Quick Answer: What Should I Do If My Website Is Down Right Now?
If your website is completely down, start by checking if it's actually your website or just your internet connection-try accessing it from your phone using mobile data. If it's truly down, immediately contact your hosting provider's support, check your email for suspension notices, and review your hosting dashboard for any alerts. Most downtime resolves within 15-30 minutes if it's a hosting issue. For business-critical websites, having a professional website management service means 24/7 monitoring catches problems before your customers do-and expert support gets you back online in minutes, not hours.
Is Your Website Actually Down? Check This First
Before you panic and start making changes that could make things worse, let's confirm what's actually happening. Not all "website down" situations are the same, and misdiagnosing the problem costs valuable time.
The 60-Second Diagnostic Test
Step 1: Rule out your own connection Open your phone, turn off WiFi, use mobile data only, and try accessing your website. If it loads on mobile data but not on your WiFi, the problem is your local network-not your website.
Step 2: Check if it's just you Visit https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com and enter your website URL. This tool pings your site from multiple locations globally. If it reports "It's just you," the issue is on your end. If it confirms "It's down," you've got a real problem.
Step 3: Try different devices and browsers Sometimes a browser extension, cached files, or device-specific issues create the illusion your site is down. Test from:
- Your phone (mobile data)
- A different computer
- A different browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox)
- An incognito/private browsing window
If the site loads anywhere, it's not actually down-just experiencing display issues on certain setups.
What "Down" Actually Looks Like
Different error messages mean different problems:
"This site can't be reached" or "DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN" Your domain name isn't pointing correctly to your hosting server. This usually means DNS configuration issues or an expired domain registration.
500 Internal Server Error Something broke on your server-could be corrupted files, bad code, or server resource exhaustion. This is fixable but requires technical intervention.
503 Service Unavailable Your hosting server is temporarily overloaded or undergoing maintenance. Often resolves automatically within minutes.
Blank white screen The dreaded "White Screen of Death"-usually a plugin conflict or PHP error in WordPress. We covered this in our WordPress troubleshooting guide.
Security warning or "Deceptive site ahead" Your site has been compromised or flagged by Google Safe Browsing. This requires immediate security response.
Minute 1-2: Immediate First Actions
Time is money when your website's down. Every minute costs potential customers, lost sales, and damage to your professional reputation. Here's what to do right now:
Contact Your Hosting Provider Immediately
Don't waste time Googling solutions when you could be talking to the people who control your server. Every hosting provider has emergency support:
How to reach them fast:
- Check your hosting provider's website (use mobile data if your computer's having issues)
- Look for "Live Chat," "Emergency Support," or a phone number
- Call rather than email-phone gets faster response for emergencies
- Have your account information ready (account number, domain name, registered email)
What to tell them: "My website [yourwebsite.com] is completely down as of [time]. I've confirmed it's not my connection using downforeveryoneorjustme.com. The error message I'm seeing is [exact error]. Can you check server status and help me get back online?"
Being specific and prepared gets faster results than vague "my site doesn't work" reports.
Check Your Email for Urgent Notices
Hosting providers send automated alerts when something critical happens. Search your email (including spam folder) for messages from your host in the last 24-48 hours about:
- Account suspension: Unpaid invoice, exceeded resource limits, Terms of Service violation
- Security alerts: Malware detection, suspicious activity, compromised files
- Maintenance windows: Scheduled downtime you might have forgotten about
- Domain expiration: If your domain registration lapsed, nothing will work
Found a suspension notice? That's actually good news-you know exactly what went wrong and can resolve it (usually by paying an outstanding bill or upgrading your plan).
Log Into Your Hosting Control Panel
If you can't reach support immediately, check your hosting dashboard (cPanel, Plesk, or custom control panel):
What to look for:
- Resource usage graphs: Have you maxed out bandwidth, storage, or memory limits?
- Service status: Are there known outages affecting your server?
- Recent changes: Did you or anyone on your team make changes in the last 24 hours?
- Error logs: Recent errors might pinpoint the exact problem
Many hosting dashboards show real-time status. If everything shows "running" but your site's still down, the issue is likely with your website files or database, not the hosting infrastructure itself.
Minute 3-4: Quick Fixes You Can Try Yourself
If hosting support is backed up or you want to attempt a fix while waiting, these quick actions resolve common causes of downtime:
Clear Your Browser Cache and DNS
Sometimes your browser is showing you an old, broken version of your site:
Clear browser cache:
- Chrome: Settings > Privacy and Security > Clear Browsing Data > Cached images and files
- Safari: Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data > Remove All
- Firefox: Options > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data > Clear Data
Flush your DNS cache:
- Mac: Open Terminal and run:
sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder - Windows: Open Command Prompt and run:
ipconfig /flushdns - Linux: Run:
sudo systemd-resolve --flush-caches
After flushing, wait 2-3 minutes and try accessing your site again. DNS changes can take a few moments to propagate.
