Troubleshooting hosting problems
Step-by-step guidance for diagnosing and resolving the most common hosting issues — from site downtime to SSL warnings to slow loading.
- Difficulty
- Beginner
When something goes wrong with your website, it can be hard to tell whether it's a hosting problem, a WordPress problem, or a DNS issue. This guide helps you work through the most common scenarios.
Quick summary
Start by checking your hosting provider's status page. Then try your site in a private browser window. Most hosting problems fall into a few categories: site down, SSL warning, slow loading, or login issues. Work through the relevant section below, then contact us or your host if the issue persists.
Before you troubleshoot: check the host's status page
If your site is down or behaving strangely, the first step is always to check whether your hosting provider is experiencing a known issue:
- Flywheel: Check
status.getflywheel.com - WP Engine: Check
wpenginestatus.com - Kinsta: Check
status.kinsta.com
If there's an active incident, your host is already working on it. All you can do is wait. Status pages list major outages; Kinsta, for example, reports problems that affect only a few customers inside MyKinsta instead, so check your hosting dashboard for alerts too.
Problem: My site is completely down
Check the host's status page (links above) for active incidents.
Try your site in a private/incognito browser window to rule out browser cache issues.
Ask someone else to try your site from a different network. If they can reach it and you can't, the issue may be with your internet connection or local DNS.
Use an online "is it down for everyone?" checker to see whether the site is unreachable from other locations too.
Check your hosting account — log in and see if it shows your site as active or if there's a payment or account issue. See renewing hosting.
Contact us if none of the above resolves the issue or if the hosting dashboard shows a problem.
Problem: "Not secure" or SSL warning in the browser
Check if the URL starts with https:// and the browser shows no security warning. If the address is plain http:// or the browser says "Not secure", your SSL certificate may not be active.
Log in to your hosting dashboard and check the SSL settings for your site's domain. Look for any error messages.
If DNS was recently changed, give it time. A host can only issue a free certificate once it can verify your domain, usually because DNS points to the host or because a DNS record it asked you to add has taken effect. That can take up to a day or two (Flywheel says up to 48 hours; Kinsta says DNS records can take up to 24 hours to propagate).
If the URL is https:// but something still looks wrong (a warning, or missing images, styles or scripts), there may be a mixed-content issue: some elements are being requested over plain HTTP, and browsers upgrade or block those requests. This requires a WordPress fix. Contact us.
See what is SSL & HTTPS? for background.
Problem: My site is very slow
Check if you're logged in. Managed hosts usually leave logged-in sessions out of the page cache, so your experience may be slower than what visitors see. Test in a private browser window.
Clear the server cache from your hosting dashboard (Flywheel, WP Engine, and Kinsta all have a button for this; see the next section for where).
Check the hosting status page for any performance incidents.
Contact us if slowness persists after clearing cache. There may be a plugin issue or a server resource problem.
Problem: My changes aren't showing up for visitors
Clear the server cache from your hosting dashboard. This is the most common cause.
Check in a private/incognito browser window to confirm the cached visitor view.
If on Flywheel: Click Flush Cache on the site's Advanced tab in the Flywheel dashboard.
If on WP Engine: Use Clear all caches on the environment's Cache page in the User Portal, or go to WP Engine > Caching > Clear All Caches in WordPress admin.
If on Kinsta: Go to Sites > (your site) > Caching in MyKinsta and click Clear all caches, which covers the server, CDN and edge caches. (Clearing only the server cache leaves the CDN cache in place; that has its own Clear CDN cache button on the same page.) Or click Clear Cache in the WordPress admin toolbar.
Problem: I can't log in to the hosting dashboard
Try the "Forgot password?" option on the login page to reset your credentials.
Check your spam folder for the reset email.
Contact the hosting provider's support directly via their support center or help documentation. They can verify your account and reset access.
Contact us and we can check whether our team can assist with account access.
Problem: Email stopped working after a hosting change
Check your MX records — email relies on DNS MX records that should not have been changed during a hosting migration. See hosting vs email.
Log in to your DNS provider (registrar, Cloudflare, etc.) and verify MX records are intact.
Contact us immediately if MX records were accidentally modified — this is time-sensitive.
Common questions
How do I know if it's a hosting problem or a WordPress problem?
If your site shows a WordPress error (like a white screen or a plugin error), it's likely a WordPress/code issue. "Error establishing a database connection" can be either: WordPress's own documentation lists both site configuration mistakes and web host problems as causes. If the server is completely unreachable (browser says "server not found" or connection timed out), it's likely a hosting or DNS issue.
Can a plugin cause my site to go down?
Yes. A bad plugin update can cause a PHP fatal error that takes your site offline. This is a WordPress-level issue, not a hosting issue. We handle plugin update testing on care plan sites.
What information should I gather before contacting support?
Your site URL, the exact error message you're seeing (a screenshot is helpful), what you were doing when the problem started, and the time it began. More detail = faster resolution.
Related guides
- Hosting uptime & downtime
- What is SSL & HTTPS?
- Hosting vs email: why they're separate
- How to contact your host's support
- My website is down
- Browser cache & hard refresh
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