Thank you for visiting WebMasterKnowHow.com - If you can suggest things that should be added to the site I would like to hear about them. Anything regarding hosting, HTML, attracting traffic, problems and mistakes. I intend to make this site as useful as I can, and with that in mind I'm trying to add at least one new topic every week.
Your website - What if your site is down?
There's nothing more alarming than trying to look at your website and finding it isn't there!
If your site is a "just for fun" site you don't have to be too worried. Usually you will find that the site will be back very soon. And if not, you haven't lost very much. If your hosting company has vanished off the face of the earth, you can just get yourself a new hosting company, and within a few days your site will be online again, and you can relax.
But if your site is one that is generating a significant income for you, or you have users who are depending on the information on the site, you want to know immediately when the site has a problem, so you can take whatever action is needed. Often a phone call or an email to the hosting company will be all that's needed to take care of the problem. The sooner you know about the problem the sooner you can take action.
There are companies who will check your site for you, and let you know when there's a problem. They can phone you, or email you, or FAX you, or possibly all of those methods at the same time, to be sure you get the message as soon as possible. One company I know about is Alertra.com. They have a range of prices depending on how often you want them to check, and how they notify you. I believe they also have a free trial for a month so you can see how you like their service.
If your site is down frequently, or permanently, you will want to change to a new hosting company. You should read my article on changing webhosts now, and be ready before you need to make the change. It may be too late when you find out you have a problem.
