Add a custom 404 page — Claude Code

A default 404 bounces users. A custom 404 with navigation and search keeps them on the site and reduces bounce rate.

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Fixing this in Claude Code

Anthropic's official terminal coding agent

Claude Code can grep the whole codebase first, plan the change, then edit every affected file. Paste the prompt below into your Claude Code chat and the fix rolls out across the project in one pass.

Using a different tool? Pick your stack:

Lovable Cursor Bolt v0 Replit Windsurf Claude Code Base44

The prompt for Claude Code

Copy and paste this into your Claude Code chat exactly as-is.

Run Claude Code in the project root and make these exact changes, scanning the whole codebase first:

Add a custom 404 page

1. Create a custom 404 page that helps users navigate back to working pages.

Why this matters

About 1-5% of page loads hit a 404 on most sites (typos, stale links, Googlebot discovery errors). A default bare "404 Not Found" bounces 90%+ of those visitors.

A custom 404 with search and a few popular links keeps users engaged and preserves SEO value — they do not leave Google's "dwell time" signal tanked.

How to use this prompt in Claude Code

1. Open your Claude Code project.
2. Copy the prompt above with the copy button.
3. Paste into the Claude Code chat and send.
4. Review the diff, accept the changes, redeploy.
5. Verify the fix using the checklist below.

Common mistakes to avoid

error_outlineReturning 200 status for the 404 page — creates "soft 404" and confuses Google.
error_outlineShowing only "Not Found" with no helpful links or search.
error_outlineMissing the 404 status header even if the page is correct.

How to verify the fix worked

check_circle`curl -I https://yoursite.com/nonexistent` returns 404 status.
check_circleVisit a non-existent URL — branded 404 with search and links.
check_circleGoogle Search Console → Not Found report — no "soft 404" flags.

Frequently asked questions

Should 404 pages be indexed?expand_more

No. The 404 HTTP status tells Google not to index. Do not add robots meta to prevent it — status is enough.

Can I add analytics to 404s?expand_more

Yes — helpful to see which broken links come from. Track as a pageview or a custom event.

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