Information checked: 21 July 2026.
When a website goes down, confirm the scope before making changes. A rushed DNS edit or restore can turn a short provider incident into a longer outage or lost data.
In brief: Diagnose the layer, protect evidence and use a safe fallback before changing DNS or restoring data.
First 15 minutes
- Check from another device and network.
- Confirm whether DNS, TLS, the web server or one function is failing.
- Review monitoring, hosting status and recent changes.
- Open an incident record with timestamps.
- Notify the responsible technical and business contacts.
- Pause risky deployments or automated changes.
Choose the next action
| Clue | Likely area | Safe action |
|---|---|---|
| Domain does not resolve | DNS or registration | Check authoritative records and domain status |
| Certificate warning | TLS configuration or expiry | Do not bypass for customers; repair certificate path |
| Server error on all pages | Hosting or application | Check logs, resource state and recent release |
| Only form or checkout fails | Integration or application path | Activate manual fallback and inspect transaction logs |
| Unexpected content or redirects | Possible compromise | Contain and preserve evidence |
Communicate and recover
Use a controlled status page or independent channel. State what is affected, what customers should do and when the next update will be provided. Avoid declaring data safe before assessment.
Acceptance check
After service returns, test the complete customer journey, reconcile missed transactions, preserve the timeline and add a preventive monitoring or process improvement.
Avoid destructive diagnosis
Do not clear every cache, change DNS and restore a database simultaneously. Multiple unrecorded changes destroy evidence and make recovery harder. Start with observation, isolate the failing layer and make the smallest reversible intervention.
Records to keep
- Initial screenshots and timestamps.
- Recent-change list.
- Provider status and support reference.
- Actions taken and observed result.
Owner test: Ask the responder to explain which evidence justified each change and how it could be reversed.
Sources and date checked
This practical guidance was checked against the following primary sources. Date checked: 21 July 2026.
Keep the decision under your control
Retain the relevant accounts, source material, supplier terms and recovery information. Recheck changing prices, interfaces and rules before acting.