Susie Homemaker, a pretzel
maker, is doing well with her business webpage on Facebook. Recently, she connected with a web designer. The designer explained how a website provides greater flexibility and customization options, compared to the predefined templates and limited customization with Facebook. Susie is now considering a website investment but hesitates because she heard about website crashes and doesn’t want that to happen to her.
In addition, the designer explained that Suzie’s website investment will provide her with a dedicated platform to establish and showcase her brand. With full ownership and control over her website, Susie can engage in extensive content creation. She can add blog posts, articles, product listings, and multimedia content. The possibilities are endless. She would be able to express herself in various ways and connect with her audience more effectively – using options that are not included with a Facebook business page.
Her only hesitation stems from the 404 pages she has come across, and sites not available messages. Susie constantly worries about website crashes and needs to feel her investment is worthwhile.
The designer tells Susie:
Website crashes can occur for various reasons. Our company identifies and addresses issues promptly to minimize downtime and keep uptime the norm.
And he adds some common causes of website crashes including:
An Expired Domain:
In order to maintain the continuous operation of your website, it is important to renew your domain on a yearly basis. This is called domain registration and renewal. It’s like obtaining yearly stickers for your license plate. Forgetting to renew your domain could result in your website going offline until you pay the yearly fee. While the minimum renewal period is one year, the designer recommends registering her domain for 5 or 10 years at a time to minimize the risk of encountering this issue. By doing so, Susie will have uninterrupted availability of her website for an extended period.
Heavy Traffic:
A sudden surge in website traffic, especially if it exceeds the capacity of a hosting server or hosting resources, can overwhelm the system and lead to a crash. This often happens during viral events or when a website receives unexpected attention.
Susie tells the designer, she has big plans to promote her new website across various social media channels, vendors, and online news releases. As a result, she anticipates a significant influx of visitors to her website.
She is told a good hosting provider will have the necessary server resources and scalability measures in place to accommodate increased traffic without compromising performance. Therefore Susie’s website will remain up and running smoothly, even during periods of high visitor volume.
The designer tells her “Unless she is Walmart and it’s Black Friday, she will have nothing to worry about”
Coding Errors:
Bugs or coding errors within the website’s code can cause instability and crashes. These errors may occur due to improper programming techniques, compatibility issues, or conflicts between different software components. To prevent this the designer tells her, his company regularly checks for updates and security patches to address known bugs or vulnerabilities.
In addition, websites are placed on a staging platform, before they become live on a production environment. Staging and production platforms closely resemble each other. Staging a website can identify errors or compatibility issues before they happen.
Plugin or Theme Conflicts:
Conflicts can be a concern for websites built on content management systems (CMS) like WordPress. If these plugins or themes are poorly coded or incompatible, they can cause conflicts and crashes.
Susie’s designer will use WordPress for her website, so her designer is taking proactive measures to prevent conflicts. He will conduct research to make sure compatibility with the specific version of the CMS is being used. He will also do this with other plugins and themes. AND the designer will consult support documentation and online forums to identify any potential issues.
To minimize the risk of conflicts, it’s crucial to keep plugins and themes up to date. Regular updates often include bug fixes, improvements, and compatibility enhancements. By testing new plugins or themes in a staging environment before implementing them on Susie’s live website, the functionality, and compatibility can be thoroughly evaluated.
An Unmaintained Website:
The software that runs a website such as WordPress, undergoes regular updates to maintain security and functionality. If you neglect to keep up with these updates, your website becomes more prone to crashes. Outdated websites are more susceptible to problems compared to new and updated ones. Without regular maintenance, even a simple change could potentially bring your site down. The designer offers a maintenance hosting plan for the ongoing upkeep of Susie’s website to avoid such issues and keep it running smoothly.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS):
Attacks can flood a website with excessive traffic, making it inaccessible to legitimate users and potentially causing it to crash. While it’s unlikely that Susie’s website would be targeted, her hosting company can take steps to minimize the risk.
To safeguard against DDoS attacks, the hosting company uses infrastructure monitoring tools. These tools help detect any unusual traffic patterns or sudden spikes in network activity, allowing them to quickly respond and prevent potential attacks.
Additionally, implementing security measures like a content delivery network (CDN), firewalls, and intrusion detection systems can add an extra layer of protection. These measures help filter and block malicious traffic, ensuring that legitimate users can access the website smoothly.
Regular software updates:
Completing software updates is also crucial. By keeping their systems up to date with the latest patches and security updates, the hosting company can address any vulnerabilities that attackers may exploit during a potential DDoS attack.
While the chances of a DDoS attack on Susie’s website are low, taking these precautions gives her the assurance that her website remains secure and accessible to her intended audience.
Monitor and Test:
The designer’s web hosting company has website monitoring tools to track performance and uptime. The host company will regularly test all website functionality to identify and address any potential issues before they lead to crashes.
Susie is now confident that a website investment will be worthwhile, as the designer has addressed her concerns about website crashes and demonstrated their commitment to maintaining a reliable and stable online presence. With this newfound confidence, Susie is excited about the prospects that a dedicated website will bring to her business. She ordered one that day.
