Symptoms

What you're seeing

Any of these means your site has stopped working for visitors.

500 Internal Server Error
Most commonly a plugin conflict or PHP error
Error establishing a database connection
Database credentials changed, corrupted, or DB server down
White screen of death (blank page)
PHP memory limit hit or a fatal plugin/theme error
Site shows maintenance mode and won't exit
Stuck .maintenance file from a failed update
!
503 Service Unavailable
Server overload or hosting-level issue
!
403 Forbidden on all pages
File permission issue or security plugin blocking everything
!
DNS / domain not resolving
Domain expired, DNS misconfigured, or nameserver issue
!
Site loads for some visitors but not others
Caching issue or CDN serving stale error pages
Our process

How we fix it

We don't guess. We follow a systematic diagnosis process to find the root cause and fix it properly.

01
Rapid diagnosis

We identify the exact error — server logs, PHP error logs, and database checks. No guessing.

~20 mins
02
Isolate the cause

Plugin conflict, failed update, database corruption, server issue — we pinpoint it before touching anything.

~30 mins
03
Fix & restore

We fix the root cause — from restoring a backup to manually repairing a database or rolling back a bad update.

30–90 mins
04
Verify & monitor

We test everything is working, check for secondary issues, and monitor uptime for 24 hours post-recovery.

24 hrs
Root cause

Common causes

Most downtime is avoidable. Here's what causes it.

Plugin update gone wrong
A plugin update introduced a PHP error. We test updates before deploying — that's what care plan clients get by default.
Corrupted database
Database tables can corrupt due to a failed update, a server crash, or a plugin writing bad data.
Hosting outage or limit
PHP memory limits, CPU throttling, or a hosting-level outage. We handle the recovery regardless of where the fault lies.
Failed WordPress update
Core updates can occasionally break things — especially on older sites with legacy customisations or incompatible plugins.
Expired domain or SSL
A lapsed domain or expired SSL certificate will take your site offline instantly. We set up monitoring to catch this first.
Your fix, sorted

Get your site back online

Get it fixed as a one-off — scoped and quoted before we start, no plan required. Or put it on a care plan and the same team keeps it sorted going forward.

Want it handled long-term?

A care plan keeps the same team on your site — updates, backups, security and support, so this doesn't happen again. From £49/mo +VAT.

Move onto a plan within 30 days and your fix cost comes off your first month.

No contracts · UK support team · 3-month minimum

FAQ

Common questions

We aim to respond within 2 hours during UK business hours. Care plan clients on Build and Partner have guaranteed SLA response times.

Almost all WordPress downtime is fixable remotely. In rare cases involving server hardware, we'll liaise with your hosting provider directly.

Yes — we'll need cPanel, Plesk, or hosting provider access to view server logs. We'll ask for only what we need.

We'll fix the live site without restoring a backup where possible. If a restore is the best option, we'll tell you first and only proceed with your agreement.

If it was caused by an unmanaged update or plugin conflict, yes — unless you put ongoing cover in place. That's what our care plans are for.

Site down? We'll fix it.

Go straight to the front of the queue — a developer picks it up next.

UK team · No care plan required · £125/hr +VAT · 2-hr minimum