View & Fix 404 Errors

While the broken link checker is a great tool for checking internal and external links on your site, it is not capable of finding and checking links to your site.

Why 404 Errors Matter

A 404 error occurs when a webpage or resource is not found on the server. These errors can adversely impact user experience, harm SEO rankings, and tarnish the professional image of a website. Identifying and addressing 404 errors promptly is crucial for maintaining a healthy and functional website.

Joomla Redirects component

The Joomla Redirects component provides a build in solution for identifying and managing 404 errors on your website. By regularly monitoring and addressing broken links, you not only enhance the user experience but also contribute to better SEO performance. Take advantage of Joomla's tools to keep your website in top-notch shape, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable browsing experience for your visitors. The tool is quite limitied in options, there are extension like fix 404 errors, that offer more possibilities like email alerts.

Accessing the Redirects Component:

Log in to your Joomla administrator panel.
Navigate to Components > Redirects.
If the Redirect Plugin is not enabled you will see a message. Enable the plugin and come back later.

Monitoring 404 Errors:

In the Redirects component, you will see a list of links
Here, you will find a list of URLs that users have attempted to access but were not found on your site.

Analyzing 404 Data:

Examine the 404 URLs to understand which pages or resources are generating errors.
Look for patterns or commonalities in the URLs to identify potential issues.
There will be a lot of garbage. Malicious web bots constantly crawl your site for weaknesses.
It's quite common to see bots accessing pages like /wp-login.php, various paths of components and system files.
You might see URLs for 'technical' files like a website.manifest, security.txt and apple-touch-icon.png. You might want to add them
And you might see 404 URLs for pages that actually should be accessible.

Creating Redirects:

For each 404 URL, you have the option to create a redirect.
Click on the Link, enter the New URL and set the status to Enabled.
Save the redirect.

Testing Redirects:

After creating redirects, test them to ensure they are functioning as intended.
Copy the Expired URL into the address bar of your browser

Regular Monitoring:

Periodically review the 404 URLs in the Redirects component to address new errors that may arise over time.
Stay vigilant and keep your website's content updated to minimize the occurrence of 404 errors.