It’s Monday morning and you just grabbed your coffee. The startup scan on your computer is nearly finished and you go over the day’s to-do list. You hear the familiar final load sound and open your favorite browser. You want to check in on… uh-oh, your web site won’t load.
Hang on! Before you grab the phone and stir someone out of bed (hey, some of us like to sleep in!), or potentially abuse the emergency line, take just one minute to run through this list.A non-loading Web site can actually mean one of many things. By taking a single minute to check a few things you might be able to solve the problem more quickly.
First thing’s first – is the entire site, meaning that none of a page loads? Or do pages partially load?
If it’s partial it could be a result of third-party services on the site (like third-party chat or statloads). Some of these scripts can actually halt the load of a Web page if the source computer or network is unreachable. Often you’ll find that pages may only partially load – up until the point that script is called. If this is the case, the quickest fix is to comment out the script then contact the developer to report the problem.
If pages won’t load at all…
1. Do other sites load in the browser?
NO – check your connections
YES – check #2
2. Does the host’s own web site load?
YES – check #3
NO – check #4
3. Run a WHOIS to make sure your domain hasn’t expired, been transferred, etc.
Just go to: http://www.internic.net/whois.html and enter your domain only (eg. mydomain.com) and click Submit.
If it’s expired – renew it immediatley!
If it’s not expired, see #4.
4. Try to ping your site.
On a PC – go to START–>RUN. In the RUN box, select “command” then enter: ping www.YOURDOMAIN.com and press ENTER.
On a MAC, open the Network Utility (HD–>APPLICATIONS–>UTILITIES). Click the PING tab and enter: www.YOURDOMAIN.com and click the Ping button.
You’re looking for 0% packet loss. If the process takes a while, then it could mean a slow connection (on the server side or with your ISP).
If you can’t ping your site, the issue is likely with the host or your ISP. Save time and contact the host first, but be sure to provide them key information, like your current IP address (which you can lookup at http://www.whatismyip.com).
If you CAN ping your site, restart your browser, try another browser, or another computer. Browser settings can affect a site’s load time and ability to load.
These are but a few simple things to check before running into panic mode. They also reveal some of the most common issues – save for one: disconnection. Have you paid your hosting bill?
