If I had a website, I would find this useful.

I was recently browsing through some TED talks and came across one about the most well-known and most annoying webpage––the 404 page not found error. It is, “That broken experience on the web when you ask a website to search for something and it can’t find it,” says TED talk speaker Renny Gleeson.

I have always found this page to be annoying, but Gleeson it can brought to my attention that can change. Companies can design their 404 page so that users do not leave their site because they are impatient and pissed off. They can even use it as a marketing template. Why has no one thought of this until recently?

One example is to evoke the same emotions that a 404 page makes the user feel into the 404 page, such as show a Youtube clip of a person falling or crashing their bike. That way, the user can laugh and forget how annoying is was to stray from what they were looking for.

Usually when I am searching for something, I am not browsing at my leisure. I am most likely in a rush and don’t have time for the 404 page. I don’t have time to experience the almighty internet is failing on me.

So, if you have a website, think about jazzing up the 404 page. And, if you ever get lost on elephantjournal.com, a nice 404 page pops up.

Check out the TED talk.

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Lindsay Friedman is a senior studying environmental science and sustainable development at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is an intern at elephant journal and has a part time job at The Fitter. She is a true Chicagoan turned mountain girl. Follow her on twitter: Laine0315.