Why is my website down, and what should I check first?
Check in this order: whether the site is down for everyone or only for you, whether the domain or the hosting has lapsed, whether a recent change or add-on broke it, whether it was hacked, and whether your host reports an outage. Call your host first, then whoever built the site. While it is down, make sure customers can still reach you by phone, and say so on your social pages and business profiles.
First: is it down for everyone?
Try the site on your phone using mobile data instead of Wi-Fi, in a different browser, and ask someone elsewhere to try. If it loads for them, the problem may be your own network or device rather than the site. If it fails everywhere, work through the checks below.
The usual causes, in order
- The domain lapsed. Check the expiry date in your registrar account. The related answer on what happens if your domain expires covers the reminders registrars must send and the 30-day period that can follow deletion.
- The hosting lapsed or was suspended, often over an expired card. Look for emails from your host, including in spam.
- A recent change broke it: an update, a new add-on, a design change or a move to a new platform. Ask whoever made changes what they did in the last day or two.
- It was hacked. Redirects to other sites or browser warnings are common signs; the related answer on telling if your website was hacked covers what to do first.
- It is overloaded. A small hosting plan can struggle when many people visit at once; the related answer on why a website is slow covers plan size.
- The host has an outage. Many hosts publish a status page or post updates through support.
What the page you see can tell you
As general advice, a page saying the domain is expired or parked usually points to the registrar, a page saying the account is suspended usually points to the host's billing, and a security warning before the site loads can point to a hack or an expired security certificate. Take a screenshot of whatever appears, with the time, before anyone starts fixing things.
Who to call, and what to have ready
Call your host first: it can usually see whether the server is running and what changed. Then call whoever built or maintains the site. Have the registrar and hosting logins, the time it stopped working, any recent changes and your screenshot ready. If you cannot get into those accounts yourself, that is worth fixing once the site is back; the related answer on who should own your domain name covers it.
Keep customers able to reach you
While the site is down, answer the phone, post a short note on your social pages and business profiles that you can still be reached by phone, and record every inquiry as usual. When the site is back, send a test through your contact form; the related answer on a contact form that is not sending emails covers what to check. For next time, the related answer on what to look for in website hosting covers support you can reach during an outage.
Related answers
- What happens if your business domain name expires?
- How can you tell if your business website has been hacked, and what do you do first?
- What should a small business look for in website hosting?
- What happens when your website's security certificate expires?
Websites, upgraded or built
Most businesses do not need a new website. They need the one they have to load fast, say clearly what they do and ask the visitor to take one step.