Why Is My Website Down? How to Find the Cause and Who to Call

A website goes down for a handful of reasons: an expired domain or DNS problem, a suspended or overloaded hosting account, an expired SSL certificate, a server or database error, a broken plugin or update, or a security problem. Check the error message first. It usually shows whether to call your domain registrar, hosting provider or developer.

When a website stops loading, the hardest part is knowing who to call. The domain registrar, the hosting company and the developer each control a different layer, and calling the wrong one wastes time. This guide helps you confirm the outage, read the error, find the likely cause and contact the right party with the right information.

Key takeaways - First confirm the site is down for everyone, not only for you. - The error message points to the cause: domain, SSL, server, database or code. - Check domain expiry and hosting billing before anything else. They are quick and common causes. - Do not reinstall WordPress or delete plugins at random. - Give your host or developer the time, the exact error and any recent changes.

Is your website down for everyone or just you?

Test before you act.

1. Open the site on mobile data instead of your office Wi-Fi.
2. Try another browser or a private window.
3. Ask a colleague or customer to open it.
4. Clear your browser cache if only your device fails.

If it loads on another network, the problem is local: your connection, DNS cache or browser. If it fails everywhere, continue below.

What does the error message tell you?

Take a screenshot and match it to this table.

How do you know if the domain, hosting or website failed?

Think of three layers. The domain is your address. Hosting is the server that stores your site. The website is the code, content and database on that server.

• Log in to your domain registrar. Is the domain active, and when does it expire?
• Log in to your hosting control panel. Is the account active, and is anything unpaid?
• If both are fine, the fault is probably in the website itself: code, plugins or database.

If email on the same domain also stopped, that may point to the domain, DNS or hosting rather than website code. This is not a rule, because some businesses host email separately.

What should you do in the first 30 minutes?

1. Take a screenshot of the error and note the time.
2. Confirm it is down for everyone.
3. Check the domain expiry date and hosting status. Search your inbox for billing or renewal notices.
4. List recent changes: plugin or theme updates, edited files, DNS changes, a hosting move, new content imports.
5. Contact the right party using the table above.
6. Avoid making several changes at once, because it hides which one fixed or broke the site.

What not to do:

• Do not reinstall WordPress or delete plugin folders without a backup.
• Do not change DNS records at random.
• Do not send passwords in open chat or email. Use a secure method.
• Do not pay for "recovery" from unknown sellers before knowing the cause.

What should you tell your host or developer?

A clear report speeds up the fix. Include:

• The website address
• The date and time it went down
• The exact error text or a screenshot
• Whether it is down on mobile data too
• Recent changes, and the last time it worked
• Access details, shared securely

Does downtime affect SEO and customers?

Customers who reach an error page usually leave, and any enquiry forms or phone numbers on the site are unreachable. If you run paid ads, check that they are not sending visitors to an error page.

For search, Google can handle a short outage. Long or repeated server errors can make Google crawl your site less and may lead to pages dropping out of results. Fixing the cause and keeping the same URLs is the safest approach.

How do you prevent your website from going down again?

• Renewals: use a billing email someone actually reads, and enable auto-renew. Read what happens when you delay domain renewal.
• Hosting: choose a plan that fits your traffic and site type. See the common hosting mistakes that hurt speed and SEO.
• Backups: keep regular backups stored away from the server.
• Updates: apply plugin, theme and core updates deliberately, and test them.
• Monitoring: use an uptime alert so you hear about outages before customers do.
• Security: know the warning signs your website may not be secure.
• Ownership: name one person or company responsible for the website.

How does DAB handle this?

DAB offers website maintenance services billed hourly from ฿1,000 per hour. When a site is down, we work out which layer failed (domain, hosting or website) and fix what falls within the website. We have 18+ years of experience building and maintaining websites in Thailand.

Need a hand with a website that is down?

If your website is down or keeps having problems, contact DAB through LINE or our contact page. See how our website maintenance services work.

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