The short answer
Test the site on your phone using mobile data to see if the problem is just you. If it fails everywhere, note the error code or message, check that your domain has not expired, and then report it to us with a screenshot, the page address and the time. Codes starting with 5 mean the server has the problem. Codes starting with 4 mean the request has one.
First, decide whether it is you or the site
A site can look down for you while working perfectly for everyone else. A stale browser connection, a flaky Wi-Fi router or a security setting on your office network can all produce the same blank page as a real outage. So the first job is to separate 'my view of the site' from 'the site'.
The fastest test is a different network. Turn Wi-Fi off on your phone, use mobile data, and open the address. If it loads, the site is up and your original device or network is the problem. If it does not, ask someone in another building or city to try. Two unrelated people seeing the same failure is strong evidence the site itself is affected.
The diagnostic order
Work down this list and stop at the first check that changes the picture. Each step is cheaper and more common than the one after it.
- 1Check the address. Look for typos, a missing letter, or a different ending such as .net instead of .com. Then try with and without www in front.
- 2Try a private window and a second browser. If it loads there, the cause is a saved copy or an extension. Follow clear cache and refresh.
- 3Try another network. Use mobile data or ask someone elsewhere. This rules out your router, your office firewall and your internet provider.
- 4Look at what the error says. A browser message that the server cannot be found points to DNS or an expired domain. A numbered code such as 503 points to the server. A certificate warning points to SSL and is covered in SSL padlock warning.
- 5Check that the domain has not expired. If renewal lapsed, the site stops resolving even though nothing was wrong with it. See domain renewal and expiry.
- 6Think about what changed. Did anyone update a plugin, edit a page or change a setting just before it broke? A recent change is the most useful clue you can give us.
- 7Report it with the details below, so we can look at hosting and the site's own logs.
What the error codes mean
A status code is a three-digit number the server sends back with every response. The first digit tells you who has the problem. Codes starting with 4 mean the request could not be completed as asked. Codes starting with 5 mean the server failed to complete a request that looked fine.
Here are the ones you are most likely to meet. The meanings follow the standard definitions in the browser documentation at MDN.
| Code | Plain meaning | What it usually points to |
|---|---|---|
| 403 Forbidden | The server knows who you are and refuses access | A security rule, a blocked region or IP, or a protected page |
| 404 Not Found | The server cannot find that address | A mistyped link, a deleted page or a missing redirect |
| 500 Internal Server Error | The server hit something it could not handle | A plugin or code error, or a server setting |
| 502 Bad Gateway | One server got an invalid answer from another behind it | A hosting or proxy layer failing, often briefly |
| 503 Service Unavailable | The server is not ready, often overloaded or in maintenance | A traffic spike, a restart or maintenance mode left on |
| 504 Gateway Timeout | A server waited too long for another to reply | A slow script or an overloaded backend |
A 404 on one page is not an outage. It means that one address has nothing behind it. If only a single page shows 404 while the rest of the site works, the page was likely moved or removed, and a redirect is the fix.
Why 5xx errors deserve quick attention
A 5xx error means the problem sits with the server, so you cannot fix it by refreshing. It also matters beyond annoyed visitors. Google states that when its crawler sees 5xx errors it slows down crawling, and if the errors persist, URLs already in the index are eventually dropped. A short blip is harmless. A site returning 503 for days is not.
That is why a 503 left on by mistake during maintenance is worth reporting immediately, even at night. A temporary 503 is the correct signal during planned maintenance. A permanent one is a fault.
The three causes people overlook
- Expired domain or hosting. The site was fine yesterday and nobody touched it, but a renewal payment failed. The symptoms look like a deep technical fault, and the fix is a payment.
- A DNS change that has not finished spreading. If the domain was recently pointed somewhere new, some people see the new site and others see the old one or an error for a while. See what is DNS.
- An update that did not finish. If an update was interrupted, WordPress can sit in a 'briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance' state. That message is a clue worth quoting to us.
Do not do these things
Also avoid asking several people to refresh repeatedly. If the cause is an overloaded server, a burst of extra requests makes recovery slower.
Do not restore a backup, switch off plugins, change DNS records or edit files on a hunch. Each of those can turn a one-hour fault into a one-week one, and a restore can overwrite orders or form entries received since the backup. Leave the site as it is and tell us what you see.
A worked example
Example: The site that was down only for the owner
Marta runs a physiotherapy clinic. On Tuesday morning her website shows a blank page on her office laptop. She tries her phone on mobile data and the site loads fine. She tries a private window on the laptop and it loads there too. The diagnosis takes four minutes: a stale saved copy in her normal browser. She clears the cache, the site loads, and no ticket is needed. Two weeks later the same blank page appears on her phone with mobile data as well, and a colleague at home sees a 503. That time she sends us a screenshot, the page address and the time it started, and we look at hosting. Same symptom, two different causes, found by changing one variable at a time.
When to ask us
Ask as soon as the site fails on a second network, or whenever you see a 5xx code, a certificate warning or a maintenance message you did not set. Do not wait to be sure.
Send everything in one request through the support form: the page address, a screenshot that shows the address bar and the full error text, the time it started, the device, browser and network you tested on, what changed recently, and whether the phone-on-mobile-data test loads. A short Loom or Google Drive link works best for screenshots. Never send a password. We can reset access without seeing one. If the problem is only a slow site, use my site is slow instead.
