Any business owner must take into account that having a website is very important, but this is not the only measure of success. Potential clients are more attracted by a resource that takes a leading position in search engine ratings and context advertising. Any user can become a regular customer of the company, so all you need to do is draw attention to a well-established website.
Therefore, even a short shutdown or instability of the business website will lead to a big budget loss. The above search queries and context ads will no longer attract new users. Old users and clients will leave. In addition, the company will overpay for inactive advertising campaigns. In this regard, it is essential to ensure the uninterrupted operation of the website, its stability and its high speed of access. Or, simply put, it is important to ensure proper monitoring of the website.
Website monitoring basics for novices
The term “website monitoring” in itself refers to any accessibility, performance and functionality of a website or web server check that can be provided by website owners. In essence, website monitoring is a set of regular checks on a website or other facility accessible via the Internet for immediate detection of emerging problems. As a rule, it is all about automated processes, most often about monitoring the availability of websites. Manual testing takes a long time to address the large number of variables that affect the proper functioning of the website. Therefore, beginners of webmasters should focus on finding specialized monitoring services that would greatly simplify the work of webmasters.
Website accessibility monitoring
Basic website accessibility checks are actually website accessibility monitoring procedures. Literally checking to see if you can use the website over the Internet. This includes, among others, basic tests of various Internet protocols such as HTTP (and HTTPS), ICMP (ping), TCP (ports), etc. SSL domain name checks and verifications are also included in these procedures.
Another aspect of monitoring website accessibility (and content) is external monitoring or third-party monitoring. It is embodied in the simulation of real users visiting the website with real addresses, and draws conclusions based on real server responses to sent requests. These services are completely independent of each other and of the internal structure of the system. All they do is get a list of websites to check with the main server and send it results.
Website loading speed monitoring
Every website visitor is sure to choose a website that loads faster than its counterparts. This is important for everyday life. And in terms of conversion and usability it only matters how quickly the page loads in the form that the user needs immediately after entering the website. This may be only 30% of all content and features.
Various studies have shown that the loading speed of a website should be as fast as possible, so that it loads in 1 to 3 seconds. And that’s almost vital for mobile websites. Especially when you consider that Google has switched its ranking system to prioritize mobile devices. This means that the faster mobile-optimized websites load, the higher their ranking.
To find out the causes of website loading speed problems, full-scale diagnostic procedures need to be performed. After all of the above, the webmaster will need to review the reports and find out where the source of the problems is. And there can be many reasons why the website may be loading slowly. And, most likely, they will be hidden.
Ads campaigns monitoring
Advertising campaigns are one of the biggest expenditures for any business. Especially for startups and online shops. Company owners are investing huge sums of money in this area. And everybody wants the advertising campaign to work as efficiently as possible and ensure the arrival of new clients. Even if the website is unstable or unavailable for some reason. Solving all this requires a lot of effort, but you will lose a lot of time, money and potential customers if you do not keep the website stable.
And all losses will not be related to the website’s malfunction. This will happen because Google only suspends AdWords campaigns on websites if they are completely inaccessible to users or their access speed is very low. If a website is available but does not work properly, Google does not suspend an advertising campaign on it. In addition, website owners will have to contact Adwords support to resume and start their promotional campaigns. And then they’ll have to wait until he’s active again.
Automated website monitoring tools
Full monitoring of websites is vital for proper monitoring of websites. After all, sometimes even seemingly minor problems with website stability or availability can cause many problems, and if you are a website owner or webmaster, these problems will become your own low-back pain. And you will spend a lot of time fixing everything manually.
If the website you plan to control is relatively simple and not corporate, you can handle it yourself. Of course, it’s not an easy task. It boils down to the tools you plan to use. The common tools of webmasters take a lot of time and effort to learn. And even more time to learn. But no one wants to spend a lot of time on one task every day. However, there is a way out of this situation – the automation of the website monitoring process.
Site monitoring automation involves the use of tools such as HostTracker. You can use this service, which is primarily intended for daily monitoring of the website 24/7. This will allow you to perform a large number of checks in a short time and at the same time. This approach will allow you to achieve maximum effect with minimum effort.
This way you can find out not only if the website has stopped working, but when and why. In addition, you will be able to track when it started to download slowly, causing inconvenience to customers. You will save your budgets and your time by diagnosing and fixing problems faster, which means less downtime in general.