Check If Your Domain Registration Expired
This sounds obvious, but it's surprisingly common-especially if you have auto-renewal turned off or your credit card on file expired.
How to check:
- Visit https://who.is and enter your domain name
- Look at the "Expiration Date" field
- If it's in the past, your domain expired and needs renewal immediately
What happens when domains expire:
- First 30 days: "Grace period"-you can usually renew without extra fees
- Days 30-60: "Redemption period"-expensive recovery fees apply ($150-300)
- After 60+ days: Domain goes to public auction; you might lose it permanently
If your domain expired, log into your domain registrar immediately (GoDaddy, Namecheap, wherever you bought it) and complete the renewal. Your site should come back online within 24-48 hours as DNS propagates.
Disable Recently Added Plugins (WordPress Sites)
If your site went down shortly after installing or updating a plugin, that's almost certainly the culprit.
How to disable plugins without accessing wp-admin:
- Log into your hosting control panel
- Open File Manager and navigate to
/wp-content/plugins/ - Rename the problematic plugin's folder (add "-disabled" to the end)
- Check if your site loads now
- If it works, that plugin caused the crash-look for alternatives
Don't know which plugin? Rename the entire plugins folder to plugins-disabled. Your site will load without any plugins active. If that fixes it, rename back to plugins, then disable them one-by-one through wp-admin to find the problem.
Increase PHP Memory Limit
Websites can crash when they run out of allocated server memory. This is especially common after updates or if you have memory-intensive plugins.
Quick fix via wp-config.php:
- Access your website files through File Manager or FTP
- Find
wp-config.phpin your root directory - Add this line before
/* That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */:
define('WP_MEMORY_LIMIT', '256M');
- Save the file and check if your site loads
If this works, you've been running too close to memory limits. Consider upgrading your hosting plan or optimizing your website performance.
Minute 5: Decision Time-Fix It or Call the Experts?
You've reached the 5-minute mark. By now, you should know whether this is something you can resolve quickly or if it's time to bring in professional help.
When DIY Makes Sense
You can probably handle it yourself if:
- ✅ Your hosting provider confirmed it's a known issue and gave you an estimated fix time
- ✅ You identified the problem (expired domain, specific plugin, known error)
- ✅ The fix is straightforward (disable a plugin, increase memory, pay an invoice)
- ✅ Your business can afford a few hours of downtime without major consequences
- ✅ You have website backups you can restore from
When You Need Professional Help NOW
Call for emergency support immediately if:
- ❌ You've tried everything and your site's still down after 30+ minutes
- ❌ You see security warnings or evidence of hacking
- ❌ Your hosting provider can't explain what's wrong
- ❌ Every minute offline costs you real money (e-commerce, booking systems)
- ❌ You don't have recent backups and are afraid of making things worse
- ❌ Error messages mention database corruption or file system issues
- ❌ Your website processes payments or stores customer data (compliance risk)
The real cost of downtime:
- Newcastle accounting firm website down for 4 hours during tax season? Lost appointments worth $5,000+
- Electrician website offline during storm season? Emergency calls going to competitors
- E-commerce site down on a Friday night? Hundreds or thousands in lost revenue
Professional website emergency support pays for itself in the time saved and revenue protected.
Professional Website Monitoring Prevents This Nightmare
Here's the uncomfortable truth: by the time you discover your website's down, you've already lost customers. Most business owners find out about downtime when a client calls asking "Is your business still open? Your website doesn't work."
How 24/7 Monitoring Changes Everything
Professional website management services like Adonis Designs' Website Performance Management monitor your site every 60 seconds from multiple global locations.
What happens when your site goes down:
- Within 60 seconds: Alert triggered and technical team notified
- Within 5 minutes: Initial diagnosis and recovery process begins
- Within 15 minutes: Most issues resolved without you knowing there was a problem
- You get notified: Only after the issue is fixed, with a full incident report
You sleep soundly while our team handles the 2am server crashes.
What $74.25/Month Gets You (First Year Special Offer)
Our Website Management & Security package includes everything Newcastle businesses need to prevent website emergencies:
Proactive 24/7 Monitoring:
- Uptime monitoring from 10 global locations
- Performance tracking (load speed, broken links, errors)
- Security scanning for malware and vulnerabilities
- Automated alerts before problems escalate
Weekly Maintenance:
- WordPress core, plugin, and theme updates
- Database optimization and cleanup
- Broken link fixes
- Image optimization for speed
Daily Security Backups:
- Automated daily backups stored off-site
- One-click restoration if disaster strikes
- 30-day backup retention
- Tested backups (not just "set and forget")
Priority Emergency Support:
- 2-hour emergency response time
- Direct phone line to senior developers
- Expert troubleshooting and recovery
- No "submit a ticket and wait" nonsense
All included for $74.25/month for your first 12 months (regular price $99/month).
