Few things are more frustrating than trying to access a website only to find it completely offline. For business owners, even a few minutes of downtime can feel like missed opportunities. At Coalmarch, keeping your site online and reliable is a top priority.

What Is Website Downtime?

When we say downtime, we mean periods where your site is inaccessible. That’s different from smaller disruptions like a slow load time or a broken form. Downtime is when your site can’t be reached at all, and that’s when it starts to impact both your customers and your bottom line.

How We Monitor and Manage Uptime

24/7 Uptime Monitoring

Every client site we manage is monitored around the clock using downtime monitoring tools like Uptime Robot. These systems alert us instantly if a site goes offline, so our team can step in right away to diagnose the root cause and deploy updates.

Our Internal Response Protocol

When an alert hits, we follow a documented process amongst our Web Services, Products, and Client Success teams to find the root of the problem, address it quickly, and communicate updates to our client(s). But speed isn’t the only goal. We want lasting solutions, not band-aids. That means digging into logs, isolating potential conflicts, and using the right tools to pinpoint what’s causing the issue before we roll out the solution or modification.

Nightly Cache Flushes

You might notice that your site briefly flickers offline in the middle of the night. That’s not downtime. It’s a planned, proactive step where our servers flush cached data to keep your site running fast and secure for your end users: potential customers. These maintenance events are part of keeping your digital foundation solid.

Common Causes of Website Downtime

Server Maintenance & Updates

Some downtime is planned and necessary. This includes routine maintenance like cache flushes, but also scheduled updates for fixes, platform enhancements, and new feature releases. These updates keep your site secure, stable, and ahead of the curve, and they typically happen at night during off-peak hours, so the impact on your site visitors is minimal.

Hosting or Infrastructure Issues

Another leading cause of downtime is an overload of server resources, whether from a malicious attack like a DDoS or an unexpected surge in traffic. Automated bots are constantly scanning the internet, sending large waves of requests to websites in search of vulnerabilities. Both scenarios can overwhelm a site’s infrastructure and bring it to a halt if the right safeguards aren’t in place.

To protect against this, we use a server system designed to absorb and redirect suspicious traffic. If one server is targeted, backup systems automatically roll over to keep sites running smoothly. On top of that, we leverage performance tuning, load balancing, and security best practices to make sure sites remain stable—even under pressure. Our expertise allows us to anticipate vulnerabilities and put protections in place so your business stays online when it matters most.

Third-Party Service Failures

If your site uses tools like form builders, CRMs, or analytics integrations, those third parties can sometimes go offline. When that happens, it can impact your site’s performance, even if your server is fine, which is why our thorough QA and monitoring systems allow us to identify and address API inconsistencies early.

Code Bugs

Like any technology, websites can be affected by software bugs. Updates to modules, third-party tools, or even broader platform changes can sometimes introduce errors that disrupt site performance. Even small glitches can cause noticeable issues if not addressed quickly. That’s why we rely on structured testing, monitoring, and rapid response protocols to catch problems early and resolve them before they impact your business. This approach keeps sites stable while still allowing for the updates and improvements businesses need to grow.

DNS or Domain Issues

Sometimes the problem isn’t the site at all. Domain settings or DNS changes can briefly make a website unreachable until everything propagates correctly. When this is the case, our monitoring systems notify us immediately, and we reach out to you to diagnose the issue and walk through the process of updating your registrar settings.

What This Means for You

Here’s the bottom line: when partnering with Coalmarch, you don’t need to worry about watching uptime reports; We’ve got it handled. Our team is committed to transparency, and if you ever want to see your uptime stats, we’re happy to walk you through them.

Website downtime is rare — and when it does happen, it’s resolved quickly and thoroughly. At Coalmarch, we’re constantly investing in the infrastructure, monitoring systems, and processes that keep your site reliable. Because at the end of the day, your website isn’t just a page on the internet. It’s the engine fueling your growth, and keeping it running is our job.