What Causes A Website To Go Down?

 

Nothing is more annoying than website crashes. This means losing business and leaving your customers frustrated.

You understand this frustration. Imagine shopping, finally making your purchases, and when you hit “pay”, the site shows an error message. Did the payment go through? Did your order go through? Ugh!

It’s estimated that nearly 80 percent of users say that if a website crashes or is difficult to use, they won’t be back. That’s a lot of lost business!

Some website downtime is so short (less than one minute) that you may not notice, but imagine during that one minute your customer tried to place an order.

In today’s article, we will discuss the common reasons for website downtime and how you can avoid this error.

The Top 10 Common Causes of Website Downtime and Crashes

 

The causes of website downtime and crashes are quite varied, but the top 10 most common issues are:

1. Server Overload– Your hosting provider may be having server issues or server overload. A proactive solution is to use a content delivery network (CDN) instead of a dedicated server.
2. Problems with the Hosting Provider– Let’s be honest, some of those very inexpensive hosting companies don’t have what it takes to support a traffic spike.
3. Lack of software updates or plugin errors– Outdated content management system (CMS) versions, plugin errors, plugin incompatibility, or outdated themes can cause your site to crash.
4. DDoS attacks– Hackers like to launch Distributed Denial of Service attacks, causing the site to go down.
5. Coding errors– A poorly written or untested website code can cause your entire website to crash.
6. Connection issues with the Database– Corrupt data or too many connections can cause a database to crash.
7. Expired SSL Certificate or Expired Domain Name– Oops! A forgotten payment on your domain name can cause real problems.
8. Malware and Hackers– Your hosting provider may remove your website if they feel it has been compromised. Malicious attacks can cause any website to crash or be redirected.
9. Hardware or Networking Failures– Your internet service provider may be experiencing issues or hardware issues that can cause a site outage.
10. DNS Issues– Problems with your Domain Name System (DNS) settings can cause unwanted downtime.

 

Let’s not forget that sometimes simple human error is to blame. Is your hosting plan sufficient for the website traffic your site receives? Are you suddenly receiving massive traffic that will require multiple servers?

These aren’t all the possible problems, but they are the most common reasons for website downtime.

If this list sounds overwhelming, it’s time to call Website Helpers Perth.

 

 

How Downtime Hurts Your Business

The most obvious answer here is that it hurts our bottom line.

You can experience significant losses when customers cannot complete purchases, look at your product lineup, or book service appointments. Even just a few minutes matters!

 

 

Let’s not forget your business reputation.

If clients are trying to check on the status of their order or reach your company for information or quotes, they may not realise that your website downtime was a temporary problem. They may believe your business is a scam or that it isn’t as professional as they thought.

If your website experiences downtime on a regular basis, search engines, such as Google, will penalise it, dropping your SEO ranking.

Google and other search engines don’t care if it’s an honest mistake or human error. They will ding you in the rankings if they see your site is down for long periods or if it goes down frequently.

 

Website Downtime = Lost Customers and Sales!

Some business owners think of their website as a minor detail, something they must have but don’t really have an interest in.

If you have no interest in your website, why should your customers?

Look for a qualified website maintenance service provider, such as Website Helpers Perth, to keep your website running smoothly and you won’t have to give your site a second thought.

You’ll receive more website traffic and more potential customers when your website’s performance is smooth, without malware or glitches.

 

Can Website Failures be Prevented? 

 

Despite what other companies may promise you, no one can ensure they will eliminate website downtime or hackers.

Fortunately, there are many ways to keep website visitors happy and safeguard your site from malicious attacks.

• Use a reputable hosting provider and choose a hosting plan that suits your needs. Hosting provider errors, like web server crashes, can affect your business.
• Keep your themes, plugins, and security patches updated frequently.
• Monitor your website performance.
• Install an SSL certificate and keep your website safe from security vulnerabilities.
• Use a web application firewall to prevent hackers.
• Back up your site daily or at least weekly.
• Test and maintain your website regularly.

There are online tools to help you with some of these tasks, but they need to be used at least weekly.

Why spend your valuable time and energy dealing with your website when you can use the services of Website Helpers Perth?

You probably don’t do your own car repairs or maintenance because of the time involved and your lack of skills.

