{"id":5449,"date":"2026-01-06T14:43:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/?p=5449"},"modified":"2026-01-06T14:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:50:12","slug":"website-uptime-monitoring-complete-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/website-uptime-monitoring-complete-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Website Uptime Monitoring: A Complete Guide for Beginners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><mark style=\"background-color:var(--base)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-contrast-3-color\"><strong>[1,863 words, 10 minute read time]<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If your site is taking off (congrats!), you\u2019ve outgrown finding out about a downtime incident from a customer, a friend, or worse, a sales lead that never materialized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Website uptime monitoring<\/strong> is an automated way to know when your site is down (or effectively down). With it, you can get alerted quickly and fix issues before they turn into lost income, lost trust \u2014 or lost sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This guide takes you from <strong>nothing \u2192 basic, reliable monitoring<\/strong> in one page. It includes recommended default settings, a decision tree, and a basic starter stack you can install right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What uptime monitoring is (and isn\u2019t)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Uptime monitoring<\/strong> is an automated system that answers the question: <strong>Can actual users reach the stuff on my site that matters?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Depending on the type of monitor, the stuff that matters could be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your homepage loading over HTTPS<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A specific page rendering the right content<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your server responding to a ping<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>That a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/learning\/network-layer\/what-is-a-computer-port\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">port<\/a> is reachable (for example, port 443 for HTTPS)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Uptime monitoring <strong>isn&#8217;t<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A complete performance audit (it won\u2019t tell you why a page is loading slow the way <a href=\"https:\/\/pagespeed.web.dev\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">other performance tools<\/a> would)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A security suite (it won\u2019t prevent attacks, but it can help you detect symptoms of an attack quickly)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A guarantee of an optimal user experience (a site can be up, but a key process could be broken\u2014like login or checkout)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;d like a deeper dive for beginners, start here: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/what-is-uptime-monitoring\/\">what uptime monitoring is<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Monitor types: HTTP, keyword, ping, and port (and when to use each)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of monitor types as different questions you\u2019re asking your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">HTTP monitor (the main one for most sites)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Question:<\/strong> Does this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/technology\/URL\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">URL<\/a> respond successfully over HTTP\/HTTPS?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use HTTP monitoring when you want to see if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your site is reachable by the internet<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your web server is working as expected<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Your URL isn&#8217;t giving off <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.mozilla.org\/en-US\/docs\/Web\/HTTP\/Reference\/Status\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">5xx errors<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Timeout_(computing)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">timeouts<\/a>, or unexpected <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.mozilla.org\/en-US\/docs\/Web\/HTTP\/Guides\/Redirections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">redirects<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best for:<\/strong> blogs, sales &amp; marketing sites, SaaS (software as a service) front ends, e-commerce sites<br><strong>Why it\u2019s the main one:<\/strong> it closely mirrors the user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keyword monitor (an upgrade to HTTP monitoring)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Question:<\/strong> Does the page not only load, but also load the content it should?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keyword monitoring loads a page and looks for a specific keyword on it. It is how you catch things like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Web_cache\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cached<\/a> error page that still returns <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.mozilla.org\/en-US\/docs\/Web\/HTTP\/Reference\/Status\/200\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">200<\/a> (the successful response status code)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A \u201cmaintenance mode\u201d page when the page shouldn&#8217;t be in maintenance mode<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A sign-in page loading where the homepage should<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A partial outage where the site loads but the app the site hosts isn\u2019t working<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best for:<\/strong> sales pages, sign-in pages, checkout pages, dashboards<br><strong>Rule of thumb:<\/strong> if signups or income depends on it, add a keyword check<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ping monitor (useful, but not enough by itself)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Question:<\/strong> Does this host respond to <a href=\"https:\/\/uptimerobot.com\/knowledge-hub\/devops\/ping-explained\/?red=intran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">network pings<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ping<\/strong> is a network command that checks to see if a host is reachable on the internet. Using the ping command can tell you if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The server or network path is reachable<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Ping <strong>can&#8217;t<\/strong> tell you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If your site is actually delivering pages<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Transport_Layer_Security\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TLS<\/a>\/HTTPS is working<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If the app your site hosts is causing errors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best for:<\/strong> site infrastructure monitoring (when paired with HTTP), internal services like SaaS apps<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re choosing between ping and HTTP for a typical site, start with HTTP. Here\u2019s a detailed breakdown: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/\/ping-vs-http-monitoring\/\">ping vs HTTP checks<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Port monitor (for specific services)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Question:<\/strong> Is a service reachable on a port (like 443 for HTTPS or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbtnuggets.com\/common-ports\/what-is-port-22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">22 for SSH<\/a>)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Port monitoring helps determining if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cisco.com\/site\/us\/en\/learn\/topics\/security\/what-is-a-firewall.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">firewall<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/learning\/performance\/what-is-load-balancing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">load balancer<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/DesignIssues\/WebServices.