How Do Website Monitoring Services Really Work?

You know that uptime equates to profits. You also know that website downtime can significantly cut into those profits if it isn’t managed properly. By now you have probably figured out that a website monitoring service is a must if you want to minimize the downtime that your website experiences. But what is website monitoring? Exactly how does it work? If you’re still questioning how a website monitoring service can help you reduce downtime for your online business, you need to understand what it is, what it does, and how it works for your business. Here are some things you need to know when trying to understand the fundamentals of such a critical service.

An Eagle’s Eye on Your Website 24 Hours a Day

It is virtually impossible to monitor your website yourself. You would need to sit in front of your computer checking every aspect of your site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Not only is this impractical, it is virtually impossible. This is where website monitoring services come into play. Such services keep watch over your site’s uptime 24 hours a day, checking your site as often as every few seconds (and sometimes even more frequently) to ensure that your site is up and available for your customers and functioning properly at all times.

The website monitoring service works by conducting in-depth protocol tests of your website, servers, network services, ports, and hardware devices. Each of these is checked at an interval that you determine when you set up your service. Oftentimes one server will check your site and then another server in another station will check it again, making sure that your site is available in all locations. If more than one location detects a failure, you are notified of the problem immediately.

Immediate Alerts

If for some reason your website monitoring service detects a problem with your website, such as your site not responding as it should or not performing properly, the website monitoring service will alert you immediately. This can save you precious minutes, since every minute of downtime that you don’t know about equates to profits lost. How you are notified depends on the service you are using and the quality of that service. Ideally you will be notified by email as well as a phone call or SMS text message. With a quality website monitoring service, not only will you be alerted as to the downtime, but you will also be alerted as to the reason for the downtime. This allows you to get to work fixing the problem (if the problem is on your end) or putting your failsafe plans into place if the problem is being caused by your hosting provider (which you don’t have control over).

Multiple Monitoring Centers

So what happens if your service’s servers go down? How will your site be monitored for downtime? A quality website monitoring service has servers in multiple locations. This ensures that if the power goes out in one area or a server goes down in one center, one of the other centers can take over and ensure continuous monitoring of your website. When choosing a website monitoring service, make sure the service has more than one server center. If the company has only one server location and something happens to make that location go dark, then your site’s protection is interrupted. Ensuring multiple servers means your site is always protected, regardless of what happens in a single location.

Not Just a Service, But a Partner

A website monitoring service doesn’t just act as a product, but rather it acts as a partner in ensuring the uptime of your business’s website. This type of service monitors your site consistently, ensuring the uptime of your site and notifying you of downtime the moment it happens. This allows you to work on other aspects of your site, such as driving traffic and creating sales. Just remember, a service such as this is an investment that pays for itself. It is not just another business expense. The money that you spend on a quality website monitoring service is paid back to you in minimized downtime and a reduction in lost profits due to such downtime.