How to create a custom 404 error page on Squarespace

404 error pages have to be one of the most infuriating aspects of browsing the web. You click on the page you want to navigate to and wham you’re presented with a 404 error page instead. 

On Squarespace, 404 error pages look clunky and unprofessional and offer no sense of direction or assistance for users. 

Whilst hopefully users visiting your website won’t meet an error page full stop, if they do then you can customise what they’re presented with. 

That’s right, in this tutorial I’m going to talk you through how to create a custom 404 error page on Squarespace. Let’s dive right in…

How to create a custom 404 error page on Squarespace 

The first option for creating a custom error page is to simply switch the 404 error page to another page on the website. 

To do this you need to navigate to Design > 404 Page and you’ll see it’s already set to “system default”. 

By clicking on the dropdown menu here however you’ll see that instead of presenting users with the system default error page, you can instead select any of the other pages on your website, such as your homepage or about page. 

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By selecting one of these from the menu it means that any user that navigates to a deleted page or uses a rogue or broken link, will be navigated to your chosen page, rather than the system default 404 error page. 

That’s your first option, however if you would rather create a totally bespoke 404 error page, you can do that too. 

Head to pages and create a new 404 error page within your Not Linked pages. Creating the page here ensures it won’t show up in your main menu with the rest of your web pages. 

You can then build your 404 error page to look exactly how you want it to. I recommend having a header that makes it clear it’s an error page along with an explanation why (e.g. the link you’ve followed no longer exists). 

It’s also a good idea to include some navigation prompts including to your homepage and contact page as well as to any content you are hoping to push to users. I recommend using image and button blocks to mix up the content you feature on the page.

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Once you’ve built and saved the page, you need to navigate to Design > 404 Page and select your new 404 page from the dropdown menu. This will ensure that it’s your newly built custom 404 page that’s shown to users if they hit an error on your website.

And that’s it. A super effective way of making sure every aspect of your Squarespace website is on brand and engaging for users, even your error page. 

If you found this tutorial useful you can head to the by Crawford YouTube channel for tonnes of Squarespace step-by-steps and expert insights.

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I'm Sam, an award-winning Squarespace web designer. I have worked with every type of business, building platforms for solo entrepreneurs through to multi-million dollar corporations. If you want to discuss a potential project, you can email on sam@bycrawford.com or get in touch with me here. Alternatively, you can book in a free 15-minute consultation call here.

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