Website down? What to check first

Type your usual website address into a new browser tab. Check for a spelling mistake and reload once. If you arrived from a saved link, try the homepage directly. An old link can lead to a missing page while the rest of the website works.

Open an unrelated website that normally works. If several sites fail, investigate your internet connection first. Google lists device settings, browser problems and network faults alongside server downtime as possible reasons a page will not load.

• Try your site on a phone using mobile data, with Wi-Fi switched off for the test.
• Try a private browsing window or a different browser. This can help identify a problem with stored browsing data or an extension.
• Ask someone on a different connection whether they can open the same address. Send the exact address, not just the business name.
• Record where it works and where it fails. These checks narrow the investigation; they do not prove that every visitor has the same experience.

Take a screenshot with personal information removed. Write down the exact address, the error text, the time and your time zone. Say whether the failure happens every time or only occasionally. If a Cloudflare error page shows a Ray ID, copy it too. This is a reference that can help trace the failed request.

An error code is a clue, not a complete diagnosis. A name-resolution error means the browser could not find the address it needs to connect. A timeout means a connection or response took too long. Neither tells you, on its own, which setting to change.

A 500 error indicates a server-side failure. Cloudflare's 502 and 504 errors concern communication between servers, while a 503 means the service is unavailable. The fault can involve the website server or another service in the connection path. Share the code with the host rather than guessing.

The homepage at https://example.com/ shows a 503 error on both office Wi-Fi and mobile data. It began at 10:20 UK time. The contact page fails too. No website changes were made this morning.

If there is no security warning, try the homepage and the main contact, service or booking page. A missing-page message on one address is different from a server error across the whole site. Check the www and non-www addresses if customers use both. A difference is useful evidence for your maintainer.

A homepage loading does not mean the business can receive enquiries. Try opening the form or booking screen without submitting personal information or making a payment. If a booking service opens on a separate website, check its provider's status page too.

A cached page is a saved copy. It may appear even while part of the live service is failing. Report the individual feature that does not work rather than assuming the whole website is healthy because the homepage is visible.

Hosting is the service that runs your website. Open your provider's official status page and account using an address you already trust. Look for an outage, maintenance notice, failed payment or suspension message. If someone manages hosting for you, ask them to check it.

A green status page does not rule out a problem with your individual account or website. Contact support with your evidence and ask whether they can reproduce the failure. Ask what they are investigating and when they will next update you, rather than assuming a published outage explains everything.

Do not restart servers or delete files just because a generic search result recommends it. Your host or maintainer can check error logs, which record technical failures, before choosing a repair.

Your domain is the address customers use. Its registration is separate from hosting, even if one company sells both. Sign in to the registrar, the company that manages your domain registration, and check its status, renewal and payment details. An unpaid hosting bill and an unrenewed domain need different fixes.

Nominet's guidance for .uk domains directs owners to their registrar to arrange renewal after expiry. Do not assume all domain endings have the same expiry process, or that an unavailable public expiry date means yours has expired. Use the account record or ask the registrar.

DNS, the Domain Name System, connects a domain to the services it uses. Ask whether anyone recently changed the website's DNS records or its nameservers, the servers that hold those records. Do not copy settings from another business or reset the whole account. Changes can affect email as well as the website.

If a DNS change was made, ask your host for the correct settings and expected delay. Saved DNS information can make a change reach different visitors at different times. Repeatedly changing records makes the cause harder to trace.

List the last website update, plugin installation, hosting change or domain change you know about. A plugin is an add-on that supplies a feature such as a contact form. The timing can help narrow the cause, but it does not prove that the last person to edit the site caused the fault.

A WordPress site can become stuck in maintenance mode after a failed update. Its official guidance includes a recovery procedure, but ask your maintainer to check whether an update is still running before touching files. Repeatedly clicking update or deleting unfamiliar files is not a safe investigation.

Before any rollback, agree what will happen to newer enquiries, orders or bookings. Restoring yesterday's backup can also restore yesterday's data. Ask the person doing the repair to protect anything received since that copy was made.

If the outage affects enquiries or bookings, use an unaffected channel to give customers a working phone number or another contact route. A short notice on your business social account can say the website is unavailable and explain how to contact you. Give a return time only when your provider has confirmed one.

If business email uses the same domain and has also failed, do not direct people there. Do not ask customers to send card details or sensitive information through social messages. Keep payment and personal-data handling within your normal approved systems.

Once the provider says the site is restored, repeat the checks on office Wi-Fi and mobile data. Test important pages and agree a safe test of enquiry delivery or booking. Record the cause and repair so that the next person handling an outage does not have to start again.

Confirm who receives domain renewal notices, who checks hosting payments and who maintains backups. An offline alert can tell your maintainer when a monitoring check fails, but it does not repair the fault. Decide who will respond to those alerts and keep a contact method that works when the website does not.