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The first step is to ensure that the domain name is not expired and the hosting is not suspended. It could also just be your browser or internet connection. To be doubly sure you can also check if the website is down for everyone or just for you. You can do this by visiting a website like downforeveryoneorjustme.com and entering the URL of your website. Once you have confirmed that there is an issue, it is time to investigate the cause. It could be a programming error, DNS problem, expired domain or even hardware related. We will be able to help with ensuring that the server side is operational and working as expected. For coding-related issued we recommend contacting a website developer. Please note that it’s a good practice to always check the status page as this could save you a lot of time. You can visit our status page using status.webcentral.au

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Common Reasons for Website Downtime

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Coding Error

If your website has been recently built or updated, there may be a coding error present. Websites function with thousands of lines of code, meaning even a errant full stop or semi colon can cause issues. To weed out errors, test every piece of code thoroughly before it goes live to fix potential issues. Keep detailed records of changes and previous outages to identify errors. Ensure your processes and policies are regularly updated and hire professionals where possible to prevent this from happening. As always, we recommend having backups of every stable version of your site at all times and in offline and online locations.

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Outdated Hardware Problems

One reason for the downtime of your website is outdated hardware. Servers are a key part of your website infrastructure and any disruption can lead to downtime. This is especially poignant when you have a VPS service as you are in control of the server. To prevent hardware failures from causing you downtime, contact us to ensure that you are on the latest hardware and what your upgrade options are.

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DNS Issues

DNS is the system that keeps the internet working, and Issues with a domains records can prevent a website from loading. DNS maps a domain name with an IP address, and it’s critical for website uptime. If you are hosting your website external to your DNS provider, ensure that you get the correct zones and check them with a program like Terminal or website like whatsmydns.com to check that they are resolving.

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CMS Issues

If you are an advanced user and use a CMS (Content Management Systems), the plugins, extensions, themes, integrations and other tools to provide extra features and functionalities can also cause issues. If you are going live with a new update, have your website developer on standby and consider having building it first in a staging environment.

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404 Not Found

A 404 error occurs when your web server cannot find a page that has been requested. In the case where a page no longer exists, it means the page has been removed. You can be sure to check if it has nothing to do with your hosting account being suspended, then inspect your files. If you have a team or multiple people that work on your website or have access to your Webcentral account, ensure that no-one else has made updates to the website files.

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502 Bad Gateway

Gateway errors do not normally mean the website is down, but some part of the internet is either not working or too busy to deal with your request. Use a Traceroute command and the domain of your website to further trace the location of the issue or contact your hosting company if the issue persists.

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503 Service Unavailable

This error tells us that the web server is too busy to deal with your request. If you are on a shared hosting package then it could be that one or more websites that share your server are super-busy and there is no bandwidth left for your website. This error should go away after a while, but please contact us to migrate to a newer server as most new plans come with unlimited bandwidth.

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Security Warnings

This is normally caused either by the absence of an SSL certificate on the web server or when an SSL certificate has expired. If there is no valid SSL certificate and the website is trying to deliver content via https, the browser will stop the website from sending data and show a warning. Add a valid SSL certificate to your website to resolve this issue. If you are using cPanel, you can head to the settings and turn on “Force HTTPS”.

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500 Internal Server Error

The most difficult to diagnose, the most common reasons for this error could be over usage of account resources (RAM, CPU), incorrect .htaccess code or file and folder permission, or a mod_security rule. You might have some server issues. Check the server status and logs for any errors or issues. Update to a later version of the PHP programming language. Note: Back up your website before making any major or minor changes as well as your usual back-up strategy. This can be done automatically through a backup tool in your cPanel or Enhance control panel.