If your website does not open, or shows an error, a customer who taps it reaches nothing. Many will tap the next business instead. Open it on your phone today. Then send the right details to the person who runs it.
Imran runs a mobile repair shop. His Google listing shows a website link.
One day a customer called him. "Your website shows an error," she said. Imran had not opened it in months. His web address had run out a few weeks before.
This is an example, with a made up name and business.
Fix it yourself
- Open your website on your phone. Use mobile data, not your shop WiFi. Many customers will open it this way.
- Try again after an hour. Some errors come and go. Note the date and time each time it fails.
- If it does not open at all, the usual cause is a web address that ran out. Or a setting that was never finished. Find the bill or email from where you bought the address. Check that it is still yours, and renew it if needed.
- If it opens with an error, write down the address, the date and the time. Send these to whoever hosts or built your site. Say it gave a server error. Ask them to look at it.
- If Google's speed test could not open it, try the test yourself at PageSpeed Insights (Google). Type your address and look at the result for mobile. If the test fails again, tell your web person. People on slow phones may see the same problem.
- Check the link on your Google listing. If the old address is not yours any more, remove it or change it. Open your Business Profile, tap Edit profile, and find the website field.
- Once it works, set a reminder. Open your site once a month. Check the renewal date of your web address too.
If your site opens but shows a "Not secure" warning, see how to fix the Not secure warning. If it opens but is slow, see five fixes for a website that loses customers.
Common questions
My website opens on my computer. Why did Pulse say it did not?
Pulse opened it once, at one time. Your site may have been down then. Or it may fail only on phones or slow networks. Check on your phone with mobile data.
Who is the person who runs my website?
The person or company that built it, or where you pay for it each year. If you made it yourself, it is you.
Will a working website bring more customers?
Nobody can promise that. But a page that opens does not send a customer away.