In this article, we are going to take a detailed look at how to fix your website.
Having a functional website makes it very easy for people to find your business, read up about your company and what you offer, and ultimately make a purchase or sign up for your services. The team at Profitworks can not only help fix your website, we can make sure it's optimized for the best possible user experience - contact us today to get started.
Now let's take a deeper look at why your website might not be working and what to do about it.
How To Fix Your Website | A Simple Guide
Possible Issue #1: Expired Domain Name
Your web domain represents your actual presence on the Internet. A web domain name is a substitute that replaces the Internet Protocol (IP) address. For example, we can replace the IP address 207.97.195.109 with a domain name such as www.fixyourwebsite.com.
The first step in creating an online presence is purchasing a domain name. This is accomplished through a hosting service and requires an annual fee in order to keep it running.
If you're unable to access your website, it's possible the domain name has expired.
Each hosting service may have a different process in terms of what happens when your domain name expires. The ramifications of waiting to rectify the issue are exponential, as seen in this example from Go Daddy:
| Days after domain expiration | What happens | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Day of expiration | First attempt to renew the domain. If renewal fails, you will receive an email notification. | Domain can be manually renewed in your account at the standard renewal price. |
| Day 5 | Second attempt to renew the domain. If renewal fails, they'll send an email notification and park the domain name. This means Domain Name System is interrupted and your email/website will stop working. | Domain can be manually renewed in your account at the standard renewal price. |
| Day 12 | Third attempt to renew the domain. If renewal fails, you'll receive another email notification. | Domain can be manually renewed in your account at the standard renewal price. |
| Day 19 | Domain is put on hold and is no longer active in your account. | Domain can be manually renewed in your account with applicable redemption fee . |
| Day 26 | Domain is put up for expired domain auction | You can manually recover your expired domain name with applicable redemption fee , or place a bid on the domain through auction. |
| Day 30 | Domain is listed through expired domain auctions. If there are no active bids on your domain, it will remain in your account in Expired status. | You can manually recover your expired domain name with applicable redemption fee , or place a bid on the domain through auction. |
| Day 36 | If there are no backorders and no bidders in the domain name auction, they list the domain name in a final closeout auction. | You can manually recover your expired domain name with applicable redemption fee , or place a bid on the domain through auction. |
| Day 41 | All auctions end. | Domain is no longer available to bid on. |
| Day 42 | If there were no successful auction bids or backorders, the domain is removed from your account and returned to the registry | You'll no longer be able to bid on or renew your domain name. You may be able to register the domain after the registry has released it. We're unable to advise on when the registry might release a domain for registration. |
The quick fix is to simply pay to have it renewed; to avoid having this happen in the future, set your account to auto-renew and you won't have to worry about an expired domain name affecting your website.
Make sure to avoid domain expiration by setting your subscription to auto-renew.
Possible Issue #2: Server Failures
One of the most common error messages that pops up when a website goes down is a 500 - Internal Server Error message.
Check with your hosting provider and see if any changes were made to your server, including permissions or domain settings. They should be able to help you figure it out and, if the problem was on their end, fix it for you.
Additionally, the hosting site might simply be experiencing issues, running scheduled maintenance, or even experiencing bad weather. All of the above can cause your site to go down, so check in with them before taking further steps.
Possible Issue #3: Browser Incompatibility
If your website loads but does not display properly, it may be that you have a browser incompatibility issue.
Before taking your site live, check your website for compatibility with the current and most popular versions of the Browsers (Chrome and FireFox for example).
However, just because it works today does not mean it will render or function properly on future browser versions (or old versions).
You can use a testing service like Browsershots, which takes screenshots of your website in different operating systems and browsers. This is a free open source service that offers developers a convenient way to test the design appearance for different segments of users.
The best way to ensure browser compatibility is to visit the website using different browsers.
Possible Issue #4: Unmaintained Website
The platforms you can use to run your website - WordPress, Joomla or SquareSpace, for example - are constantly being updated for security and improved functionality.
Outdated websites are more likely to have problems than newer ones; and if yours isn’t regularly maintained, a simple change could cause it to go down.
If you don’t constantly make these updates, your website will be more likely to crash, especially if you are using multiple plugins or have added your own coding.
Hiring someone to maintain your website might be the way to go, especially if you have limited expertise and experience maintaining one.
Possible Issue #5: Your Website Has Been Hacked
If your website lacks proper security measures, it's vulnerable to a hack.
Sometimes it is very obvious that your site has been hacked. For example, the hacker may change text on your site, upload photos, or take it offline altogether. It can be tricky to spot the issue right away, however. Code may have been installed on the site to collect certain information and send it to an unauthorized 3rd party.
Here are some tips for avoiding this issue:
- Use strong passwords and change them regularly
- Only install reputable third party add-on/plugins
- Use an online tool (like http://sitecheck.sucuri.net) to check the health of your website
- Proactively review your websites regularly and make sure everything works as expected.
When you work with Profitworks, we'll start by doing a comprehensive audit on your website to evaluate your overall presence online. This is essentially a "health check" for your website to determine where your site's strengths and weaknesses lie. Our team of web experts will assess the health of your website and highlight the immediate problems that need fixing as well as the less-detrimental factors having an impact on your site.
Our customized website audit will cover the technical aspects of your website's performance as well as identifying any gaps in your current strategy to convert website visitors into leads.
Our website audit service is available as part of our Local SEO packages as well as à la carte. For pricing information, click here.
Click the image above to learn more about how to check your online presence.
Struggling to fix your website? Trust Profitworks!
Profitworks Small Business Services provides website traffic and website conversion optimization services to increase the number of sales generated from your website. The focus of our services is on increasing sales and providing a positive return on investment!
If you are interested in getting new customers for your business, contact us today!
You can also download our Closed-Loop SEO Marketing Services Brochure or our free SEO checklist by clicking on the links!
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