Why not apply this same logic to your business website?

Website Helpers Perth has the monitoring tools and will keep your website uptime to its maximum!

Call us today!

 

 

Protect Your Business- Keep Your Website Running Smoothly! 

Don’t let simple updates or plugin issues cause your site to crash. Protect your business and get more traffic when you let Website Helpers Perth monitor and maintain your website.

 

 

How Website Helpers Perth Keeps Your Site Online and Secure

The following is a list of our services that can increase your website uptime:

• Weekly Plugin Updates
• Weekly Theme or Software Updates
• Security Patch Installations
• Daily Backup of Your Website
• Broken Link Check
• 24/7 Daily Security Monitoring
• Manual Quality Assurance Site Review After Updates
• Weekly Contact Form Checks
• Contact Form Protection to Avoid Spam Emails
• Monthly Reporting
• 2 Hours of Free Monthly Website Fixes (this alone is a $378 value!)
• Discounts on Additional Developer Hours if your site needs more than two hours
• Cancel Any Time

 

 

Read that last one again- Cancel Any Time. Website Helpers Perth doesn’t lock you into lengthy one or two-year contracts. We work on a month-to-month basis. Cancel anytime, no questions asked.

If you are looking for original (not AI) content creation, you can talk to one of our experts.

 

Don’t Risk Losing Business! Get Our Website Maintenance Today!

 

You may not think about it this way, but in today’s world, a smooth-running website is the backbone of your business and a vital link between your company and your clients.

Most small-business owners have enough on their hands as they nurture their business. What happens if your site gets hacked or goes down for one of any number of reasons?

Large companies often have IT personnel to handle these issues, but if you own a medium or small business, chances are that it’s all up to you!

 

 

Don’t Waste Your Valuable Time Trying to Fix Website Problems

Even a few hours of website downtime can send clients to other pages and right to your competitor!

Prevent problems such as hackers, malware, or even issues with automatic updates when you hire Website Helpers Perth.

Worried You Won’t Understand the Lingo?

That’s OK. That’s our job.

Our professional team will do it’s best to talk to you in terms you can understand. Your job is to run your business, our job is to look for the root cause of your website’s problems, running maintenance tasks, and prevent hackers or malware.

This gives you one less thing to worry about.

Don’t wait another day wondering about your online business’s website. Call Website Helpers Perth and get started growing your business, not worrying about your website,

Contact us today and get the peace of mind that comes with knowing your website is secure and running at optimum speed.

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How Will I Know if My Website is Down?

A: You can check your website yourself. Clear the cache on a phone or computer and type in your web address. You can also use website monitoring tools.

Q: What Should I Do if My Website Suddenly Goes Offline?

A: First, log in to your web hosting service and see if the web server is experiencing issues. If this is an issue, contact your hosting service and ask for help. If they tell you that the problem isn’t on their end, you might want to consider hiring the best web maintenance service in Australia, Website Helpers Perth.

Q: Will Regular Updates Stop My Website from Crashing?

A: Yes, they will help, but that’s just a start. Update and install all security patches and theme updates, especially if you are using WordPress. Crashes can still happen but this is one of the best ways to prevent problems.

Don’t forget to test your website to ensure that there isn’t an incompatibility between plugins and your theme. Check for broken links and test your contact form. If this sounds too time-consuming, it’s time to call Website Helpers Perth.

Q: What if My Website Gets Hacked?

A: First, don’t panic. Grab your clean backup copy and install it while looking for the malware of other attacks.

If you can’t log into your website, contact your hosting provider and ask to stop all access to your site. Change all passwords and remove any account you don’t remember. Scan for malware and check that your site has been restored.

If you don’t know how to do any of this or don’t have time, call Website Helpers Perth today!

Q: Does Website Helpers Perth Monitor Websites 24/7?

A: Yes! We do! While no one (and we mean no one, even if someone tells you otherwise) can prevent all website crashes, our expert team will ensure that any issues are resolved as quickly as possible, sometimes even before you realise there has been a problem!

Don’t let human error, web hosting issues, malicious traffic, or hackers ruin your chance of gaining more customers. Website maintenance from Website Helpers Perth is your best and most affordable way to ensure that website uptime is at its maximum and hackers are denied access!