A patient finds your clinic on Google, clicks the page with your price list and gets a message that says "Page not found". They wait a second, go back and open the next clinic on the list. You never know it happened. The phone doesn't ring, no appointment comes in, and you can't see why.
This is one of the losses business owners notice least. After you redesign your site, delete a page or change an address, the old address is still out there: on Google, in old brochures, on social media, in your customers' bookmarks. In this article I'll explain what the problem is, how it affects you, how to spot it on your own site and what to ask the person doing the work.
What is a broken page, exactly?
Every page on your website has an address, just like a shop has a street number. If a visitor goes to an address and the site can't find the page, it shows a standard error page. That page not found error is known technically as a 404 (I'll say it only once). In plain terms: the address exists, but there is nothing behind it.
Your website hasn't crashed: the home page opens normally and only that one address is empty. That's why the problem can go unnoticed for months.
Why do pages stop opening?
Nobody does it on purpose. Usually it's one of these:
- A page was deleted. The page for a service you no longer offer or a finished campaign was removed.
- An address changed. The page was renamed or moved, but the old address stayed written down elsewhere.
- The site was redesigned. The new design reorganized all the addresses. This is the most common cause.
- A typing mistake. Somewhere, such as a social profile, the address was written incorrectly.
Google doesn't forget old pages immediately, and many people save addresses or send them to a friend.
What does it cost you?
You lose in three places.
Lost customers. Someone who wants to book or request a quote finds a locked door. Most people don't try twice. They go to a competitor.
Lost trust. A page that doesn't open makes people think "this looks neglected, is the business still open?" In fields where trust decides, such as healthcare, law and hotels, that matters a lot.
Your place on Google. Google sees your pages, and the links pointing to them, as accumulated value. If the old address goes nowhere, that value is lost. It is one of the most common reasons rankings drop after a redesign.
The fix: a note about your new address on the old shop door
Imagine you move your shop to another street. You put a note on the old door: "We've moved, our new address is here." A customer arrives at the old address, reads the note and walks to the new place. Without the note they find a closed door and give up.
On a website that note is called a redirect (technically a 301 redirect). It takes a person who visits the old address to the new one without them noticing. It also tells Google "this page has moved permanently", so the old page's value passes to the new one.
One important point: the redirect should go to a page on a related topic. Sending every deleted page to the home page doesn't work. If you removed a dental implant page, sending visitors to your dental treatments page makes sense. Dumping them on the home page still leaves the customer stranded.
What you can check yourself
You don't need technical knowledge. You can do this:
- Click around your own site. Tap the links in the menu, the footer and the home page from your phone. Note any that show an error.
- Search for yourself on Google. Click your pages in the results. If one doesn't open, there is a problem.
- Review old materials. Check the site address on business cards, brochures, social profiles and your Google Business Profile.
- Look at Google Search Console. It's Google's free tool. Once your site is added, the pages report lists pages Google couldn't find. If you don't know how to set it up, ask your web designer.
- Try a wrong address. Add random text to the end of your site address. A helpful error page should appear, with links to the home page and your phone number.
What the expert does, and what to ask them
The work starts with a list. The expert collects all the pages on your site, decides which will be deleted and which will change address, and writes the new destination for each old address. Then they set up the redirects on your site and test them one by one.
If you're redesigning, timing is critical. The redirects must be ready before the new site goes live. If you notice afterwards, Google sees the old addresses as empty in the meantime and recovery can take weeks.
| Situation | What should happen |
|---|---|
| Page moved | Redirect the old address to the new one |
| Page deleted, similar one exists | Redirect to the closest related page |
| Page deleted, nothing similar | Show a helpful error page |
| Whole site redesigned | Have a full redirect list prepared |
When you get a redesign quote, ask:
- Will you produce a complete list of the old site's addresses?
- Will every old address get a new destination and a redirect?
- Will you test this before and after launch?
- Will you monitor Google for lost pages after launch?
If the answers aren't clear, you're redesigning with a risk. The most common mistake I see with clients is a beautiful design where the old addresses were forgotten. After the relaunch traffic drops and nobody knows why.
Frequently asked questions
Will a page that doesn't open lower my Google ranking?
One or two missing pages won't punish your site. But if a page that brought traffic or had other sites linking to it goes to waste, its value is lost. That's where the real damage is.
Is it solved once and for all?
No, it builds up again as pages are added and deleted. A short check every few months is enough.
How long does it take to set up redirects?
A few hours on a small site, a few days on one with hundreds of pages. The time goes mostly into preparing the list and matching pages correctly.
How do I know if my site has this problem?
Click the links in your menu and search for your own pages on Google. If you redesigned recently, it's very likely. For certainty, ask an expert for a quick check.
Conclusion
A page that doesn't open loses customers silently. The fix is simple: put the new-address note on the old door. What matters is including it in the plan from the start of a redesign. If you're thinking of redesigning your site, take a look at my website redesign service to see how I protect your old addresses.