What to change
A missing-page design and a missing-page response are separate acceptance checks. Ask the developer to show the response status for an invented address alongside the visible message. Preserve a helpful route back into the website while making the underlying absence clear to clients. Include a valid article as a control so a broad error-handler change cannot silently turn working pages into failures.
A worked example
Illustrative example
Illustrative test: Compare a valid guide, an invented guide and a retired address with no replacement. A visitor follows a mistyped guide address. They should see a clear missing-page explanation with useful ways to continue, while the supplier confirms the appropriate technical response. Compare that with a real guide and a retired article without a successor. The practice can then distinguish a correct error experience from a rule that disguises every missing page by silently sending people to the homepage.
What this means for your practice
A page saying Sorry, we cannot find that may still report itself as successfully delivered to automated systems. That can make reports look healthier than the visitor experience actually is. Ask your supplier to check both parts: the explanation people see and the technical response describing the missing address. The visible page should help visitors recover through useful navigation or search. It should not pretend that every old or mistyped link was meant to lead to the homepage. During approval, compare a deliberately invented address, a retired guide with no replacement and a real working article. Those three journeys should have sensible, distinct outcomes that your team can explain.
How to check the result
The nonexistent route reports a missing resource and retains useful navigation.
A mistake to avoid
Redirecting every unknown address to the homepage obscures genuine missing destinations.
Turn reading into a next step
Your action checklist
Work through these checks with your team or supplier. Tick the ones you have resolved and leave unknowns open.
Record what you know, what is still missing and the answer you need from your team or supplier.
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Further reading
These sources provide background for the topic. The practice examples and checklist are illustrative planning suggestions from Kay & Co.
Related guides
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