IIS 5 Administration - Custom Errors Tab

I know you've seen the standard, boring 404 (or "file not found") error pages all over the internet. In fact, as the web ages the errors seem to increase almost without control.

Unfortunately, most webmasters simply leave the standard error pages in place. These are of very little, if any, help to visitors who presumably wanted to find out something useful. The standard pages just say "you got an error" and don't really tell a surfer what to do or direct him on how to find out what he wanted to find.

It's really a very, very good idea to change your error messages to be a little more informative. This can go a long way to improving your statistics, as you may recapture visitors which otherwise would be lost.

To begin, create a 404 page in straight HTML, ASP or whatever other scripting language your server supports. The page should describe the error and inform the user what can be done. It's also a great idea to direct the visitors back into the site using a search form, menus and site maps.

Once you've done this, add the error page to your web, then use this screen to inform IIS that you want to use them now. Just double-click on the appropriate error number and change the fields to point to your new error file.

IIS is superior to Apache in this area, as IIS defines many more different and precise error codes. This allows you to be very precise as to informing your visitors what went wrong and how they can recover.

Additional Information

• The Dreaded 404 error This article tells you the meaning of the dreaded 404 error
• Htaccess file - Custom error pages You can use htaccess to define custom error pages to trap 404 and other error conditions.
• Good Design - Custom 404 error page The 404 error page is generally pretty lame. If you can, you can use this as a tool to get your visitors deeper into your site.