Have you ever experienced the frustration of a staging site not loading when you needed it the most? As a content marketer and professional blogger, I understand how crucial it is to have a smooth website development process. So in the period toward launching my new site, I’ll share my personal experience with a non-loading staging site and offer helpful solutions to get you back on track. Plus, discover why email marketing becomes even more vital when your website is down.
Content Marketing: Sharing My Experience
Recently, during an important website redesign, I encountered a staging site that refused to load. Panic set in as I realized the impact this could have on my content strategy. As a content marketer, my content strategy is planned for the year ahead. So having these bumps in the road can really set my business back. However, I quickly shifted my focus to finding a solution by troubleshooting the issue.
Here are several steps you can follow if you encounter a similar problem:
1. Clear Your Cache: Start by clearing your browser cache to eliminate any stored data that might interfere with the staging site’s loading process.
2. Check Your Internet Connection: Ensure that your internet connection is stable. Sometimes, a simple network issue can lead to difficulties accessing a staging site.
3. Contact Your Hosting Provider: Reach out to your hosting provider’s support team. They have the technical knowledge and tools to identify and resolve server-related issues that could cause your staging site not to load.
4. Disable Plugins: Temporarily disable any plugins that might conflict with your staging site. This step helps to isolate potential causes and narrow down the troubleshooting process.
Why Email Marketing Matters During Website Downtime
When your website is down, you lose the ability to attract new visitors, generate leads, and engage with your audience. That’s where email marketing comes in as a powerful tool to help you stay connected and maintain customer relationships, even during downtime. As an email marketing strategist, I know how important it is to have an email marketing strategy. This problem once again shows how important it is to have an email marketing strategy, a platform that you can depend on like Convertkit and your own list, to reach your people.
By building an email list and regularly communicating with subscribers, you can update them on the progress of your website, inform them about upcoming releases, and mitigate any negative impact on your business. Email marketing ensures that you stay top-of-mind and maintains the trust you’ve built with your audience.
Optimizing Downtime with SiteGround Affiliate Solution
This problem can occur with any type of host. Of course, you can have the same problem if you’re using a Bluehost staging site. If you’re seeking reliable hosting, SiteGround offers exceptional services designed specifically for small business owners, content creators, and bloggers like us. Their robust infrastructure, top-notch customer support, and budget-friendly pricing make them an ideal choice. Every time I have an issue, the chat service is available within seconds. With this particular problem, there were multiple articles to guide me along the troubleshooting path, and in the end, after doing all that with no results, the chatbot helped me! First time a helpful chatbot 🙂
The SiteGround Staging Site Troubleshooting Guide:
How to Fix “This Site Can’t Be Reached” Error in Chrome
What is the dns_probe_finished_nxdomain, and how to fix it?
Staging site shows an error, what’s wrong? Well in my case,
My nameservers were not pointed to SiteGround. SiteGround Bot told me: You are unable to view or access your staging site because our staging tool relies on subdomains, i.e. stagingX.yourdomain.com, and to work properly, the subdomain needs to be pointed to SiteGround. To resolve this issue in the easiest way, point your domain’s nameservers to ns1.siteground.net and ns2.siteground.net. You should make this change to your current domain provider.
Note that most DNS updates take effect within an hour but could take up to 72 hours to update globally, so your staging website may not be available immediately after the change.
In my case, this was in fact the case because the nameservers were pointed towards Cloudflare. To fix this, you need access your DNS zone provider and create two A records for stagingX.yourdomain.com and http://www.stagingX.yourdomain.com, where X is the actual number of the staging copy visible in Site Tools.
Then, point both A records to your SiteGround site IP address. It can be checked from the Site Tools Dashboard > Site Information > Site IP.
Once done, wait up to 72 hours for the propagation to complete and retry.
To learn more, visit SiteGround. By choosing SiteGround, I found peace of mind knowing that my website’s downtime would be minimized, allowing me to focus on creating valuable content and growing my online presence.
Experiencing a non-loading staging site can be stressful, but remember that there are solutions available. By following the steps outlined above, you can quickly troubleshoot the issue and get back to developing your website effectively.
Additionally, during website downtime, don’t underestimate the power of email marketing. Also read the Ultimate Guide To Email Marketing It’s an essential lifeline that helps you stay connected with your audience and mitigate the impact of downtime on your business.
Remember, you’re not alone in this journey. Embrace these challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, and let SiteGround be your trusted hosting partner along the way.