Website Uptime Monitoring After a Customer Reports It
Website uptime monitoring should reach someone who can fix the outage, not a customer who already left. I watch around the clock, from $99 a month.
In this article· 6 sections
A customer is not an uptime check. They write after the page already failed, and only if they felt like saying so. Say you run a flower shop. Saturday morning a regular texts that the order page would not open. You were on the floor. Nobody was watching the site.
Short answer: Website uptime monitoring should tell someone who can fix the site, not wait on a customer who already left. Check a second device and the renewals first, then stop changing settings. Managed Website Hosting & Care watches around the clock and includes the fix on my watch, from $99 a month. You can cancel any time.
What is website uptime monitoring when a customer tells you first?
Website uptime monitoring is a check that runs while you are with a customer, plus a path from that check to someone who can fix the site. A text from a customer is a late report. It arrives after the page already failed, and only if they wrote.
The gap is time, and it is also who hears it. A regular who wanted a bouquet already tried the page and gave up. You learn about the outage in the middle of a sale, with no record of when it started. A check you remember to run only exists in that minute. If the alert sits in an inbox nobody reads, you are back to the next customer.
What can I check before I pay for a watch?
Open the address on a second device, then check the domain and hosting renewals. The free host lookup names the host, the registrar, and the date the domain expires. Write down the error. Do not change settings until those three checks are done.
If a second device loads the page, the first device is the problem. If both fail, write one line: blank page, cannot connect, browser warning, or not found. Then open the email that pays the domain and the email that pays the host. Those are often two bills. A failed card takes a working site offline without changing the design. The free who hosts my website lookup names the host, the registrar, who runs DNS, who handles email, and the date the domain expires. You do not need a password for that.
If that date has passed, renew the name first. If it is still ahead, check the host bill. The website down page is that checklist in short form. Do not point the domain somewhere new.
Who hears about the outage, and who fixes it?
I monitor uptime around the clock on every plan. On Essentials and Business, an outage goes to the front of the line during business hours. Priority gets 24/7 response if the site goes down. A fix on my watch, or a backup restore, is included.
A notice that only emails you still leaves you to log in and guess. On a plan, the outage reaches me.
That line-jump is not the same clock as a small edit. Text, a photo, hours, a new post, or a section uses the monthly minutes. Essentials still replies to a change request within 2 business days. Do not read that reply window as the outage window.
A page that will not load is a break. Restoring a backup is included, and the backup is stored separately from the site. Checkout takes a couple of minutes. I email you within 1 business day to start onboarding. The watch and the included fix apply once the site is on the plan. Send a change, with a link or a screenshot, to michael@michaelheredia.com.
What does the monthly plan actually include?
Every plan includes hosting and SSL, daily backups stored separately from the site, core, plugin, and theme updates, uptime monitoring, and security hardening. You can keep your current host at the same price. Small changes use monthly time first, then $125 an hour.
Security hardening is locked-down logins, firewall rules, and safe defaults. Business and Priority test updates on a staging copy before they go live. Essentials includes the updates and does not include that test. You can keep your current hosting at the same price. Your host keeps billing you. I still keep a daily backup stored separately. Priority’s dedicated server applies only when I host.
Moving one standard site in is included: I copy it, test it, then switch the domain at a quiet time. A large online store or a custom app gets a fixed quote first. You do not manage a server login or a control panel. You keep the domain and the content, and you can ask for a complete copy any time. After the monthly minutes, changes are $125 an hour, and I tell you before going over. Unused time does not roll over. Malware cleanup is $125 an hour on Essentials and included on Business and Priority. A redesign, a new feature, an online store, or an integration is a fixed price before any work starts.
Which plan fits if the site cannot sit dark?
Essentials is $99 a month, with 30 minutes of changes and a reply within 2 business days. Business is $249 a month, with 1 hour, staging, and malware cleanup included. Priority is $499 a month, with 3 hours and 24/7 response if the site goes down.
| Plan | Price | When the site is down |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $99 a month | Monitoring around the clock. An outage goes to the front of the line during business hours. Fixes and backup restores are included. 30 minutes of changes. Malware cleanup is $125 an hour. |
| Business (most popular) | $249 a month | Everything in Essentials, 1 hour of changes, updates tested on a staging copy before they go live, malware cleanup included. |
| Priority | $499 a month | Everything in Business, 3 hours of changes, a dedicated server when I host, and 24/7 response if the site goes down. |
“Most popular” is only the label on Business. The price is the same if I host or if I look after the site on the host you already pay. See the plans. You can cancel any time.
When this isn’t the right fit
A monthly plan watches the site you already have and fixes a break on my watch. It is the wrong fit when the pages need a redesign first, or when someone on staff already handles outages, backups, and small edits.
If the pages still sell something you stopped offering, or the layout was never usable, start with web development. I quote a redesign as a fixed price before any work starts. A care plan can hold the site after that build. It does not replace the build. If someone on staff already watches the site, keeps backups, and makes the small edits, you do not need a second person on the same jobs.
If you cancel, the plan runs to the end of the paid month. Before it ends, you get a full copy of the site and help pointing the domain to a new host.
See the three plans on the plans page, or send the error you wrote down through the hosting form. I reply by email.
FAQ
A customer said my site was down. Is that the same as monitoring? +
A customer message arrives after the page already failed, and only if they wrote. Website uptime monitoring checks the site around the clock and puts an outage in front of someone who can fix it. On Essentials and Business that outage goes to the front of the line during business hours. Priority gets 24/7 response if the site goes down.
What does website uptime monitoring cost on your plans? +
Essentials is $99 a month, Business is $249 a month, and Priority is $499 a month, billed through Stripe. You can cancel any time. Every plan includes hosting, SSL, daily backups stored separately, updates, uptime monitoring around the clock, and a fix if something breaks on my watch. Priority adds 24/7 response if the site goes down.
Do I have to move hosting to get the monitoring? +
No. You can keep your current hosting at the same plans and the same price. Your host keeps billing you. I look after the site on that account and still store a daily backup separately. Priority's dedicated server applies only when I host. Moving one standard site in is included. A large online store gets a fixed quote first.
If the site goes down on your watch, is the fix extra? +
Fixing something that broke on my watch, or restoring a backup, is included on every plan. Daily backups are stored separately from the site. Small changes use the monthly minutes first, then $125 an hour, and I tell you before going over. Malware cleanup is $125 an hour on Essentials and included on Business and Priority.