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">service<\/a> is or isn\u2019t blocking access<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A specific service is online and listening<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best for:<\/strong> technical teams, agencies that monitor client infrastructure, custom stacks<br><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_TCP_and_UDP_port_numbers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Common ports<\/a>:<\/strong> 443 (HTTPS), 80 (HTTP), 25\/587 (mail), 21 (FTP), 22 (SSH)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Check frequency, regions, and timeouts (recommended settings)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You don\u2019t need your settings to be perfect. You just need <strong>reasonable defaults<\/strong> that catch important incidents without giving you alert fatigue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recommended starter defaults (that will work for most websites)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Check type:<\/strong> HTTP (plus one keyword check on your most important page)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Interval:<\/strong> every <strong>5 minutes<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Timeout:<\/strong> <strong>10 seconds<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Retries:<\/strong> <strong>2<\/strong> (confirm before alerting)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regions:<\/strong> <strong>1\u20132<\/strong> locations (add more as you grow)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Alert policy:<\/strong> alert only after a failure to confirm (not a single error)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Why this works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>5-minute checks<\/strong> catch most significant downtimes without creating a constant stream of alerts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A <strong>10-second timeout<\/strong> is long enough to avoid false alarms from brief slowdowns, but short enough to catch failures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Retries<\/strong> prevent one-off blips from waking you up in the middle of the night.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When to tighten the interval<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Move to <strong>1-minute checks<\/strong> when:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your site is revenue-critical (for example, SaaS signups, e-commerce checkouts)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You&#8217;re running an important campaign, launch, or sales window<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You&#8217;ve set up an on-call rotation for your support team or there&#8217;s someone specifically responsible for rapid response<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How many regions should you monitor?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Beginner \/ local audience:<\/strong> 1 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nro.net\/about\/rirs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">region<\/a> is fine to start<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National audience or a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cloudflare.com\/learning\/cdn\/what-is-a-cdn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CDN<\/a>-heavy site:<\/strong> 2 to 3 regions is safer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>International \/ mission-critical:<\/strong> 3+ regions, plus built-in confirmation logic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Multi-region monitoring matters because what&#8217;s working for visitors in one region may not for visitors from  another region (due to routing, CDN, <a href=\"https:\/\/aws.amazon.com\/route53\/what-is-dns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DNS<\/a>, or regional provider issues).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A note on \u201cdown\u201d that\u2019s actually just \u201cslow\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Many incidents start as spikes in <strong>response-time<\/strong> before they become a full downtime. If your tool supports it, set a \u201cslow response\u201d threshold for your most critical page. But keep the threshold conservative to avoid false positives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Alert basics and escalation (how to get notified without stressing yourself out)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Alerts are the pressure point where monitoring either succeeds or fails. The goal is straight-forward:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Alert the right person, through the right channel, while giving them enough context to take the appropriate action.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A starter alert setup (2 alerts that cover most needs)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Immediate alert<\/strong>: an email + Slack\/Teams message for a confirmed downtime<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Escalation alert<\/strong>: text message\/phone call (possibly including a second person) if the downtime lasts more than 10 minutes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s all. There&#8217;s no need to over-complicate things when you&#8217;re staring out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What your alert should include (basic context)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What\u2019s down (URL\/service name)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When the downtime began<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Which regions detected it<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Error type (for example, timeout, 5xx, DNS failure, SSL issue)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A link to the monitoring history<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Escalation for different audiences<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Solo site owner:<\/strong> email + text (or email + push notification)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Agency:<\/strong> Slack channel + tagged owner; notify client only after a prolonged incident<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SaaS\/e-commerce team:<\/strong> on-call rotation + escalation cascade + incident Slack channel<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reduce noise early (so you don\u2019t start ignoring alerts)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Alert fatigue can seriously undermine you and your teams&#8217; confidence in monitoring. If you\u2019re getting lots of false alarms, consider tweaking the settings before you learn to tune out alerts altogether. Here&#8217;s a place to start: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/reduce-false-positives-uptime-monitoring\/\">reduce false positives<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to monitor first (homepage, sign-in, checkout, API)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A common mistake is to only monitor the homepage and assume you\u2019re good. Instead, monitor <strong>what users need to have a positive experience on your site<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The minimum for most websites<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Homepage (HTTP):<\/strong> confirms core reachability<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Most important page (Keyword):<\/strong> confirms the site is actually working<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples of important pages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>SaaS: sign-in page or dashboard landing page<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>E-commerce: product page or cart page<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lead gen or sales page: landing, pricing or booking page<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Content site: a high-traffic or high-organic-search article<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Next features to add as your site grows<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Sign-in flow<\/strong> (keyword or multi-step if supported)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Checkout or payment confirmation page<\/strong> (non-destructive checks only)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Core API endpoints<\/strong> (a health endpoint, auth endpoint, or critical dependency)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As a rule of thumb, if a failure would generate a support ticket, refund, or lost lead, it warrants monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tool selection checklist (with a basic starter stack)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A monitoring setup can perform well with only simple tools. Choose based on what you need, not because a service has the longest feature list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tool selection checklist<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You can ask the following questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1) What do I actually need to monitor?