Back in May, we all learned a valuable lesson. Even the giants can stumble and fall. Yelp was down for the count for quite a few hours. However, it was not only the Yelp site that went down. Connected services went down with it. If your business is connected to Yelp in any way, this could have had a direct impact on you. Even if it didn't affect your business, it is still a word to the wise that downtime is inevitable no matter how big your business may be and that website monitoring is a must if you want to be on top of that downtime when it happens.

When it comes to website monitoring, here at Alertra we understand that every second counts. No matter how big or small your site may be, any dollar lost to downtime is one dollar too much. That is why we have implemented Synapse technology to ensure that our customers are notified 75 percent faster than the competition, putting you ahead of the curve and saving you from lost profits.

When it comes to choosing a website monitoring service for your business's website, you want to make sure you choose one you can trust. If you don't choose the right website monitor, you may think you are protected from excess downtime when, in reality, you aren't really protected any more than you would be had you not implemented any website monitoring at all. Here are some things to look for when choosing a website monitoring service for your business website.

Website monitoring services keep becoming increasingly popular as companies recognize the damage that downtime can do to their business's image and profits. Anything that affects a business's bottom line as to be monitored, and downtime is definitely has a big impact on your company's profits. Before you decide whether or not you want to invest in a quality website monitor for your site, make sure you consider the following four facts.

There are certain things your web host probably doesn't want you to know about. For example, what their actual uptime rate really is, or how much that guarantee they offer is actually worth. Another thing your web host doesn't want is for you to know why it is so important for you to use a quality website monitor to protect the uptime of your site.

No matter how large or small your site may be, no site is invulnerable to hacker attacks. As Twitter member EventOracle tweeted in June, "Our website is down due to spotty geeks malicious hacking, again." If every minute of downtime costs your company money, and it does, then hackers are a serious threat to your business's profits. Here are some steps you can take to protect your site from hackers and protect your profits from malicious hacker attacks.

Here at the Alertra blog we talk about things like uptime, web hooks, DNS, and other terms that the average Joe may not be familiar with. It goes without saying that in navigating the world of website monitoring, you kind of have to learn a second language and understanding the benefits of what such a service can offer can be hard if you don't know what you're reading about. For those of you who are interested in website monitoring services but just don't understand why you need a website monitor, why they are so important, or what certain terms and words mean, this post is for you…

Your web host may boast an uptime ratio of 99.9 percent, but it's just a number. Where is the proof behind that figure? After all, anyone can come up with an imaginary figure and place it on the front of their hosting services page for all of the world to see. The question is, regardless of what your hosting provider is or is not willing to tell you, how do you know how reliable their service really is?

The world of ecommerce has become quite cutthroat in our modern age. While you may have something unique to offer, so do your competitors and those competitors will stop at nothing to get the majority of the market share.

Your site has been designed. The content has been perfectly optimized for SEO. All of the links are functioning properly and everything is in place. It is finally time to launch. If you think your job is over, you're sorely mistaken. Because while your site may be functioning perfectly now and all of your pages may be loading properly at the moment, you can bet that something will go wrong in the future and you have to be ready for it when it happens.