Oops! another 404

How to deal with a 404 crisis:

404 is the error message you receive when a page cannot be found on a server. It could be that the specific page you are trying to view has been removed, or the server may have a problem, or there may be a problem with your connection.

What should I do?

Step One:

Reload or refresh the page. Sometimes the page magically appears after that.

Step Two:

Look for any obvious spelling errors in the URL (e.g. www.itsomedia.com instead of www.istomedia.com), and try switching the file extension (i.e. change index.htm to index.html and vice versa).

Step Three:

Back up one level (i.e. one slash) at the time in the URL, and continue until you find something. For example, if your URL is:
http://www.istomedia.com/reports/august/image.jpg,
erase everything after the last slash in the address:
http://www.istomedia.com/reports/august/
Continue backing up again:
http://www.istomedia.com/reports/
until you find a page that has working links, which you can use to find the page you were looking for.

Step Four:

If all else fails, Google and other search engines have a feature in which you can restrict your search to one website. If you can't find a page in a website, go to Google and type in any keywords you believe to be included in that page, followed by a space and "site:website.com" (minus the quotes - e.g. reports site:www.istomedia.com). You may also use their "advanced" search page to a similar effect.

Step Five:

Some times, pages are removed. If you remember having seen the page, but it's simply vanished since, try to find an archived version of it. Google offers an excellent 'cached' facility. If for example you have bookmarked a page but now receive a 404 instead, try clicking on Google's 'cached' link for that page, if you can find it. Note, however, that pages usually get removed for a reason; for instance, any prices listed may no longer apply, its information may no longer be accurate etc.

The Wayback Machine offers a similar service, in that you can enter a URL and view a page or site 'as it once was'; something useful if the entire website has changed.

Step Six:

Write to the webmaster, if you have followed one of the links on our page and found out it leads to a 404 instead. You'll be doing us a great favour by making us aware of the broken link!

Step Seven:

Also, if you are really nice, you may take the time to write to the webmaster of the referring page, or (in larger websites such as search engines and directories) use their form for reporting broken links. Although this will not help you find the page you're looking for, you will save other people the trouble.