When Your Website is not Available

There is nothing that screams "out of business" like websites that either cannot be found, take you to a lander page, show that the site has been suspended due to non-payment, or has a message saying it is under construction. When this happens, you are unlikely to get visitors to return to your website to see if content has become available or the website has been restored. Here are some pointers to keep in mind when your business website finds itself in any one of these situations.

Website Cannot be Found

If your website is not available due to a technical reason, sort it out as soon as possible. Visitors will typically see a message that reads "Safari cannot find this website" or "This site can't be reached", depending on the web browser they use. It does happen occasionally that webservers go down, but this is temporary and should not take too long for services to be available again. Any domain that is off for an extended period simply sends the message that you are no longer in business, and potential clients will find someone else.

Website Suspended

If a client has not paid their monthly hosting fee, the service provider may replace the client's landing page with one that says the website has been suspended. This is a red light for any potential customer. If you cannot pay your hosting fee, chances are your business is in trouble.

Lander Pages

When a domain shows a blank page but the address line shows https://www.domain.com/lander, it means the domain is active but there is nothing to display. This is just unprofessional. If you do not have website content to display, at least show some text that will allow clients to contact you, such as contact numbers and email addresses.

Under Construction

If your website is under construction, by all means show this using customised graphics, but also indicate a target date on which the website will be available to the public. At the same time add the required contact information. This way, you create an expectation with the outside world that they can return to the site on the day specified and find the website functional.

Get a Solution

If your website is currently in this situation, contact us.