404 Error

A 404 error is a common website error message that indicates a webpage cannot be found. It may be produced when a user clicks an outdated (or "broken") link or when a URL is typed incorrectly in a Web browser's address field. Some websites display custom 404 error pages, which may look similar to other pages on the site. Other websites simply display the Web server's default error message text, which typically begins with "Not Found." Regardless of the appearance, a 404 error means the server is up and running, but the webpage or path to the webpage is not valid.

So why call it a "404 error" instead of simply a "Missing Webpage Error?" The reason is that 404 is an error code produced by the Web server when it cannot find a webpage. This error code is recognized by search engines, which helps prevent search engine crawlers from indexing bad URLs. 404 errors can also be read by Web scripts and website monitoring tools, which can help webmasters locate and fix broken links.

Other common Web server codes are 200, which means a webpage has been found, and 301, which indicates a file has moved to a new location. Like 404 errors, these status messages are not seen directly by users, but they are used by search engines and website monitoring software.