Comments on: Catching 404 Visitors http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/ PHP, WordPress and Business Ramblings Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:17:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Merging Two WordPress Blogs :: Stuff by Sarah http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15889 Merging Two WordPress Blogs :: Stuff by Sarah Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:20:19 +0000 http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15889 [...] course I'll still continue to keep an eye on my 404 errors over the next month in case I've missed [...] [...] course I'll still continue to keep an eye on my 404 errors over the next month in case I've missed [...]

]]> By: Sarah http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15758 Sarah Thu, 15 May 2008 06:35:54 +0000 http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15758 Hi Robert, I doubt it can as Analytics is only aware of the pages that you've placed the analytics code on, so unless you have a 404 pages with analytics code on then it wouldn't know about it. The Webmaster Tools will however show you all of the 404 pages it knows about. Hi Robert, I doubt it can as Analytics is only aware of the pages that you've placed the analytics code on, so unless you have a 404 pages with analytics code on then it wouldn't know about it. The Webmaster Tools will however show you all of the 404 pages it knows about.

]]> By: Robert Morgen http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15759 Robert Morgen Wed, 14 May 2008 22:15:55 +0000 http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15759 Nice article. Does Google Analytics help with this at all? Nice article. Does Google Analytics help with this at all?

]]> By: Sarah http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15757 Sarah Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:51:36 +0000 http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15757 HB, you're right, not everyone has a stats package. Although signing up to Google Sitemaps (or webmaster central, whatever it's called these days) isn't so bad. You don't even need to add a sitemap. Of course linking all those sites under your name could be a concern, but that's only if your sites are dubious ;) HB, you're right, not everyone has a stats package. Although signing up to Google Sitemaps (or webmaster central, whatever it's called these days) isn't so bad. You don't even need to add a sitemap. Of course linking all those sites under your name could be a concern, but that's only if your sites are dubious ;)

]]> By: Using htaccess to redirect changing site link structures | ChillyCool Web Digger http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15756 Using htaccess to redirect changing site link structures | ChillyCool Web Digger Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:46:16 +0000 http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15756 [...] Catching 404 Visitors Running a site requires maintenance from time to time, perhaps an upgrade to the file structure too. Even if you’ve not altered the file structure from the original set up, a simple mistake such as an incorrect link in your content, can cause a 404 Not Found error. Unless you’ve set up a custom 404 error page that offers a correct navigation to your main site (which I would recommend too, if you’ve got the option), then you could lose each visitor, a potentially paying customer, when that get that dreaded 404 page and leave your site for good. Also, when a file structure is updated the old files will still be known to the search engine spiders and they’ll continue to search for these files. [...] [...] Catching 404 Visitors Running a site requires maintenance from time to time, perhaps an upgrade to the file structure too. Even if you've not altered the file structure from the original set up, a simple mistake such as an incorrect link in your content, can cause a 404 Not Found error. Unless you've set up a custom 404 error page that offers a correct navigation to your main site (which I would recommend too, if you've got the option), then you could lose each visitor, a potentially paying customer, when that get that dreaded 404 page and leave your site for good. Also, when a file structure is updated the old files will still be known to the search engine spiders and they'll continue to search for these files. [...]

]]> By: HB http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15755 HB Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:17:48 +0000 http://www.stuffbysarah.net/2008/03/22/catching-404-visitors/#comment-15755 Really handy summary Sarah, cheers. Wasn't sure about the ASP 301 redirect code so that'll be most helpful. Also in terms of finding broken links, if you don't have a stats package and you aren't happy to hand additional info about your site/s to Google and their webmaster tools team you could use "Xenu Link Sleuth" (google that term and you'll find it). Or if you're running Linux you could run the "wget" command as a spider on your site if you wanted. Really handy summary Sarah, cheers. Wasn't sure about the ASP 301 redirect code so that'll be most helpful.

Also in terms of finding broken links, if you don't have a stats package and you aren't happy to hand additional info about your site/s to Google and their webmaster tools team you could use "Xenu Link Sleuth" (google that term and you'll find it). Or if you're running Linux you could run the "wget" command as a spider on your site if you wanted.

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