DevdwellIn short
First find out whether the site is down for everyone or just for you: try another device on mobile data and an online down-checker. If it’s down everywhere, read the error message. “Server not found” points to the domain or DNS, a security warning points to the certificate, a server error or timeout points to the host, and a broken or blank page right after a change points to the last publish.
Step 1: Is it down for everyone, or just you?
Before you contact anyone, spend two minutes ruling out your own connection and computer:
- Try another device on a different network. Turn off Wi-Fi on your phone and open the site on mobile data. If it works there, the problem is probably your network or computer, not the site.
- Use an online down-checker. These services try to load your address from their own servers and tell you whether it responds. Search for “website down checker”.
- Open a private window. This rules out an old copy stored by your browser or a misbehaving extension.
- Try the address exactly. Check for typos, and try it with and without “www”. Sometimes only one version is broken.
- Ask someone elsewhere to open it, if you can.
If the site works everywhere except on your network, restart your router, try another browser, or clear your computer’s DNS cache. If a recent change to your domain settings is involved, your network may simply still be holding the old settings for a while.
Step 2: Read the error message
What you see when the site fails is the best clue. The exact wording varies by browser, but the categories are consistent.
- “This site can’t be reached”, “server not found” or a DNS error. The browser couldn’t find where the site lives. Look at the domain and DNS.
- A parking page or an advertising page instead of your site. Very often the domain has expired.
- “Your connection is not private” or a certificate warning. The site’s security certificate has expired or doesn’t match the address.
- “Connection timed out” or “refused to connect”. The domain points somewhere, but nothing answers. Usually a hosting problem.
- 500, 502, 503 or 504 errors. The host received the request but something on the server failed or was overloaded.
- 404 “not found” on pages that used to work, or a blank or broken page. Usually a recent publish, a moved file or a changed setting.
- A message from your host about suspension. Often an unpaid bill or a policy issue.
The common causes, and what to do
1. The domain has expired
Domains are rented, usually by the year. If the renewal payment fails, often because the card on file expired or the renewal emails went to an old address, the domain stops working and may show a parking page.
What to do: log in to your domain registrar and renew it straight away. Most registrars keep an expired domain for the owner for a grace period, though recovery can cost more the longer you wait. Then turn on auto-renew and update the contact email and card.
2. DNS settings have changed or are wrong
DNS is the system that connects your domain name to your host. If someone edited the settings, moved the domain, or changed hosts without updating the records, the domain points to the wrong place or nowhere.
What to do: check your DNS records against what your host says they should be. If you recently changed them, remember that changes can take time to reach every network; some see the new settings within minutes, others later. Avoid changing them again and again while you wait, which only makes things harder to diagnose.
3. The hosting has a problem
Your host might be having an outage, your account might be suspended for an unpaid bill, or your site might have used up its resources or been hit by a sudden rush of traffic.
What to do: check your host’s status page and your email for notices, log in to your hosting account to look for warnings, and contact their support with the address, the error and the time it started.
4. The security certificate has expired
Sites use a certificate so browsers can connect securely. Certificates expire and are usually renewed automatically, but automatic renewal can fail, for example after a DNS change.
What to do: in your hosting control panel, look for the certificate settings and renew or reissue it. If renewal keeps failing, check that the domain’s DNS points to the host that’s issuing the certificate.
5. A bad publish or change
If the site broke right after someone changed it, the change is the most likely cause: a missing file, a deleted page, a broken link to the stylesheet, a setting changed by mistake, or a plugin or platform update on a dynamic site.
What to do: put back the last version that worked, then find the problem calmly once the site is up. This is where having a backup and a history of changes pays off; see how to back up a website. In future, publish to a private staging copy first so a broken change is caught before visitors see it.
6. The site has been compromised
Less often, a site is changed by someone who shouldn’t have access: strange redirects, spam pages, or a browser warning about a dangerous site.
What to do: contact your host, change the passwords for hosting, the domain and any admin area, restore a clean copy from before the problem, and update the platform and plugins if it’s a dynamic site.
While the site is down
- Tell the client or your team that you know and are working on it.
- Write down what you see and when it started; support teams need this.
- Change one thing at a time, so you know what fixed it.
- If customers rely on the site for bookings or orders, post a short note on your social accounts or business listing with another way to reach you.
How to stop it happening again
Most outages on small sites come from things that can be prevented with a few habits:
- Turn on auto-renew for every domain, and keep the card and contact email up to date.
- Keep a list of where each domain is registered, where it’s hosted and who has access. Our website maintenance checklist has a routine for this.
- Use an uptime monitoring service that checks your site every few minutes and emails or texts you when it stops responding.
- Watch certificate expiry dates, especially after DNS or hosting changes.
- Keep backups you’ve actually tested.
- Publish to staging first for anything significant.
- Read your host’s and registrar’s emails. Renewal and suspension notices are easy to miss.
Where Devdwell fits
Devdwell isn’t a monitoring service and won’t alert you when a site goes down. What it does help with is knowing what’s been published: its dashboard shows every site you look after as a card with its address, when it was last published and whether changes are waiting. Each site’s files are synced with their full history, so after a bad publish there’s an earlier version to go back to, and you can publish to a private staging link before anything reaches the live address.
Questions
How do I check if a website is down for everyone or just me?
Open it on a different device using mobile data rather than your Wi-Fi, and run the address through an online down-checker. If it works on mobile data and in the checker, the problem is your own network or computer.
Why is my website down but other sites work?
If only your site fails, the cause is usually on its side: an expired domain, changed DNS settings, a hosting outage or suspension, an expired security certificate, or a recent change that broke something. The error message in the browser tells you which to look at first.
How long do DNS changes take to work?
It varies. Some networks see new DNS settings within minutes, while others keep the old ones for longer, depending on how long the records were set to be stored. It is normal for a site to work for some people and not others during that window.
How can I get told when my website goes down?
Use an uptime monitoring service. It checks your site at regular intervals from its own servers and sends you an email or text message when the site stops responding, and again when it comes back.