It always seems to happen at the worst possible time. You go to check your website—or worse, a customer lets you know—and it’s completely down. Blank screen. Error message. Nothing is loading.
Whether you’re running an industrial supply company, a local service business in Longview or Kelso, or managing marketing for a growing brand, a website outage is stressful and potentially costly. But the key to handling it is knowing exactly what steps to take and having a recovery plan in place.
This guide breaks down what to do when your website goes down, how to find the root cause, and what you can do to prevent it from happening again.
Step 1: Confirm the Website Is Actually Down
Before panic sets in, verify that the problem isn’t on your end.
Start with These Quick Checks:
- Try a different browser or device.
- Clear your cache. Sometimes your browser is holding on to a broken version of the site.
- Check your internet connection. Sounds basic, but you’d be surprised.
- Ask someone else to visit the site. Preferably on another network.
You can also use tools like:
Step 2: Identify the Type of Downtime
There are different flavors of “down.” Understanding what you’re seeing helps you troubleshoot faster.
Common Errors:
- 500 Internal Server Error: Usually server-side issues (like bad scripts or overloaded servers).
- 404 Not Found: The page you’re trying to reach doesn’t exist.
- 502 Bad Gateway or 503 Service Unavailable: Often temporary. Could be a server overload, hosting issue, or CDN problem.
- SSL Certificate Errors: Your certificate may have expired, or there’s a configuration problem.
- DNS Errors: The domain name can’t connect to your server.
Step 3: Check Your Hosting Provider
If you’re using a reliable hosting provider, they’ll usually have a status page or X feed to report outages.
Look for:
- Scheduled maintenance announcements
- Known outages in your region
- Unexpected server issues
If your hosting provider has a dashboard (like cPanel or a managed WordPress portal), try to log in. If you can’t access that either, the hosting server itself may be experiencing downtime.
If you’re hosted with Graticle Design, we handle uptime monitoring 24/7 and will often know about it before you do.
Step 4: Contact Your Hosting Support
If nothing’s posted publicly, it’s time to reach out to support.
What to Include When You Contact Support:
- The exact error message (screenshot if possible)
- What time the issue started
- Whether it’s affecting just the homepage or all pages
- Any recent changes you made (plugin update, new code, etc.)
Your hosting provider may be able to quickly restore service, especially if it’s a server-side problem, like a misconfigured update or traffic spike.
Pro tip: If your site is hosted with us, we can investigate immediately. We don’t send you to a generic support line—we handle your website personally.
Step 5: Check Domain and DNS Settings
Sometimes your domain name itself is the issue.
Here’s what to look for:
- Has your domain expired? If so, renew it ASAP before it goes into redemption (which can take time and cost more).
- Are your DNS records correct? If someone recently moved hosting or made a DNS change, even a small typo can take your site offline.
- Did your DNS provider have an outage? If you’re using Cloudflare or Google DNS, check their status.
You can use a tool like MXToolbox to test DNS records and see if they’re resolving properly.
Step 6: Scan for Hacking or Malware
If your site was hacked, it might be down as a result of malicious activity.
Signs of a compromised site:
- Strange error messages or redirects
- Website loads a different domain or spammy content
- Google Search Console shows a security warning
- Antivirus tools flag your site
If you’re running WordPress and didn’t have a firewall or malware scanner installed, it’s very possible your site was targeted.
Step 7: Check for a Broken Plugin, Theme, or Update
If your site recently had updates, that could be the culprit.
Ask Yourself:
- Did you or your developer recently update a WordPress plugin or theme?
- Was there a WordPress core update?
- Did you add any new code?
Incompatible updates or poorly coded plugins can crash your site. If you can access your server through FTP or cPanel, you can try:
- Renaming the
/plugins/folder temporarily - Reverting to a default theme like Twenty Twenty-Four
- Restoring a backup from before the crash
Step 8: Restore from Backup (If Needed)
If you can’t quickly fix the issue, it might be faster to restore a recent backup and investigate the cause afterward.
Hopefully your site is backed up daily. (If it’s hosted with Graticle, it is.)
Restoring from backup can:
- Get you back online quickly
- Limit lost revenue or leads
- Give you time to troubleshoot without customer impact
If you don’t have a recent backup—now’s a good time to rethink your hosting plan.
Step 9: Communicate With Your Customers
If your website is going to be down for a few hours or more, let people know.
Post on:
- Facebook / Instagram
- Google Business Profile
- Email newsletter (if relevant)
Let people know:
- You’re aware of the issue
- You’re working on it
- How they can still reach you (phone, email, in person)
Silence creates doubt. Communication builds trust—even in a downtime situation.
Step 10: Implement Long-Term Prevention
Once your website is back up, it’s time to reduce the odds of this happening again.
Here’s what we recommend:
1) Use a Quality Hosting Provider
Avoid cheap shared hosting that oversells their servers. Choose one with:
- Uptime monitoring
- Daily backups
- Fast support
- Firewall and malware protection
2) Enable Uptime Monitoring
Know when your site goes down within minutes—not hours later from a customer. Tools like:
- Pingdom
- Uptime Kuma (self-hosted)
3) Have Regular Backups
Backups should run at least daily (hourly for high-traffic sites), stored offsite, and include:
- Database
- Site files
- Media uploads
- Plugins and themes
4) Keep Everything Updated—Safely
Outdated plugins and themes are a top reason WordPress sites crash or get hacked. But updates need to be done carefully and tested.
5) Install a Security Plugin
Use tools like:
- Wordfence
- Sucuri Security
- iThemes Security
Bonus: Create a Website Downtime Playbook
Just like a fire drill, you should have a plan ready in case things go wrong.
Website Downtime Response Plan:
- Who to contact first: Hosting provider, developer, internal IT
- What tools to check: DNS, SSL, uptime, backups
- How to communicate downtime: Email, social, Google listing
- Where backups are stored: Hosting panel, offsite, local archive
- How to log the incident: Track the time, cause, fix, and any customer impact
Downtime isn’t fun, but it doesn’t have to be a disaster.
The key is preparation: monitoring, reliable hosting, and a good response plan. Most outages can be resolved quickly—but how fast depends on whether you’re ready.
If you’re tired of worrying about your site going offline—or if you’ve just been through a nightmare situation—Graticle Design can help.
We offer:
- Secure WordPress cloud hosting
- Daily offsite backups
- 24/7 uptime checks
- Fast technical support
- Built-in security and performance tools
Need Help Right Now?
Reach out to us at Graticle Design. We’ll help you troubleshoot and get back online.
