Error pages are an issue often overlooked in SEO planning. By default, a user who receives an access denied (403) or page not found error (404) is shown a generic, default error message. Drupal, however, gives you the option to present a custom error page in place of the generic messages. You should use this option to create customized error pages that achieve all, or part, of the following goals:
• Reinforce your brand
• Provide a friendly error message
• Provide links to other valid pages in your site
If you create nicely customized error pages that advance these goals, you will lose fewer site visitors as a result of errors. This improves your user time on site, your average page views, and helps advance perceptions that your brand is concerned about people and is user-friendly
To set up custom error pages, follow the given steps:
1. Access the admin dashboard of your Drupal site.
2. Create a new Drupal content page to be used for the error page. Publish it and note the URL.
3. Click on the Configurationlink on the admin navigation menu at the top of the page.
4. In the Systemsection of the page, click on the link labeled Site information.
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and find the section named Error Pages.
6. Enter the relative path to the custom error page in the fields provided.
7. Click on the Save configurationbutton.
Now, when a user is displayed with a 403 or 404 error, they will see your customized error page rather than a generic error message. The following screenshot shows one example of this technique; in this case, we've created a friendly page that will display when a 404 error occurs. Note that we've added links to guide the user and keep
them on the site.
