hint. The website is completely invisible at this moment. Unfortunately, this still happens more often than you might think.

What a good 404 page can do

A well thought-out 404 page catches the visitor, gives them orientation and, in the best case, shows personality. In concrete terms, this means

Providing orientation. Where can the visitor go instead? What are the most important areas of your website? Instead of a single link to the home page, you can refer specifically to the pages that are most relevant to your visitors.

Provide added value. Recent blog articles, popular content, helpful resources. Anything that gives the visitor a reason to stay on your site.

Show personality. A video, a humorous illustration, a light-hearted text. Something that might even make the visitor smile instead of frustrating them.

Practical example: My own 404 page

I have developed my 404 page on wwagner.net over the years. It started with small adjustments. At some point, a video was added, later the entire text was revised and further elements were added to the page.

The text is structured according to need. Instead of a generic error message, I ask the visitor specific questions: Are you looking for a solution to a TYPO3 problem? Do you want to learn TYPO3 systematically? Do you simply want to stay up-to-date? Each question leads to a suitable section of my website.

The reasoning behind this was simple: What are the most important areas on my site, and where do I want to lead the visitor? In my case, these are the video courses, the workshops and the newsletter.

If you use Matomo or another analytics tool, you can also look at which pages are accessed most frequently and link to them specifically.

The video lightens up the situation. In a short clip (just under a minute), I greet the visitor, humorously apologize for the situation and give a few tips on what there is to discover on the website. Nothing elaborate. I just sit at my desk, just like they know me from my YouTube videos. This creates familiarity and makes the error page personal.

A suitable illustration provides the visual framework. I used an AI image generator to create a cartoon illustration: A developer stands at a crossroads with various signposts (blog, video courses, community and so on). The image fits the theme and the website. Today, tools such as Nano Banana 2 make it easy to create such individual illustrations without having to hire a designer.

Dynamic blog articles provide additional added value. I display the latest blog articles below the text and the video. Technically this is nothing special (in my case the news plugin), but it gives the visitor concrete content and a reason to click on.

Fun fact: A few years ago, I even included an interactive crossword puzzle on my 404 page. That shows: Anything really is allowed here, as long as it fits your own website.

How to improve your own 404 page

The first step: Call up your own 404 page and take a critical look at it. Is it a boring standard page or does it provide real added value?

Then think about: What are the most important pages on your website? Where do you want to take the visitor?

It's worth doing a little research for inspiration. There are numerous collections of creative 404 pages on the web. A request to Claude or Perplexity can also help you develop ideas for your own site.

And the technical implementation in TYPO3? No great effort. You use the site configuration to define which page is delivered in the event of an error. You do the rest as you would with any other site: create content elements, write texts, done.

Checklist: What belongs on a good 404 page?

• [ ] Clear, friendly error message (no technical jargon)
• [ ] Needs-oriented navigation to the most important areas of the website
• [ ] Dynamic content such as current blog articles or popular pages
• [ ] A personal element (video, photo, humorous text)
• [ ] A suitable illustration or image that matches the website
• [ ] Contact option in case nothing else helps
• [ ] Correct HTTP status code 404 (important for search engines)

Conclusion

A 404 page will never be your most visited page. But every visitor who lands there has had a reason to come to your website. Whether you lose or catch them at that moment is up to you. The effort is manageable, the effect noticeable.

So: Call up your 404 page. And then do something with it.