Here’s what to in the event that your website goes down.
Step 1
How long has it been down? If it’s only a matter of seconds then perhaps the server’s response has dropped, in which case it may resolve itself within the next minute or two, so keep an eye on it.
If not, proceed to step 2.
Step 2
Speak to your web developer, they will have a good understanding of error codes and be the person who knows most about your website.
However, just be aware, if you host elsewhere they may be restricted in the amount of help they can provide depending on whether it’s a server issue or site issue.
If you’re not in contact with your web developer then proceed to step 3.
Step 3
As you’re not in touch with your developer we can assume no development has been done to cause a break directly – although please note: the issue could be age related.
So next thing is to check if there’s any scheduled maintenance on your host’s site (sometimes a link is found in the footer or on their support page).
Providing there isn’t, get in touch with your hosts and raise a support ticket/call them directly to inform them of the issue.
It may be worthwhile having the error code to hand. The browser will likely tell you: i.e. error 500 – Internal Server Error, error 403 – Forbidden. This is a good indication as to what type of issue your site is experiencing.
If you’re interested you can find a detailed list of error codes here.
By this point, pretty much most issues should be resolved, if not…
Step 4
Providing it’s not an issue within the website & depending on how long your website has been down for you may want to consider moving hosts.
Hopefully you keep your website backed up regularly and offsite, yes? Good! You can (with assistance is advised) migrate your website to another hosting provider.
If not, you can try to access the website files through FTP, Cpanel, plesk or Commandline, again expert help is recommended.
If you have an issue with your website, we’d be happy to take a look into it free of charge and give some feedback on possible solutions. Contact us.
Our Hosting
We use a UK based datacentre and only have SSD storage servers, which are the fastest type of storage. We have a consistent 99.9% uptime along with email & phone support.
You can see more here.
Our Maintenance
We also provide a maintenance solution that makes sure your website is kept up to date which reduces the chance of it breaking or being hacking.
you can find out more here.
