Website Not Opening? Five Checks Before You Change DNS

A customer says your website will not open. You try it on your phone and see the homepage. Both results matter: the problem may depend on the address, browser or connection being used.

Before changing settings, collect a few observations. These five checks help you work out where to look and give support something more useful than “the site is down”. You can do them without editing your website or its DNS records.

1. Check the exact address and the affected pages

Copy the address from the browser rather than retyping it from memory. Check the spelling, the ending such as .com or .com.gh, and the page after the domain name. Keep a note of whether the address includes www.

Open the homepage, then the page the customer reported. If the homepage loads but an old Services link gives a 404 error, record both results. A broken page link needs a different investigation from a whole website that cannot be reached.

If your business uses both the plain domain and a www address, check both with https://. Stop at any security warning. The two names need the appropriate DNS and website configuration; a working plain domain does not establish that www is configured correctly. Cloudflare’s DNS troubleshooting guide explains why the main domain and its subdomains need separate checks.

2. Compare another browser and connection

First open another familiar website. If several unrelated sites fail, investigate the device or internet connection. Chrome’s connection guide starts with the address and connection checks.

For your own site, try these comparisons:

• Open the same public page in another browser or a private window.
• On a phone, switch off Wi-Fi and try mobile data, if available. Then compare with Wi-Fi again.
• Ask a colleague to check the same address on a different connection and note the result.

Change one thing at a time. A second browser helps separate browser-specific behaviour from a wider connection problem; Mozilla’s connection troubleshooting uses that comparison too.

For example, imagine a fictional clothing shop in Kumasi. Its homepage opens on a staff member’s mobile data but times out on the shop’s Wi-Fi. That is a useful clue about where the results differ. It does not prove that the website works for every visitor, or that the Wi-Fi provider caused the fault.

If a private window works, record that before clearing anything. Deleting cookies can sign you out, and clearing a browser cache will not repair an incorrect DNS record.

3. Read the error before choosing a fix

Take a screenshot of the message and any error code. “It keeps loading” and “the certificate has expired” point to different checks.

The DNS error guide, Chrome error reference and MDN HTTP status reference describe these distinctions. An error is a starting point, not a diagnosis by itself.

For a certificate warning, check that the device’s date, time and time zone are correct. If the warning remains, have the hosting provider or website administrator investigate the certificate for the affected address. Keep visitors on HTTPS and ask them to stop at the warning rather than bypass it or submit details. Mozilla’s security-warning guide covers incorrect clocks, expired certificates and certificates issued for a different name.

4. Review recent changes and service notices

Write down anything changed shortly before the failure: nameservers, website DNS records, a hosting move, a domain renewal, a WordPress update or a new redirect. Include when it happened, even if someone else made the change.

Check the domain registration and website-hosting service separately in the relevant provider accounts. Record any expiry, suspension or incomplete-order notice. If a renewal was paid, keep the invoice reference and ask the provider to confirm its status before making another payment. Our domain-renewal email guide explains how to check a renewal request through a trusted account.

After a DNS change, cached answers may remain until they refresh. The record’s time to live, or TTL, influences this; there is no single countdown that proves every visitor now has the new answer. Cloudflare’s TTL explanation describes the relationship between caching and updates. Waiting will not correct a wrong record.

Use the settings assigned to your own service when asking for a DNS check. Changing nameservers can affect records for other services too. Preserve the existing records before any planned change, especially email settings: MX records direct incoming email. DNS record types explains their roles. If mail is also failing, note that separately and use our email-receiving checklist.

5. Put the observations in one support report

Include the address, exact error, when you noticed it, browser and device, network comparisons, and recent changes. Attach a cropped screenshot with unrelated tabs and private details removed. Leave out passwords, one-time codes and payment-card details.

Here is a fictional example, using a reserved .example address that is not a working shop website:

Website: https://cloth-shop.example/
First noticed: 16 October, around 13:20 GMT in Ghana
Error: connection timed out on shop Wi-Fi
Comparison: the same homepage opens on a phone using mobile data; another browser on Wi-Fi still times out
Recent changes: none known; please check the connection and website configuration

Your next step: if your Nakroteck-hosted website still fails, contact Nakroteck support with that report. Existing customers can sign in from the contact page and open a ticket for the affected service.