Sometimes when you try to visit web page, you’re met with an
HTTP error message. It’s a message from the web server that something went
wrong. In some cases it could be a mistake you made, but often it’s the site’s
fault.
Each type of error has an HTTP error code dedicated to it.
For example, if you try to access a non-existing page on a website, you will be
met by the familiar 404 error.
Now, you might wonder, which are the most common HTTP
errors that people encounter when they surf the Web? That is the question we’ll
answer in this article.
GOOGLE TO THE RESCUE
Why not let millions of Web users tell us themselves what
errors they encounter the most? In an indirect way we can do that via Google.
The basic idea here is that some of the people who encounter
errors when they visit websites will want to know more about that error, and
will go to the nearest search engine to do so.
In short, Google’s search statistics should in this case be
able to give us a pretty good idea of which HTTP errors are most common.
Using Google
Insights for Search (a great tool for estimating the “popularity” of
search terms) we went through all of the different HTTP error codes that exist,
comparing them against each other. When the dust settled from this little
shootout, we had the top list you can see here below.
Common HTTP Error Messages:
Here they are, listed and explained in reverse order, the
five most common HTTP errors. Drumroll, please…
HTTP ERROR 401 (UNAUTHORIZED)
This error happens when a website visitor tries to access a
restricted web page but isn’t authorized to do so, usually because of a failed
login attempt.
HTTP ERROR 400 (BAD REQUEST)
This is basically an error message from the web server
telling you that the application you are using (e.g. your web browser) accessed
it incorrectly or that the request was somehow corrupted on the way.
HTTP ERROR 403 (FORBIDDEN)
This error is similar to the 401 error, but note the
difference between unauthorized and forbidden. In this case no login
opportunity was available. This can for example happen if you try to access a
(forbidden) directory on a website.
HTTP ERROR 404 (NOT FOUND)
Most people are bound to recognize this one. A 404 error
happens when you try to access a resource on a web server (usually a web page)
that doesn’t exist. Some reasons for this happening can for example be a broken
link, a mistyped URL, or that the webmaster has moved the requested page
somewhere else (or deleted it). To counter the ill effect of broken links, some
websites set up custom pages for them
And the most common HTTP error of all is……….
HTTP ERROR 500 (INTERNAL SERVER ERROR)
The description of this error pretty much says it all. It’s
a general-purpose error message for when a web server encounters some form of
internal error. For example, the web server could be overloaded and therefore
unable to handle requests properly.
SOME ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ON WEBSITE ERRORS
We would like to point out that all the error messages above
are errors reported by the web server back to the visitor (that is the nature
of HTTP errors, they come from the web server you are accessing).
Needless to say, if you can’t access a website at all, for
example if its network (or yours) is down, you won’t get an HTTP error back.
Your connection attempt will simply time out.
We should add that the results from Google actually match
our own data quite well. As you might know, we here at Digital Growth Hacker monitor websites
and servers for a living. When helping customers with problems, we have often
come upon the dreaded (and pretty vague) HTTP error 500, “internal server
error”.
501 NOT IMPLEMENTED
Web server doesn't support a requested feature.
502 SERVICE TEMPORARILY OVERLOADED
Server congestion; too many connections; high traffic. Keep
trying until the page loads.
503 SERVICE UNAVAILABLE
- Server busy, site may have moved ,or you lost your dial-up Internet connection.
- Connection Refused by Host
- Either you do not have permission to access the site or your password is incorrect.
- File Contains No Data
- Page is there but is not showing anything. Error occurs in the document. Attributed to bad table formatting, or stripped header information.
BAD FILE REQUEST
Browser may not support the form or other coding you're
trying to access.
FAILED DNS LOOKUP
The Domain Name Server can't translate your domain request
into a valid Internet address. Server may be busy or down, or incorrect URL was
entered.
HOST UNAVAILABLE
Host server down. Hit reload or go to the site later.
Unable To Locate Host
Host server is down, Internet connection is lost, or URL
typed incorrectly.
Network Connection Refused By The Server
The Web server is busy.
