Website not loading? Quick checks to find out why
PrintA website that stops loading nearly always has a problem in one of four places: your own internet connection, the domain, the hosting service, or the site's code. The checks below narrow it down in a few minutes and tell you what to send us if you still need help.
1. Try from a different network
Turn off Wi-Fi on your phone and load the site over mobile data.
- It loads on mobile data but not at home or in the office: the server firewall has most likely blocked your network's IP address. The browser usually waits a long time and then shows a timeout error such as
ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT. - It fails on every network: go on to step 2.
Blocks are normally triggered by a series of failed logins to email, FTP or cPanel, very often from a phone or mail program that still holds an old password. To get unblocked, open a ticket with the public IP address of the blocked network (search Google for "my IP" while connected to it). Then update the saved password on every device, or the block will come back. The full list of reasons is in why the firewall blocks an IP address.
2. Look at the domain and hosting in the client area
- In your domain list the domain should be active. An unpaid domain expires on its due date; see how to renew a domain.
- In your service list the hosting should be active. If it shows as suspended, read what to do about a suspended account.
- Did you change nameservers recently? DNS updates can take several hours, and during that time some visitors reach the site while others do not. The TopHost nameservers are
ns4.tophost.mdandns5.tophost.md; setting them is explained for .MD domains and for international domains.
3. Read the message on the screen
The exact wording the browser shows is a strong hint:
- "Server not found" or
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN: the domain has no working DNS, because it expired or points to the wrong nameservers. - A page saying the account is suspended: the service has been stopped, usually over an unpaid invoice. See the suspended account article.
- 500 Internal Server Error or 503 Service Unavailable: a code error or exhausted resources. Follow the guide to errors 500 and 503.
- Resource Limit Is Reached: the account has used up everything allocated to it; read what this message means.
- A blank page or "There has been a critical error on this website" in WordPress: usually a plugin or theme; here is how to spot it in error_log.
- "Your connection is not private": the SSL certificate is missing or expired. See how to reissue it in cPanel.
- A red warning that the site is dangerous: the site has been flagged as unsafe. Follow the article on sites flagged as malicious.
Confusing cases
The site only goes down now and then
When the outage comes at busy hours and clears up by itself, the account is probably hitting its resource limit at those times. In cPanel open Metrics, then Resource Usage, and match the peaks against the moments the site stopped answering.
It works for you, but your customers cannot open it
Either DNS has not refreshed on their side yet, or their IP address is blocked. Ask them for their IP and pass it to us in a ticket.
Did you change anything just before it broke?
A plugin update, an edit to .htaccess or a different PHP version can take a site down instantly. Undo the latest change first; more often than not, that is the culprit.
What to put in the ticket
If none of this solves it, open a ticket and include:
- the site address and the date and time you noticed the problem;
- the error text, copied or as a screenshot;
- your network's IP address, when the problem happens only there;
- what you have already tried.
