My website is down. What do I do?
You found out from a customer, or your own phone. Here is the next ten minutes, in order. Most outages are one of five things, and each has a different person to call.
1. Check it from outside first
Type your address into the checker on the home page. It asks your site from a data center, not from your shop's Wi-Fi, and shows five steps: domain name, server, certificate, page, you. The first red step is the problem. Copy the result link; you'll paste it to whoever fixes it.
If all four steps are green and the site still won't load for you, skip to is it me or the site. Your site is fine; something between you and it isn't.
2. Domain name failed
The checker says the name doesn't point anywhere. Two causes cover nearly every case.
The domain expired. Domains are rented by the year from a registrar, the company you bought the name from (sometimes your host). If the card on file expired or the renewal email went to an old address, the name stops working on the day, and your email with it. Log in at the registrar, look at the expiry date, renew. It comes back within hours. After a grace period of roughly 30 to 45 days the name goes back on sale, so this is the one to do today.
The DNS records changed. Someone moved the site to a new host, or edited a record, and the address record for the site is gone. Ask whoever made the change. The fix is one record (an A record, or a CNAME) pointing the name at the host, and it shows within an hour. The DNS guide has the details.
Who to call: the registrar, or the person who last touched your DNS. What to tell them: "the domain doesn't resolve", plus the result link.
3. Server refuses or doesn't answer
The name points at a machine, but the machine won't talk. In order of how often we see it:
- The hosting account was suspended. Unpaid invoice, or the host flagged the site. Check the email address you used to sign up for hosting, and the hosting bill.
- The web server crashed. On shared hosting, the host restarts it; on a VPS or a cloud server, you or your web person does, from the host's control panel.
- The host itself has an outage. Most hosts have a status page; search for "your host status". If they're down, you wait.
- Only one of www.yoursite.com and yoursite.com works. The checker tests both and tells you. The fix is a redirect or a record for the missing one, at the host.
Who to call: your host. What to tell them: "connection refused" or "times out", from which time, plus the link.
4. Certificate rejected
Visitors see "Your connection is not private" or "certificate has expired". The server is on; browsers refuse it because the security certificate is expired, issued for a different name, or not from a trusted issuer. Certificates from Let's Encrypt last 90 days and renew automatically, until the automation breaks: a DNS change, a move between hosts, a Cloudflare setting. Renew or reissue it in the hosting panel (often one button labeled SSL or Let's Encrypt), or ask the host. The certificate guide walks through the browser messages.
Until it's fixed, don't tell customers to click through the warning. A payment form behind a broken certificate is a problem you don't want.
5. The page answers with an error
The server works, the certificate is fine, and the site itself sends an error code. The number tells you what kind.
| Code | Means | Usual cause and fix |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | The website software crashed | A plugin, theme or update just broke it. Undo the last change. The error log in the hosting panel names the file. |
| 502 / 504 | The server in front can't reach the site | The application behind the proxy stopped or is too slow. Restart it from the hosting panel, or ask the host. |
| 503 | Unavailable: overloaded or in maintenance | Wait a few minutes if an update is running. If it lasts, the plan is too small for the traffic, or a bot is hammering the site. Ask the host. |
| 404 on the home page | The server is on but the page is missing | The site files or the CMS were deleted or moved. Restore from the host's backup. |
| Blank or "account suspended" page | Answers, but it's not your site | Hosting suspended, or the site was hacked and replaced. Call the host. |
Who to call: whoever built or maintains the site, or the host if you have no web person. What to tell them: the code, when it started, and what changed last.
6. Meanwhile, tell your customers
An outage costs less when people know you know. Takes two minutes:
- Post on the social account customers actually use: "Our website is down, we're on it. Call or message to order." Pin it.
- Change the voicemail greeting if orders come by phone.
- If you take bookings online, write down the ones you expect and call them to confirm.
- If you have a status page, mark the site as down with one line. If you don't, the social post is your status page today.
7. Afterwards
Once it's back, three things stop it happening again:
- Find out what it was. "The host had an outage" and "my card expired" need different fixes. Ask for the cause in writing if someone else fixed it.
- Turn on auto-renew for the domain and the certificate, and make sure the renewal emails go to an address somebody reads.
- Have something tell you first. A monitor checks your site every minute and texts you when it stops answering. DownInfo is building one; early access is open. Any monitor is better than a customer.
Still stuck? Call or text (786) 372-0287, or email contact@downinfo.com with the result link. We'll tell you which of the five it is, and who to call, for free.
Check your site now
The result names the step that failed, and you can send the link to your host or web person.