[1,202 words, 6 minute read time]
WordPress sites fail in a uniquely WordPress way: the server might be responding, the homepage might even return 200 OK, and your uptime monitor might say “UP”… while real visitors see a blank screen, a login loop, a broken checkout, or a cached error page.
WP “up” can still mean broken (plugins/themes/caching).
This guide shows how to do WordPress uptime monitoring that reflects real user impact: what to monitor, which WP outage patterns to expect, how to use keyword checks to avoid being fooled by caching, how to deal with WAF/bot protection conflicts, and a fast triage process for update-day incidents.
If you need a deeper primer on how HTTP checks work (status codes, redirects, bot blocks), read HTTP monitoring explained.
Common WordPress outage patterns (the ones that bite owners and agencies)
Most WP “downtime” falls into a handful of recurring patterns. If you know them, you’ll monitor and respond better.
1) Update-related breakage (plugins/themes/core)
Symptoms
- white screen (WSOD)
- 500 errors after updates
- site loads but key features fail (forms, checkout)
Why it happens
- plugin conflicts
- theme incompatibility
- missing PHP extensions
- fatal errors triggered by new code paths
2) PHP fatal errors / memory limits
Symptoms
- 500 error or blank page
- intermittent errors under load
Why it happens
- incompatible PHP version
- low PHP memory limit
- uncaught exceptions
3) Database issues (connection errors, slow queries)
Symptoms
- “Error establishing a database connection”
- timeouts and slow page loads
- admin dashboard unusable
Why it happens
- DB server down or overloaded
- connection limit reached
- slow queries from plugins
4) Caching/CDN weirdness (the “monitor says up” problem)
Symptoms
- monitor sees cached “OK”
- real users see old content, errors, or broken layout
- region-specific issues
Why it happens
- cached error pages served with 200 OK
- CDN POP issues
- cache rules serving the wrong version to certain paths/users
5) Security/WAF blocks (especially wp-login)
Symptoms
- 403/429 in monitors
- login page blocked for some users
- “works for me” but not for certain regions or probes
Why it happens
- bot protection rules
- rate limiting / aggressive firewall
- login hardening plugins blocking unknown IPs
What to monitor on WordPress (home + wp-login + one key landing page)
If you monitor only the homepage, you’ll miss the most expensive failures.
Monitor targets list (WP starter pack)
Start with these three:
- Homepage (HTTP monitor)
- Purpose: baseline reachability + major outages
- Target: your canonical HTTPS homepage URL
/wp-login.php(HTTP monitor)
- Purpose: detects auth/login failures and WAF blocks
- Notes: some sites rename the login URL for security—monitor the real login path if you’ve changed it
- A key landing page (keyword monitor)
- Purpose: confirms “working,” not just “responding”
- Choose a page tied to conversions:
- contact/lead form page
- pricing page
- booking page
- product category page (WooCommerce)
- checkout page load (if safe to test)
Agencies: make this a “monitor pack” you deploy for every client.
Keyword checks: avoid cached error pages and “200 but wrong content”
WordPress is especially vulnerable to the “200 but wrong page” trap:
- cached maintenance pages
- cached 500 pages
- WAF block pages returning 200
- plugin-generated “soft errors” inside a normal template
How keyword checks help
A keyword check confirms the page contains a stable phrase that only appears when the correct page loads.
Choosing a good keyword on WP
Good keywords are:
- stable (won’t change daily)
- unique to the page
- not personalized
Examples:
- a unique H1 (“Schedule a Consultation”)
- your site name + a specific product/category label
- a distinctive footer phrase
Avoid:
- rotating headlines
- dynamic prices/stock levels
- dates and promo banners
The caching twist (important)
If your homepage is heavily cached, your monitor may see “up” even when PHP/DB is failing—because the cache is serving a stale copy.
That’s why your keyword check should target a page that bypasses cache (or is less likely to be fully cached), such as:
- a key landing page with dynamic elements
- a lightweight “health” page you control
- a page with a cache-bypass rule (varies by caching plugin/CDN)
If your alerts are noisy due to bot blocks or redirects, fix the signal first: false positives.
Handling bot protection/WAF conflicts (without disabling security)
Monitoring probes can look “bot-like.” WP sites are often protected aggressively—especially around login.
Common WAF conflict symptoms
- Monitor reports 403 Forbidden (blocked)
- Monitor reports 429 Too Many Requests (rate limited)
- Monitor sees a “challenge” or block page
Fix options (best-to-worst)
- Allowlist monitoring IPs (if your monitor provides them)
- Relax rules for your monitoring user-agent/endpoint
- Reduce check frequency (if rate limiting is tripping)
- Use keyword checks to detect block pages even if they return 200
Tip: don’t “solve” this by disabling firewall rules globally—tune them narrowly.
Update-day checklist (prevent the most common WP incidents)
Most WordPress outages happen during or right after updates. Treat update days like a controlled risk window.
Update-day checklist (copy/paste)
Before updating
- Confirm you have a backup (files + DB) and restore path
- Note current plugin/theme versions
- Check PHP version compatibility (especially for major plugin updates)
- Ensure you can access wp-admin and hosting panel
During updates
- Update in a sensible order: plugins → theme → core (many teams do it this way)
- Watch for immediate errors after each step
- If you’re an agency, update Tier 2 sites first, then Tier 1
After updating
- Test critical flows:
- homepage loads
- login works
- contact form submits
- ecommerce: cart + checkout page load
- Watch monitoring for 15–30 minutes for flapping/slowdowns
- If anything breaks, rollback the last change (don’t stack fixes blindly)
Fast triage steps (when WP is “up” but broken)
When you get a “down” alert—or worse, users report issues while monitors say “up”—run this quick WP-focused triage.
WordPress outage triage (10 minutes)
- Confirm scope
- is it just one page/flow or everything?
- is it regional or global?
- Check the error type
- 500/502/503/504?
- timeout?
- 403/429?
- “200 but keyword missing”?
- Suspect recent changes first
- plugin/theme/core updates
- caching/CDN changes
- security plugin/WAF changes
- Differentiate cache vs origin
- does a hard refresh show different behavior?
- do uncached pages fail while cached pages work?
- Go to the layer
- hosting status and server health
- PHP logs/error logs
- DB health
- plugin conflict (disable last updated plugin if needed)
If you need a general “first 30 minutes” incident process, use incident response.
Recommended monitoring settings for WordPress (safe defaults)
Start with these defaults and adjust after you see real-world behavior:
- Interval: 5 minutes (1 minute for critical WooCommerce flows during promos)
- Timeout: 10 seconds
- Retries: 2 (or alert after 2–3 consecutive failures)
- Redirect handling: follow redirects or monitor canonical URL directly
- Regions: 2 for higher-tier sites (to avoid “works for me” confusion)
- Keyword checks: at least one on a key page
Example monitor targets for WooCommerce (if applicable)
If the site makes money through WooCommerce, treat checkout availability as top priority.
Suggested targets:
- Homepage (HTTP)
- Product category page (keyword)
- Cart page load (HTTP/keyword)
- Checkout page load (keyword for a stable label like “Checkout”)
Be careful not to create monitors that submit real orders—monitor the page load and key content, not the final transaction.
CTA: Add a keyword check on a page that bypasses cache
If you do one thing to make WordPress monitoring more truthful, do this:
CTA: Add a keyword check on a page that bypasses cache (or is less likely to be fully cached).
That’s the fastest way to catch “WP is up but broken” failures—especially after updates and plugin conflicts.