Why Is WordPress Down? 5 Possible Reasons

Most reputable web hosts like NameHero advertise near-perfect uptimes for their servers. If your WordPress website is down, it might not be due to your hosting provider. There are several reasons why a WordPress website can become inaccessible, and knowing what they are is the first step in fixing the problem.

Some of the most common issues that can cause WordPress downtimes include plugin conflicts, Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, and problems with updates. All of these issues are fixable, and in most cases, you should be able to troubleshoot them yourself.

In this article, we’ll go over five reasons that can cause your WordPress website to go down. For each potential issue, we’ll show you how to fix it and prevent it. Let’s get to work!

1. Plugin Conflicts

Sometimes, WordPress plugins can conflict with one another. This can happen because the plugins are attempting to make overlapping changes to the site or their code isn’t compatible:

Plugin conflicts can surface in many ways. Typically, they will cause an error on the website, but in some cases, they can take it down altogether.

How to Troubleshoot Plugin Conflicts

If your WordPress website is down, you might not be able to access the dashboard. If you do have access to it, you can go ahead and disable plugins until you identify which one is causing an error:

You’ll want to do this in a staging environment to prevent running into other technical issues or having to put the site in maintenance mode.

If you can’t access the dashboard, you’ll need to use a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client to disable plugins. The FTP client enables you to access your site’s file directory. Here, navigate to the wp-content/plugins:

Inside, you’ll find individual folders for each plugin installed on your site. Changing any of these folder names will disable the corresponding plugin. Do this one at a time and keep refreshing your site until it’s back.

When you identify the offending plugin, you can replace it with another plugin, or wait for an update that fixes the issue. You could also reach out to the developers to let them know that there’s an issue with the plugin.

How to Prevent Plugin Conflicts

Plugin conflicts can lead to critical errors that prevent you from accessing your WordPress website. Typically, they occur during installation or updates.

To avoid plugin conflicts, you’ll want to do the following:

1. Check plugin reviews thoroughly. Reviews will tell you if a plugin tends to cause conflicts or security issues. Avoid plugins with low review scores on WordPress.org and independent sites.
2. Only install plugins in active development. Try and avoid plugins that haven’t received updates in a while (over six months). These can be more likely to cause maintenance issues with your site.
3. Set up plugins and update them using staging sites. Use a staging site to install plugins and update them. This can be time-consuming, but it can help you avoid plugin conflicts altogether.

If you follow these best practices, you drastically reduce the chances of running into plugin conflicts.

2. Domain Issues

Problems with your domain can sometimes cause your WordPress website to appear unavailable. By problems, we mean Domain Name System (DNS) issues or difficulties with the domain registration and renewal procedures.

How to Troubleshoot Domain Issues

If your WordPress website is inaccessible and you think it’s due to an issue with the domain, start by checking its nameservers. If you registered your domain using NameHero, you can check the nameservers through the client portal.

The NameHero client portal enables you to manage active domains and modify their records and nameservers. After updating the domain records, you may need to wait a while until the data propagates.

How to Prevent Domain Issues

Preventing domain issues from blocking access to your WordPress site can be rather straightforward. Here’s what you can do:

1. Use the same registrar and hosting provider. Depending on your hosting provider, they might also offer domain registration services (and vice-versa). Using the same provider for both typically means you won’t need to set custom nameservers.
2. Set up domain autorenewal. With this feature, you eliminate the chances of forgetting to renew your domain. NameHero offers automatic domain renewals as the default option.

NameHero offers domain registration services as well as multiple hosting plan options. If you use our managed WordPress hosting plans, we can take care of site maintenance to reduce the chances of site downtimes.

3. Database Connection Issues

Database connection issues are among the most common causes for WordPress websites being down. If the WordPress site can’t establish a connection with the database, it’ll result in a critical error.

How to Troubleshoot Database Connection Issues

The error in establishing a database connection is specific to WordPress. If you run into this issue, you’ll see an error screen that looks like this:

There are several ways to troubleshoot database connection issues in WordPress. You can read our full tutorial on how to use your hosting account control panel to connect to the database and fix errors related to it.

How to Prevent Database Connection Issues

Database connection issues can stem from problems with your WordPress site’s configuration. Modifying WordPress core files such as wp-config.php can lead to errors connecting to the database.

The best way to avoid database issues with WordPress is to be careful when making changes to your site’s configuration. If you’re editing core files, use a staging site to test changes before they go live.

Using managed WordPress services can also help with database issues. A managed service provider should be able to help you troubleshoot database problems with your site without rendering it inaccessible.

4. DDoS Attacks

A Denial of Service (DDoS) attack can cause WordPress downtimes by overwhelming your server with bot traffic. Some attacks can last minutes, whereas others go on for longer.

DDoS attacks can knock a WordPress website offline unless your hosting service provider offers protection against them. You might also choose to implement a third-party solution that protects your site against these attacks.

How to Prevent DDoS Attacks

There’s little you can do if you’re currently facing a DDoS attack that took your website down. Your service provider might intervene to block malicious connections to the website. However, it can be difficult to do this while the attack persists.

Prevention measures are critical to blocking DDoS attacks. The first measure you can take is to use a web hosting provider that takes security seriously. A simple Web Application Firewall (WAF) can help you prevent cybersecurity threats like DDoS attacks.

At NameHero, our Turbo and Business plans offer a built-in firewall:

You can also choose to integrate a Content Delivery Network (CDN) with WordPress. This is a network of servers distributed across different locations. It can help you decrease overall loading times thanks to its network cache functionality.

CDNs offer a quick way to prevent DDoS attacks. This is because the CDN intercepts incoming connections to the site and serves cached versions to visitors.

5. Server or Hosting Issues

When a website is down, many people will chalk it up to a hosting error. However, most reputable hosting providers offer near-perfect uptimes.

At NameHero, we have a 99.9% website uptime average percentage for our clients. That means if your site is down, it’s more likely due to a critical error in WordPress than issues with your hosting account:

If you have a hosting plan with a different provider and your website is often down, then it may be time to switch to a different company. Before doing so, however, you’ll want to make sure that the problem stems from your hosting account, not something else like plugin conflicts.

How to Troubleshoot and Prevent Hosting Issues With Your WordPress Website

If you can’t access your site and you’re not seeing a specific WordPress error, you might be dealing with a hosting issue. In this case, your best bet is to contact the hosting provider’s support channels.

The support team should be able to troubleshoot network issues on their end or, at the very least, help you identify the source of the problem and find a fix for it. If your provider’s support team isn’t up for the task, consider migrating to a better option, such as NameHero.

Conclusion

There are a lot of things that can cause a WordPress website to go down or become inaccessible. It’s important to note that if you can still access the dashboard, the problem likely lies with your site’s configuration and not your web host. In that case, you should be able to fix the error and bring your website back up.

If your WordPress website is down, it’s likely due to one of the following issues:

1. Plugin conflicts
2. Domain misconfiguration
3. Database connection problems
4. Cyberattacks and security threats
5. Server or hosting issues (it’s rare, but it happens!)

If your WordPress website is down due to problems with its server, consider moving to a reputable web host. At NameHero, we offer free migrations and our WordPress plans include managed services, so downtime should be a thing of the past once you move. Take a look at our WordPress plans!