Your website won't open. Before anything else, run this five-minute checklist — most "my site is down" alarms turn out to be one of these six things, and two of them aren't the server's fault at all.
The checks, in order
- Is it down for everyone, or just you? Open the site on your phone with Wi-Fi OFF (mobile data). If it loads there, the site is fine — your own connection or its DNS cache is the problem. Wait, or restart your router.
- What EXACTLY do you see? A suspended page, a blank page, an error number (403/404/500), or "server not found"? Each points somewhere different — note it word for word.
- Is the domain expired? Client area → Domains → My Domains — check the expiry date. An expired domain takes the site and email down together (see the expiry article in Domains).
- Is an invoice overdue? Billing → My Invoices — an unpaid invoice suspends the service (the Late Payment article explains the sequence). Paying it is the fix.
- Did you change DNS recently? Nameserver or record changes need propagation — typically 4–24 hours (see the DNS Propagation guide). Partial weirdness across networks is normal during that window.
- Did the site break right after a change? A plugin update, a theme change, an edit to .htaccess or wp-config — the last change is the prime suspect; the WordPress white-screen guide covers the classic case.
✅ Still down after all six? Open a support ticket and include: your domain, what you see (exact wording or error number), when it started, what you changed last, and whether it fails on mobile data too. Tickets with those five facts get fixed dramatically faster.
⚠ Common mistakes & fixes
- Frantically changing settings: five random "fixes" destroy the evidence of the one real cause. Check first, change one thing at a time.
- Assuming down means hacked: hacks are rare; expiries, invoices and DNS are the everyday causes. The checklist order is deliberate — boring causes first.
- Reporting "site down" with no domain name: accounts hold multiple sites. The domain in the first line of the ticket saves a full round of questions.
Related articles
- How to Open a Support Ticket
- Fix: Domain Connected but Website Not Opening
- Fix: Website Suspended Page — What It Means