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Uptime? (HTTP)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Is a specific page working? (keyword checks)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Multi-step flows? (sign-in\/checkout)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An API?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2) How soon do I need to know?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>5-minute checks are adequate for most sites<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1-minute checks are better for revenue-critical sites<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3) Who needs to be alerted\u2014and how?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Email only?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Slack\/Discord\/Teams?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Text\/escalation?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.redhat.com\/en\/topics\/automation\/what-is-a-webhook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Webhooks<\/a> to route into your system?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4) Do I need checks for multiple regions?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Local business: probably not<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>National\/international: likely yes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>5) Do I need reporting or a status page?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Agencies often need reports<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SaaS\/e-commerce often prefer a status page (public-facing or internal)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The basic starter stack<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Start here:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>1 uptime monitoring tool (HTTP + keyword checks)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2 alert channels (email + Slack\/Teams OR email + SMS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 procedure doc (\u201cIf this happens, do this\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;d like a beginner-friendly installation path, check out: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/help.uptimerobot.com\/en\/articles\/11358364-how-to-create-your-first-monitor-on-uptimerobot-quick-setup-guide?red=intran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">set up UptimeRobot<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A simple formula for calculating the cost of downtime<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can use this to justify the expense to the decision-makers in your organization. It&#8217;s accurate enough for them to make a decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Estimated downtime cost per hour<\/strong> \u2248<br><strong>(Revenue per hour) + (Leads per hour \u00d7 value per lead) + (Support cost per hour) + (reputation risk)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the numbers you plug into this formula don&#8217;t feel realistic, here&#8217;s an even simpler one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Revenue per hour = monthly revenue \u00f7 30 \u00f7 24<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Leads per hour = monthly leads \u00f7 30 \u00f7 24<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Even smaller sites can be caught off guard by the realization that downtime costs aren\u2019t just about sales. They\u2019re also about lost trust and lost growth momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sample naming convention for monitoring<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s extremely helpful to invest the time initially to establish a naming convention for your monitoring system. That way, the system can scale without becoming a mess. Consistent naming especially matters when you have more than a handful of monitors\u2014which is often the case for agencies or multi-site operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider deploying a convention like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><code>[Brand\/Site] \u2013 [Environment] \u2013 [Check Type] \u2013 [Target]<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>AcmeCo \u2013 Prod \u2013 HTTP \u2013 Homepage<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>AcmeCo \u2013 Prod \u2013 Keyword \u2013 Pricing Page<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>AcmeCo \u2013 Prod \u2013 HTTP \u2013 \/login<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>AcmeCo \u2013 Prod \u2013 API \u2013 \/v1\/health<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you manage multiple sites, consider prefixing a client code or folder\/group tag:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>Client123 \u2013 AcmeCo \u2013 Prod \u2013 HTTP \u2013 Homepage<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A clear, concise naming convention makes alerts readable and mitigates against mistakes in the heat of a downtime incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What should you set up today? A decision tree<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re starting from scratch, try this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you only do one thing:<\/strong><br>\u2705 Create an <strong>HTTP monitor<\/strong> for your homepage that checks every <strong>5 minutes<\/strong> with <strong>2 retries<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If your site makes money or generates leads:<\/strong><br>\u2705 Add a <strong>keyword monitor<\/strong> to your most important page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you have users signing in or checking out:<\/strong><br>\u2705 Monitor <strong>\/login<\/strong> and\/or a key checkout step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you have a product that uses an API:<\/strong><br>\u2705 Monitor a lightweight <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/testfully.io\/blog\/api-health-check-monitoring\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">health endpoint<\/a><\/strong> plus one critical endpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A way to take action right now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>pick 1 site \u2192 set up 2 monitors + 2 alerts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s a 15-minute action plan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pick the <strong>one site<\/strong> you care most about.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Set up <strong>two monitors<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>An HTTP monitor for the homepage<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A keyword monitor for your most important page<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Configure <strong>two alerts<\/strong>:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A main alert (email + Slack\/Teams <em>or<\/em> email + SMS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An escalation if downtime lasts more than 10 minutes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Test the alert at least once, so you can begin to build trust in it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>If alerts get annoying, fix them using this guide: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/reduce-false-positives-uptime-monitoring\/\">reduce false positives<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And if you&#8217;re looking for the quickest step-by-step setup path, try: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/help.uptimerobot.com\/en\/articles\/11358364-how-to-create-your-first-monitor-on-uptimerobot-quick-setup-guide?red=intran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">set up UptimeRobot<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[1,863 words, 10 minute read time] If your site is taking off (congrats!), you\u2019ve outgrown finding out about a downtime incident from a customer, a friend, or worse, a sales lead that never materialized. Website uptime monitoring is an automated way to know when your site is down (or effectively down). With it, you can &#8230; <a title=\"Website Uptime Monitoring: A Complete Guide for Beginners\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/website-uptime-monitoring-complete-guide\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Website Uptime Monitoring: A Complete Guide for Beginners\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guides"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5449"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5467,"href":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5449\/revisions\/5467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sslshopper.com\/website-monitoring\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}