Sound familiar?
- The site will not load at all, or shows "This site can't be reached"
- Every page shows a 500 error, 503 Service Unavailable or a critical error
- Your domain has expired and shows a registrar parking page
- Google shows "This site may be hacked" or browsers show a red warning
- The checkout has stopped taking payments
- Your host has suspended the account for malware or resource use
Key facts
- Call 01623 650333 (office) or 07425 323333 (mobile), or email support@dijitul.uk
- Emergency fixes are £45 an hour + VAT, 30-minute minimum, then 15-minute blocks
- Business and Complete plan clients get priority support
- First step is always to find out whether the problem is the site, the hosting, DNS or the domain
- Backups taken before changes, where the server allows
- Existing clients can raise a ticket at clients.dijitul.uk
What to do in the first ten minutes
- Check it is not just you: try the site on mobile data rather than office Wi-Fi, and in a private browser window.
- Check your email: look for messages from your host, domain registrar or WordPress ("Your site is experiencing a technical issue").
- Do not keep clicking update or restore: repeated attempts can make a partial failure worse or overwrite a good backup.
- Call us: 01623 650333 or 07425 323333. Have your hosting company name and, if you have them, admin and hosting logins ready.
How we triage an emergency
A site "being down" can mean very different things. We work through the layers in order, because the fix depends on where the fault is:
- Domain: has it expired or been suspended at the registrar? A WHOIS lookup tells us in seconds.
- DNS: do the A and CNAME records still point at the right server? A changed nameserver or deleted record takes the site and often email offline. See domain and DNS support.
- Hosting: is the server up, is the account suspended, has disk space or an inode limit been hit?
- SSL: has the certificate expired, giving visitors a full-page browser warning? See SSL certificate support.
- Application: is WordPress, Joomla, Magento or the shop throwing a fatal error from a plugin, extension or failed update?
- Security: is the site hacked, redirecting or blocklisted?
Once we know the layer, we fix it or tell you exactly who needs to act, for example a hosting provider with a hardware fault.
Common emergencies and fixes
- Critical error after an update: disable the faulty plugin or extension over SFTP or in the database, restore the site, then find a compatible version.
- Expired domain: renew through the registrar if still in the grace period, then check DNS is intact.
- Database connection errors: credentials, a crashed table or the database server itself.
- Host suspension: usually malware or an overloaded site. We clean or optimise and work with the host to lift it.
- Hacked site: contain, clean and restore. See hacked website repair.
- Total loss: restore from the most recent clean backup. If there is no backup, we check the host's own backups and archived copies.
Prices and priority
Emergency work is charged at the standard ad-hoc rate: £45 an hour + VAT, with a 30-minute minimum then 15-minute blocks. No plan is needed. We do the work remotely, so location in the UK does not matter.
Clients on the Business plan (£50 a month + VAT) and Complete plan (£99 a month + VAT) get priority support, and their included monthly hours can be used for urgent fixes. Every plan, including Essential at £25 a month + VAT, includes daily backups and uptime monitoring, which makes emergencies rarer and faster to recover from. See website maintenance and downtime monitoring.
Information that speeds up a fix
In an emergency, most lost time goes on finding logins. If you can, have these ready when you call:
- Who hosts the site and the hosting control panel login (cPanel, Plesk or a custom panel).
- Where the domain is registered, and the registrar login.
- A website admin login, if it still works.
- What changed recently: an update, a new plugin, a hosting move, a DNS change, a new developer.
- The exact error message or a screenshot.
If you do not have them, we can still start: we look up the host and registrar from public DNS and WHOIS records and help you recover access through them.
Preventing the next emergency
Most website emergencies trace back to one of four causes: an unchecked update, no working backup, an expired domain or certificate, or an unpatched vulnerability. A maintenance plan covers the first, second and fourth, and keeping domain and certificate renewals on auto-renew with a current card covers the third. Once your site is back, we will tell you plainly what caused the problem and what would stop it happening again. More on website backups and website support.
What it costs
Support plans from £25 a month + VAT, or £45 an hour + VAT for one-off fixes. Pick a plan if you want it looked after every month, or pay by the hour for a one-off job.
Essential
Keep it updated, backed up and watched.
- Website software updates (core, plugins, themes) applied and checked
- Daily backups
- Uptime monitoring
- Security monitoring
Business
Updates plus an hour of fixes every month.
- Everything in Essential
- 1 hour of fixes or changes every month
- Priority support
Complete
Website and your team's IT, covered.
- Everything in Business
- 3 hours of fixes or changes every month
- IT and Microsoft 365 helpdesk for your team
No plan? The first 30 minutes are the minimum charge, then we bill in 15-minute blocks.
Frequently asked questions
My website is down. What should I do first?
Check it on mobile data and in a private browser window, then look for emails from your host or domain registrar. Avoid repeated update or restore attempts. Then call dijitul on 01623 650333 or 07425 323333 with your hosting details ready.
How much does emergency website support cost?
dijitul charges the same rate for emergencies as other ad-hoc work: £45 an hour + VAT, with a 30-minute minimum then 15-minute blocks. No plan or contract is needed, and the work is done remotely, so it makes no difference where in the UK you are.
Do plan clients get faster help?
Yes. Clients on dijitul's Business plan at £50 a month + VAT and Complete plan at £99 a month + VAT get priority support, and can use their included monthly hours on urgent fixes.
Can you fix my site if I have no backups?
Often, yes. Many failures are a single faulty plugin or setting that can be fixed in place. If data is lost, dijitul checks your host's backups and archived copies. Every dijitul plan includes daily backups to prevent this.
Is my site down because of my host?
Possibly. Outages can come from the domain, DNS, hosting, SSL certificate or the website software itself. dijitul works through each layer to find the cause and either fixes it or tells you who needs to act.
Can you help if my domain has expired?
Yes. If the domain is still in its grace or redemption period, it can usually be renewed through the registrar. dijitul helps you regain access to the registrar account and checks DNS and email records afterwards.
Related
Get it fixed
One-off fixes are £45 an hour + VAT. You'll know the likely cost before we start.