common causes of website outages & how to prevent them.

Businesses today rely heavily on their websites as a crucial avenue for communication, sales, and marketing. But when website outages occur, they can cause severe harm and lead to significant losses in revenue. To minimise the risk of these disruptive events, it’s essential to understand the most common causes of website downtime and take steps to prevent them. In this blog post, we’ll explore the reasons why websites go down, such as hosting issues, server crashes, network failures and the website software itself. We’ll also offer practical solutions to help you mitigate these issues and get your website back up and running as quickly as possible.

hosting issues.

Hosting issues are one of the most common causes of website outages. Hosting providers may encounter issues such as power outages, hardware failures, and software updates that can affect the website’s performance. When the hosting provider’s servers are down, the website becomes inaccessible to users. In some cases, hosting issues can be resolved quickly, while in other cases, they may take several hours or even days to fix.

the solution.

a reputable hosting provider.

One of the most effective ways to prevent hosting issues is to choose a reliable hosting provider. When selecting a hosting provider, businesses should look for a company that offers local customer support, reliable uptime guarantees, and backup options in case of an outage.

server crashes.

Server crashes are a significant concern for businesses and website owners, as they can cause significant downtime and revenue loss. These crashes occur when the server hardware or software malfunctions, making the website inaccessible to users. Server crashes can happen due to various reasons such as hardware failure, software glitches, and security breaches.

the solutions.

a backup plan.

To prevent server crashes, businesses should ensure that they have a backup and recovery plan in place. Regular backups of website data should be performed and stored securely, so that they can be easily restored in case of a server crash. By regularly backing up data, businesses can minimise the impact of a server crash and quickly restore their website to its previous state. A great hosting provider will have hourly backups with a backup retention of a month.

server virtualisation.

Another solution to prevent both hosting issues & server crashes, is server virtualisation. Server virtualisation allows multiple virtual servers to run on a single physical server, reducing the risk of an outage caused by a single server failure. This technology can also improve website performance by allowing website owners to scale up or down their server resources as needed, ensuring that the website runs smoothly and efficiently.

network failures.

Network failures can occur due to issues such as DNS (Domain Name System) problems, routing issues, and bandwidth overload. Network failures can cause the website to become slow, unresponsive, or completely unavailable.

the solutions.

limit who has access to your DNS.

DNS problems can occur when the Domain Name System, which translates domain names into IP addresses, fails to resolve domain names. This can happen due to misconfigured DNS servers, DNS cache issues, or DNS attacks. Limit any DNS changes to a dedicated employee or owner, who has experience. A good hosting provider will stop any unauthorised changes for taking place and do them on your behalf.

upgrade to unlimited bandwidth.

Bandwidth overload can occur when the amount of network traffic exceeds the capacity of the network infrastructure, causing performance problems or complete network failure. This can happen due to sudden spikes in traffic, malicious attacks, or inadequate network capacity. The way around this is the make sure that your hosting has adequate bandwidth. Find a hosting plan that offers unlimited bandwidth and you will limit if not remove this issue from ever happening.

website software issues.

Website software issues can occur due to bugs, compatibility issues, and improper website configurations. These issues can cause the website to become slow, unresponsive, or inaccessible.

the solutions.

keep your website up to date.

Website software, including content management systems (CMS) and e-commerce platforms, is constantly evolving to address security vulnerabilities, performance issues, and user feedback. By updating to the latest version of website software, businesses can ensure that their website benefits from the latest security patches, bug fixes, and performance improvements.

Failure to update website software can leave websites vulnerable to security threats, such as malware, hacking attempts, and data breaches. Outdated software can also lead to performance problems, slow response times, and user experience issues, which can impact user engagement and conversion rates.

Additionally, businesses should ensure that any third-party software used on their website, such as plugins and themes, are also up-to-date. Third-party software can introduce security vulnerabilities and performance issues, so it is essential to keep it up-to-date as well.

make sure everything is compatible.

The most common cause of a WordPress website breaking outside of being hacked, is human error when making an update or change.

We encounter a lot of businesses who ‘set and forget’. They leave their website on auto update and eventually the site breaks due to an update of a plugin and / or theme not being compatible with one another.

Before installing new software, businesses should check to ensure that it is compatible with their existing software and hardware. This may involve checking the software manufacturer’s website for compatibility information or contacting the manufacturer’s support team.

increase your web security.

Increasing web security is crucial for protecting your website and its users from cyber threats, such as hacking, malware, and phishing attacks. These threats can cause significant damage to your business, including data loss, reputation damage, financial loss, and legal liability. By increasing web security, you can safeguard your website and its users from these threats and build trust with your customers. This can help to increase customer loyalty, improve user engagement, and drive sales. Increasing web security can help you comply with data protection regulations, such as the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and avoid costly fines and legal consequences.

conclusion.

Website outages can be detrimental to businesses, causing significant revenue losses and damaging the business’s reputation. However, by understanding the common causes of website outages and taking appropriate measures to prevent and resolve them, businesses can minimise the risk of downtime and ensure the smooth operation of their websites. By choosing a reliable hosting provider, performing regular backups and keeping website software up-to-date, businesses can prevent hosting issues, server crashes, network failures, and website software issues, and keep their websites running smoothly.

If you need help with your website, feel free to contact us. We offer website recovery & repair services as well as various website design, optimisation and maintenance packages to get your site back to where it should be.