Your website will not load. Before assuming the worst, work through this in order. Most outages have one of a handful of causes, and several of them are not actually outages at all.
Step 1: Confirm it is really down
Your site may be fine and the problem may be at your end.
- Try it on mobile data with wifi off. If it loads, your connection or router is the issue.
- Try a different browser, or a private window. This rules out a cached bad version.
- Ask someone in another suburb to try.
- Use an "is it down" checker to see whether it responds from elsewhere.
Surprisingly often this is where it ends.
Step 2: Read the error
What appears on screen narrows it down enormously.
"This site can't be reached" / DNS error. Your domain is not pointing anywhere. Usually the domain expired or the nameservers changed. Check your registrar account first.
500 Internal Server Error. The server is running but the site's code is failing. Almost always a plugin or theme conflict, usually right after an update.
"Error establishing a database connection". The site cannot reach its database. Sometimes a host-side problem, sometimes a database that has been overwhelmed.
A white blank page. A PHP error with error display turned off. Same likely causes as a 500.
A host suspension notice. Unpaid invoice, or resource limits exceeded.
A browser security warning. Your SSL certificate expired. The site is fine; the certificate needs renewing. Here is how SSL works and why this happens.
Step 3: Check the three boring causes
In our experience these account for most small business outages.
The domain expired. Log in to your registrar and look at the expiry date. A lapsed card is the usual culprit, and it takes down your email at the same time. Renewing usually restores things within a few hours.
The hosting invoice was not paid. Check the email address on the hosting account - which may itself be on the domain that is down, which is why you should never use an address on your own domain as the account contact.
Something was updated. If a plugin, theme or WordPress core updated in the last day, that is your most likely cause. Automatic updates mean this can happen without anyone touching the site.
Step 4: If you can still reach the dashboard
Then it is a partial failure and you have options.
Deactivate plugins one at a time, checking the site after each, until it comes back. The last one you deactivated is the culprit. If deactivating everything fixes it, reactivate one by one to find which.
If plugins are not it, switch temporarily to a default WordPress theme. If the site returns, the problem is in your theme.
Step 5: If you cannot reach the dashboard
You need file access, through your host's file manager or FTP. Rename the plugins folder to plugins-off - this disables all of them at once. If the site returns, rename it back and disable them individually from the dashboard.
If that does not help and you have a working backup, restoring to yesterday is usually faster than diagnosing further.
Step 6: Phone your host
Do this earlier rather than later if you are not comfortable with the above. A decent host will tell you within minutes whether the problem is theirs, and will often fix it while you are on the line.
Have ready: your domain, your account details, exactly what the error says, and when it started. "It's broken" wastes ten minutes; "500 error since about 2pm, right after plugin updates ran" gets you to an answer immediately.
What not to do
- Do not change lots of things at once. You will lose track of what fixed or broke it.
- Do not reinstall WordPress hoping it clears itself. It rarely does and it can make recovery harder.
- Do not delete anything until you have a backup, including things that look like the problem.
- Do not ignore a hack. If the site is defaced or redirecting elsewhere, take it offline and deal with it properly. A hacked site left running gets blacklisted by Google, and that takes far longer to recover from than the hack.
Tell your customers
If it will be down for more than an hour, post on your social channels and set a WhatsApp away message. "Our website is down, we're on it - call or WhatsApp us on [number] in the meantime" keeps business flowing and looks far better than silence.
Prevent the next one
- Auto-renew on domain and hosting, with a card that will not expire
- An account contact email that is not on your own domain
- Automatic backups, tested at least once
- Free uptime monitoring, so you find out before a customer tells you
- A note of who to call and what your logins are, somewhere you can reach without the website
Most outages are short and boring. Being prepared is what keeps them that way.
See it before you pay for it
Want to see what this looks like for your business? We build the homepage first, free, and you only pay if you want to go ahead. No deposit, no contract, no catch - here is how it works. WhatsApp us or send a message and we will take it from there.
Common questions
What is the first thing to check?
Whether it is actually down. Try mobile data with wifi off, a different browser, and someone in another suburb. Surprisingly often that is where it ends.
What causes most small business outages?
Three boring things: the domain expired, the hosting invoice was not paid, or something updated. Automatic updates mean the third can happen without anyone touching the site.
What should I not do?
Change lots of things at once, reinstall WordPress hoping it clears itself, or delete anything before you have a backup. And never leave a hacked site running — Google blacklisting takes far longer to recover from than the hack.