Fixing a website starts with naming exactly what's wrong, because "it's broken" has dozens of causes but each specific symptom has a few. Then work out which layer it lives in. The domain layer: "this site can't be reached" means DNS. The server: error numbers like 500 or 503. The page's code: blank pages, broken buttons, console errors. An outside service: payments, email or a platform failing. Fix the layer the symptom points to.
What's the problem
Something about your website isn't working and you don't know where to start, or you're not technical and need to know what to tell someone.
Why it happens
Websites are several pieces stacked up: a domain pointing to a server, the server running your site's code, the code sending pages to browsers, and outside services for payments, email and more. A failure in any piece looks like "the website is broken".
How to fix it
- Describe the symptom exactly: what page, what you clicked, what you saw, any error number or message, and when it started.
- Find the layer. "Can't be reached" or a parked page: the domain (domain not working). An error number: the server or code (error codes). A blank page or broken button: the page's code (JavaScript error). Payments or emails: an outside service (checkout broken, emails not sending).
- Look for what changed just before it started.
- Fix or undo at that layer, one change at a time, and test after each.
- If you're stuck, hand your notes from step 1 to your host or developer.
What Preventionlabs checks
One click runs the full report on your domain. For this problem it shows whether your site loads, how fast, and where its redirects go; uptime checked every 5 minutes, with an email when the site goes down and when it is back; up to 50 pages from your sitemap, listing any that fail or are slow, plus broken links on them; your DNS: nameservers, addresses, DNSSEC, and records pointing at services that no longer exist; your domain's registration and expiry date. With Cloudflare connected, it also shows which pages returned server errors (5xx) to visitors, and when; recent deploys and account changes, with their times.
Run your free reportYour first report is free, no card needed. Then A$50 a month, up to 10 domains. Read-only: it never changes anything.
Sources
- MDN Web Docs: HTTP response status codesreference
HTTP response status codes indicate whether a specific HTTP request has been successfully completed.
- MDN Web Docs: DNSglossary
DNS maintains a list of domain names along with the resources, such as IP addresses, that are associated with them.