Page Not Found Traffic Last Updated June 2026 Each site has a page that a visitor will see if they enter a URL address for a web page that no longer exists. It’s usually called the “Page Not Found” page. The web server calls hits to this page a 404 error. You can visit the Page Not Found page of any site by typing some gibberish after the URL in the browser. On this page: Causes for hits to the Page Not Found Page How to know who and why people are hitting the Page Not Found Tips for a More Helpful Page Not Found page Causes for hits to the Page Not Found Page Causes from the visitors side: A visitor mis-types the url address into the browser, (a typo). They clicked on a link from another website that is incorrect or out of date. Causes from our side: Deleted pages. We changed URL path addresses when reorganizing or re-branding content. Regardless of the cause, you want visitors to the Page Not Found page to get helpful information that reduces confusion and for them to feel they still have trust in visiting the website. How to know who and why people are hitting the Page Not Found The College web team has included a data table about where visitors come from who hit the Page Not Found page of a website in the monthly PDF email reports of analytics that are sent out to content owners. Please monitor this table. If you see anything unexpected in the report it may: Let you know about incoming links that are incorrect. You may need to contact the website owner and ask them to update their website. Help you to consider how to assist the visitors through content edits to the Page Not Found page. Contact the web team if anything really unexpected is in the report. Tips for a More Helpful Page Not Found page Now that you know people are seeing the page you may want to improve it. Check out this Network Solutions article, “404 page design: Best practices and examples for a better user experience” To see examples, you can visit the Page Not Found page of any site by typing some gibberish after the URL in the browser, such as or https://www.smashingmagazine.com/WFRew Feel free to contact the Web team at cofawebmaster@austin.utexas.edu to discuss ideas.
