Uptime.com Blog
A Beginner’s Guide to Website Uptime
The Internet is no longer a mystery, as people understand, for the most part, what a website is and how it works. Websites are incredibly easy to create these days, so small businesses are expected to have a site that, at the very least, has a list of services and contact information.
It’s important, though, that the site runs at all times. What is website uptime and why is it a big deal? Glad you asked.
Why Websites Crash
The first thing new website owners need to understand is why websites crash. There are two major reasons.
Each website is hosted on a server. That server can either be one the website owner has in their possession, but more likely, they rent the server from a hosting provider. If something happens to that server, say it loses power or it overheats, then the website it support will go down. Since website hosting is a service, website owners will want to make sure their provider gives them certain guarantees before signing up for the service.
Second, websites crash when the server becomes inundated with traffic. Smaller websites have a limited number of traffic they can handle, so if something happens (maybe the company is in the news or does something that grabs a lot of attention) the site may get too many hits to handle. Larger websites, such as Amazon and Google, have many servers and even backup servers, to make sure they can handle all the traffic that comes their way.
Why Uptime Is Important
Websites serve as a person or a company’s online identity. As people use the web more, things like phone books and mail advertisements are less popular. If people want to be reached, they need a working website. If that website crashes, it’s like the company has become invisible to most of the world.
While a website is down, businesses in particular may lose out on potential customers or struggle to serve the ones they have. They must also dedicate time to figuring out the problem, even if it’s a call or an email to a web-hosting provider, to get the site back up. That takes time away from growing the business.
In short, a down website costs money, so the more a website is up, the better chance a businesses has of being seen and bringing in revenue.
Minute-by-minute Uptime checks.
Start your 14-day free trial with no credit card required at Uptime.com.
