Something looks wrong with my website: which free tool?

The short version

• Start on your own phone, using mobile data. It helps rule out problems with your office network or browser.
• Pick the one tool that matches the symptom; don’t run everything.
• Write down what you saw, when it started and what changed recently.
• Stop before changing DNS, server settings or code you don’t manage.
• Send the result to whoever runs that part: your host, email provider or web company.

Which tool do I use for which problem?

How do I work through each one?

The site won’t load

Try it on your phone with Wi-Fi off. If it loads there, the problem may be your office network or a security block on your address. If it doesn’t, check your uptime monitor’s history for when it started, and see why a website goes down. Check your domain hasn’t expired with the domain and SSL checker.

There’s a security warning

Note the exact wording of the warning, and the exact address in the bar. Not every warning is about the certificate: a red page saying the site is dangerous or deceptive usually means Google Safe Browsing flagged it for malware or phishing, which is a hack-level problem; see what to do if your site is hacked. For certificate warnings, run the domain through SSL Labs. An expired date, a T grade (untrusted) or an M grade (wrong name) goes straight to your host. If the grade is fine but the browser still says “Not Secure,” there are several possible causes: the address you opened is http rather than https, a redirect doesn’t go to https, the www or non-www version isn’t covered, or the page loads something over plain http. SSL Labs tests one host name, so check the exact one in the warning. See why a site says “Not Secure”. Never tell customers to click past the warning, and don’t click past it yourself.

Enquiries have dropped

Send a test from your phone. If it doesn’t arrive, look in the form plugin’s saved entries: if the entry is there, the email went astray, and our help page on missing form emails covers that. If the email arrives but Analytics shows fewer leads, run Tag Assistant to see whether tracking broke. If both work, it may be fewer visitors, which Search Console shows.

Your emails land in junk

Run your domain through a record checker and look for a missing or duplicate SPF record, DKIM not found under your provider’s selector, or no DMARC. Then send a real message to Gmail and read its headers. Our email checking guide walks through the results.

Pages are slow

Run the page through PageSpeed Insights. Look at the real-visitor section first; Google’s documentation says it covers the previous 28 days. If there’s no real-visitor data, use the lab section and your own phone. Our answer on reading a PageSpeed score explains what matters.

Fewer visitors from Google

In Search Console, open the Performance report and compare the last three months with the same period last year. Check the Pages report for pages that dropped out of the index, and Security & Manual Actions for warnings. Our answer on why traffic dropped covers the usual causes, and why you’re not showing on Google covers a site that’s missing entirely.

Why start with the symptom?

Running every tool at once produces a long list of warnings, most of which don’t explain the problem you have. Starting from the symptom gets you to the cause faster and gives the person fixing it exactly what they need: what broke, when, and what the tool showed.

What are the common mistakes?

• Testing only from the office. Your network, browser cache or logged-in state can hide problems.
• Fixing the score instead of the symptom. A speed score won’t explain missing leads.
• Changing DNS to “see if it helps.” A wrong DNS change can take email and the site down together.
• Clearing everything and starting again. Note what you saw first; the evidence helps.
• Waiting. A site that’s down or a form that’s broken costs enquiries every hour.

What if the tools don’t explain it?

Some problems only show up in the server’s error logs, the hosting control panel or the website’s admin. If the free tools come back clean but the symptom is real, that’s the point to hand over. Send your notes and screenshots, but never passwords or codes. Our page on how to reach E-3 for help lists what to include if you’re an E-3 client.

How much does it cost, and how long does it take?

All the tools here are free. Most checks take under five minutes. What it costs to fix depends on the cause and who manages that part of your setup.

How does E-3 handle this?

For hosted sites in our website care, E-3’s monitoring tracks PHP version, waiting updates, known plugin vulnerabilities, disk and database space, and domain and plugin-license renewals. Those checks catch some problems before they turn into the symptoms above. Website care also includes uptime monitoring, daily backups and security alerts, and our managed hosting includes SSL. Updates, fixes and redesigns are tested on a staging copy first.

Related questions

• Back to the free website tools guide
• Which free uptime monitor should I use?
• How do I read an SSL Labs report?
• How do I check my tracking tags work?
• How do I check my email setup?
• What’s on a full website care checklist?

Sources

1. About PageSpeed Insights (Google for Developers)
2. About Search Console (Search Console Help)
3. SSL Server Test (Qualys SSL Labs)
4. Set up and use Tag Assistant (Tag Assistant Help)
5. Check MX (Google Admin Toolbox)