How to Troubleshoot Your Website Like a Pro with DIY Fixes

You are a smart, talented, and successful entrepreneur. You know how to do a lot of things, but how do you feel about your website? Even if you’re not a web designer, there are some easy DIY fixes you can do to troubleshoot your website when it’s not working the way you want it to.

If you’re just getting your website set up, check out our Website Setup Guide.

1. Check if Your Site is Down for Everyone or Just You

If you’re experiencing an issue with your website, the first step is to determine who the issue is impacting. This will help you know if the problem is with your website or with your internet connection.

You can easily check if your website is down for everyone or just you by using a free tool like IsItDownRightNow. Just enter your website’s URL and the tool will let you know if your website is down or if it’s just you. You can also use IP address lookup tools to check for potential geolocation-based access issues or server blockages.

2. Clear Your Cache

When you visit a website, your browser stores all the data from the site so that it doesn’t have to pull all the information from the server each time. This is called caching.

Caching is a good thing, as it helps websites load faster. However, if you’re working on your website and you can’t see the changes you’ve made, it could be because your browser is loading the cached version of the site.

To fix this, you need to clear your cache. You can do this in your browser settings. If you’re using a WordPress website, you can also clear your cache from your dashboard.

3. Test Different Browsers

Even if you’re not a web developer, you’ve likely heard the term “browser compatibility” before. It’s a term used to describe how well a website performs in different web browsers. And it’s a big deal.

Your website may look perfectly fine in Chrome, but if you’ve never checked it out in Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer, you could be missing out on some major issues.

The good news is that you don’t need to have every web browser installed on your computer to test your site. There are a number of free tools available that will show you what your website looks like in different browsers.

4. Check for Any WordPress or Plugin Updates

Updates are a common part of website maintenance. Regularly updating your website and its plugins is an easy way to keep everything running smoothly and prevent any potential issues.

Sometimes, a plugin can cause a conflict that results in a website error, especially if you’re using outdated websites with legacy plugins that haven’t been updated in a long time. To troubleshoot this, simply deactivate your plugins. This will help you determine if a plugin is causing the issue. If deactivating the plugins resolves the issue, then you’ll need to reactivate the plugins one by one until you find the one causing the problem. If that doesn’t work, you may need to update the plugin or contact the plugin developer for support.

To check for updates, log in to your WordPress dashboard and click on “Dashboard” in the left-hand menu. Then, click on “Updates.”

If there are any updates available, you’ll see a list of them here. You can update your WordPress installation and any plugins that have updates available by clicking on the “Update Now” button next to each one.

Before you update anything, it’s a good idea to make a backup of your website. This way, if anything goes wrong during the update, you can easily restore your website to its previous state.

5. Deactivate Your Plugins

If you have a WordPress website, you know that WordPress plugins are a great way to add functionality to your site. However, sometimes a plugin can cause a conflict that results in a website error.

To troubleshoot this, simply deactivate your plugins. This will help you determine if a plugin is causing the issue. If deactivating the plugins resolves the issue, then you’ll need to reactivate the plugins one by one until you find the one causing the problem. If that doesn’t work, you may need to update the plugin or contact the plugin developer for support.

6. Check Your .htaccess File

If you are on an Apache server, your .htaccess file is a powerful tool that can be used to make changes to your website.

However, if it is not configured correctly, it can also be the cause of a lot of issues. If you are experiencing a 500 error, it is a good idea to check your .htaccess file for errors.

If you don’t know how to access your .htaccess file, you can use an FTP client like FileZilla to connect to your server and download the file.

Once you have the file, you can open it in a text editor and look for any errors. If you are not sure what you are looking for, you can try commenting out (adding a # to the beginning of the line) any code that you are unsure of.

7. Look at Your Error Log

If you’ve tried all of the above and your website is still having a problem, it’s time to check your server’s error log. This can be a bit more technical, but it’s a great way to find out what’s going on.

An error log is a file that records errors on your website. If you’re running an online store, integrating eCommerce CRM software can help you track customer interactions and website issues more effectively, ensuring you never miss a critical error that could impact sales. Businesses use lead scoring techniques to analyze customer interactions, identifying high-value prospects based on their engagement history. If you’re using cPanel, you can access your error log by clicking on “Error Log” in the “Metrics” section. If you’re not using cPanel, you can check with your hosting provider to see how you can access your error log.

Once you’ve found your error log, look for any recent errors. If you see any, try to search for them in Google to see if you can find a solution. If you can’t find a WordPress solution, you may need to contact your hosting provider or a developer for help.

8. Contact Your Host

If you’re still having trouble figuring out what’s wrong with your website, contact your hosting provider. They may be able to give you some insight into what’s going on.

If your website is hosted on a shared server, there may be an issue with the server itself. If that’s the case, your hosting provider will be able to fix it for you.

If you have a dedicated server, your hosting provider can help you troubleshoot the server itself to see if that’s the issue.

If your website is hosted on a cloud server, your hosting provider can help you troubleshoot the server and the cloud infrastructure to see if that’s the issue.

Your hosting provider should be able to give you some insight into what’s going on and help you fix the problem.

9. Verify Your DNS Settings

Sometimes, your website might seem down when it’s actually a DNS hiccup. Use a DNS lookup tool to ensure your domain is correctly pointing to your server. Misconfigured records or propagation delays can lead to unexpected downtime, so a quick check here can save a lot of head-scratching.

10. Review Your File and Folder Permissions

Incorrect file or folder permissions can cause errors that are hard to spot at first glance. Log in to your server via FTP or your hosting control panel and confirm that your files are set to the recommended permissions (typically 644 for files and 755 for folders). This can resolve issues where your site isn’t loading certain assets or pages.

11. Validate Your SSL Certificate and Security Settings

If your website uses HTTPS, an expired or misconfigured SSL certificate might be the culprit behind access issues or browser warnings. Double-check that your SSL certificate is current and properly installed. Also, review any recent changes to your security settings that might inadvertently block legitimate traffic.

12. Clear Your CDN Cache or Enable Debug Mode

For those using a Content Delivery Network (CDN), outdated cached content might be serving up old or broken pages. Purging your CDN cache ensures visitors get the latest version of your site. Alternatively, if you’re troubleshooting more technical issues, enabling debug mode in your CMS can provide detailed error messages that pinpoint the problem.

Conclusion

Troubleshooting your website is an important, yet time-consuming task. If you find that you don’t have the time necessary to dedicate to your website, you might want to consider hiring a professional web design and development company.

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