Real Newcastle Business Success Story
"Our accounting firm's website crashed during Easter weekend-the busiest time of year for tax prep. By the time we discovered it Monday morning, we'd missed dozens of new client inquiries. Cost us at least $10,000 in lost business.
After that disaster, we signed up for Adonis Designs' management service. Three months later, our hosting server had a hardware failure at 11pm on a Friday. Their monitoring caught it immediately, migrated us to a backup server, and had us back online in 18 minutes. We didn't lose a single inquiry. Best $74/month we spend."
- David M., Newcastle CPA Firm
Emergency Website Recovery Checklist
Keep this checklist handy for the next website emergency:
☑ Confirm the problem (is it really down?)
- Test from multiple devices/connections
- Use downforeveryoneorjustme.com
- Document exact error messages
☑ Contact hosting provider immediately
- Use phone, not email, for emergencies
- Provide specific error details
- Ask for estimated resolution time
☑ Check for obvious issues
- Review email for suspension/expiration notices
- Verify domain registration status
- Check hosting dashboard for alerts
☑ Attempt quick fixes (if confident)
- Clear cache and flush DNS
- Disable recently added plugins
- Increase PHP memory limit
☑ Know when to call for help
- Security warnings or hacking evidence
- Extended downtime (30+ minutes)
- Revenue-critical situations
- No recent backups
☑ Document everything
- Take screenshots of errors
- Note what you tried and results
- Track downtime duration for insurance/hosting credits
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should I wait before panicking if my website is down?
Give it 15 minutes for potential temporary hosting issues or automated server restarts. If your site's not back within 15 minutes, actively start troubleshooting and contact your hosting provider. For e-commerce or appointment-based businesses, act immediately-every minute offline costs money.
Can I get compensation if my hosting provider caused the downtime?
Most hosting providers offer "uptime guarantees" (99.9%, 99.95%, etc.) with SLA (Service Level Agreement) credits if they fail to meet them. However, these credits are usually small percentages of your monthly fee. Read your hosting agreement for specifics. Professional-grade hosting typically offers better SLAs and faster response.
Should I change hosting providers after one downtime incident?
One brief outage isn't necessarily cause for alarm-even premium hosts experience occasional issues. Consider switching if you experience:
- Frequent downtime (multiple times per month)
- Slow or unhelpful support responses
- No clear explanation for outages
- Repeated similar problems
- Inadequate resources for your website's needs
What's the difference between website down and website slow?
"Down" means completely inaccessible-visitors see error pages, nothing loads. "Slow" means technically functioning but taking excessive time to load pages. Both damage user experience and SEO, but "slow" is often easier to diagnose and fix through performance optimization.
Will Google penalize my site for being down?
Brief outages (under 4-6 hours) typically don't impact rankings if it's a one-time occurrence. However, frequent or extended downtime signals to Google your site isn't reliable, which can hurt rankings over time. Google's crawlers expect your site to be accessible when they visit.
The Bottom Line: Prevention Beats Emergency Response
Every minute you spend frantically troubleshooting a downed website is time you could have spent running your business. Emergency website problems cost Newcastle businesses thousands in lost revenue, damaged reputation, and stress.
The real question isn't "Can I fix this myself?"-it's "What's my time worth?"
If you're an accountant billing $250/hour, spending 3 hours troubleshooting website issues costs you $750 in billable time-plus whatever revenue you lost while your site was down. For less than 1/10th that cost monthly, professional management prevents 95% of these emergencies from ever happening.
Take Action Now-Before the Next Emergency
Don't wait until 11pm on a Friday when your website crashes and customers can't reach you. Protect your online presence with proactive management that catches problems before they become disasters.
Special Limited Offer for Newcastle & Hunter Valley Businesses:
Sign up for Adonis Designs Website Management & Security this month and get:
- ✅ 25% off your first year ($74.25/month instead of $99/month)
- ✅ Free emergency recovery if your site is currently down
- ✅ Complimentary security audit (normally $299)
- ✅ No lock-in contracts-cancel anytime if not satisfied
Ready to sleep soundly knowing your website is protected 24/7?
📞 Call us now: +61-403-550-744 💻 Learn more: Website Management Services 📍 Office: 169-185 Hunter Street, Newcastle NSW 2300
Your website is your digital storefront-open 24 hours a day. Make sure it's actually open when customers need you.
Don't let the next emergency cost you thousands in lost business. Professional protection costs less than you think and pays for itself the first time disaster strikes.