Websites Made Simple: How to have a successful website design business23 Mar

How To Add 404 Pages To Your Websites That DON'T Suck!

If you're not including links pages and custom 404 pages in your website builds, you're leaving money on the table — and doing your clients a disservice.

Check out my new offer: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sparks-group-mentoring/ It's a supportive group mentoring session for website designers and developers to bring their questions, roadblocks, ideas, and "is it just me?" moments.

Welcome to another episode of Websites Made Simple with me, Holly Christie.

In this episode, I'm talking about two of the most underrated pages in website design: the links page (your on-brand, SEO-friendly alternative to Linktree) and the custom 404 page.

Both are quick to build, easy to position as a value add, and a genuinely great way to stand out from designers who aren't sweating the details.

We get into:

Why Linktree and similar tools can actually hurt your reach on social media platforms
How a links page on your own website works with your SEO and drives traffic where you want it
What to put on a links page to make it genuinely useful — and how to make it your own
Why most 404 pages are a completely wasted opportunity
How to design a 404 page that gets visitors back on track (and even puts a smile on their face)
Why these pages should be built into your project cost, not offered as an upsell
The one quick check you can do on your own website right now
How showcasing these pages on your own site helps attract the right clients

If you want to impress clients, add real value to your builds, and start standing out from designers who aren't going the extra mile — this one is for you.

Come and find out more at https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk or email me at hello@websitesmadesimple.co.uk

Skip to the good bits:

00:00 Stop leaving these pages out of your website builds

00:30 Why Linktree and Linke hurt your social media reach

01:02 Build a links page on your own website instead

02:00 What to put on your links page

03:10 Keeping links pages simple but effective on mobile

04:30 Links pages, SEO, and sending traffic to your own site

05:00 How to charge for links pages (don't make it optional)

05:44 The problem with generic 404 pages

06:20 How to check if your 404 page is customised right now

07:20 Adding personality and fun to your 404 page

08:14 Using 404 pages to redirect and re-engage visitors

10:02 Start with your own website first

Mentioned in this episode:

Join my Sparks Group Mentoring Programme

Remember to sign up for our blogging masterclass!

Go to https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/masterclass

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