Website Down? What a Small Business Should Check First
Short answer: Find out whether the problem is the page, connection, domain, or host before changing anything.
Find out whether the problem is the page, connection, domain, or host before changing anything.
What this means
A site can appear down only on one connection, or it can be unavailable to everyone. Those are different problems.
What to do first
1. Check from a phone on cellular data. 2. Check a second page. 3. Check domain renewal and hosting notices. 4. Save screenshots and timestamps.
When to leave it alone
Do not point the domain somewhere new or rebuild in a panic before preserving the current access and evidence.
Your next move
If customers cannot reach a key path, call or text with the URL, screenshots, and what must stay available.
Quick answers
Could this be my Wi-Fi?
Yes. Testing from cellular data helps separate a local connection problem from a public outage.
Who should own the domain?
The business should be able to access and manage its own registration.
Want it handled? IT Support — Something is broken? Tell us what stopped and what has to keep working.
How the work starts
Before recommending anything for a question like this, we look at what customers see, where staff repeat work, who controls the accounts, and what the business already pays for. We do not begin by selling a rebuild or another monthly tool.
The next-step list says what to keep, what to fix now, what can wait, and what we still need to learn before anyone should guess.
What you can count on
The first look is free. Some website plans include our written 14-day promise. The plan says which jobs qualify, when the days start, what each side needs to provide, and what you receive if our work is late. Urgent on-site help is a New York service; call so we can confirm the problem and the response. We return missed calls within 2 hours, 9am–9pm Eastern.
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