In this article we're going to go over 5 most common WordPress hosting problems in 2022 and how to fix them.
WordPress is one of the most reliable platforms for building a website, and it's far beyond any reasonable doubt.
No matter how simple this CMS functions, there are always issues that arise and cause difficulties for people running their website.
This situation can get more desperate if you are a beginner user and are not very much familiar with the technical aspects of website management.
However, the point is that these problems do not always stem from being hacked, having conflicting plugins, or an unreliable WordPress theme.
Sometimes the blame is on your website's infrastructures, such as the hosting service you have chosen. WordPress hosting problems are common technical difficulties that come into light due to an array of reasons.
Read on to find out about the five most common issues and the way you can fix them to minimize website downtime.
WordPress Hosting Problems
WordPress hosting services are becoming more and more popular due to the increasing use of this CMS around the world.
These solutions have given the freedom to many website owners from some common WordPress hosting problems, but there are still issues that should be addressed.
Many of the server outages get back to the service provider you choose.
Cheaper services often don't come with proper support, and even if you can use appropriate support, team members may not be qualified enough to give the best consultation.
With that in mind, you don't want to let your website be unreachable or slow for a long time.
The key to resolving such issues is to know the source of problems so that you can handle them better with your hosting.
Server Issues Affecting WordPress
It is daunting to know that no matter how much effort you put into optimizing your site; other bad things can happen to it.
You look into configurations, check for plugins and themes, but end up having a malfunctioning website.
Server issues are among the tricky problems like that.
Below is a list of general WordPress hosting problems that may arise on any website:
Pages Loading Too Slow
Internet users are no more patient. So a slow-loading website is a top problem we should take into consideration.
A long time of loading refers to any duration of more than three seconds, and that's enough to lose customers and revenue.
This common problem can be the result of a slow server, having a slowed website, or time-taking external scripts.
Consider what happens if a site has all the issues at the same time! So, do not ever underestimate the impact of plugins and scripts on your website's performance.
Every single one of them can slow down your pages significantly.
How to Fix WordPress Pages Loading Too Slow:
First off, check the server status of your hosting. You can do it by using the provided tools on the hosting company's website.
Many have a dedicated page for this aim that shows the status of their server live.
If there is anything wrong with the server, you can find it here. Some service providers go further and let you check a specific domain for issues.
In this case, you should contact the support team and ask for how long it takes to get resolved.
If you face such slow-downs often, it might be a neighboring website's fault that affects your site.
After talking to the representatives of your hosting company, upgrading to a better service like VPS can be a permanent solution.
Next, after getting sure that there is not any issue concerning the downtimes, it's time to check the bandwidth.
You may have experienced a traffic spike that brought problems for you. Again, you can monitor your bandwidth from the admin panel of your hosting service.
The mismatched version of PHP is another frequent problem that can slow down the functionality of themes, plugins, and even the WordPress core itself.
So, make sure you check for PHP version updates once in a while from your hosting panel. If it doesn't display the latest version, ask the support team to add it for you.
Finally, if you don't have the issues mentioned above, you have to narrow down the list of installed assets and tools on your site.
Figure out which ones are necessary, and remove others that have caused WordPress hosting problems.
Plus, you can set the ones with lower priority to run last so that the pages will load quickly. And by quickly, I mean less than three seconds!
Low-quality Server
Data breaches and hacks have long been the most alarming problem that can happen for an online presence.
Lack of necessary security features by your hosting service provider means a lot of WordPress hosting problems.
Server vulnerabilities lead to different threats, such as the successful login of fake users and online attacks.
Instability of server, on the other hand, increases your site's downtime, which in turn brings down the number of visits to your website.
How to Fix WordPress Low-quality Server Issue:
The best solution to these problems is to use hosting services that are equipped with multi-level security features.
Among them, we can mention the activation of two-factor authentication and disabling the default WordPress admin logins and automatic updates.
SSL certificates and firewalls are likewise mandatory, and we often consider them as default security measures for each service provider.
Additionally, look for multi-container servers since they can guarantee a better up-time.
These services have the ability to deploy new containers when your site receives daily visits more than the usual traffic. You can also be sure about your site's availability in times of power outages by using these servers.
Email Service Problems
Website owners favor using email addresses branded to your website’s address, and they often check for this feature when purchasing a hosting service.
info@domain and support@damain are the most addresses used for businesses that are, in many cases, connected to email marketing platforms for more sales leads and better communication with customers.
Not being able to receive emails is a pain in the neck since you lose a high potential of online marketing.
The importance of email marketing should never be ignored, whether your business is small or a large and enterprise-level one.
How to Fix Email Service Problems:
First, send multiple emails to your business's email addresses to make sure you cannot receive any email.
If you don't see a message indicating that your inbox is full, then it's time to check things from your server.
Some people forward messages from the email address with the domain's name to another account.
If that is the case with your business as well, double-check your forwarding settings before proceeding to the next steps.
Also, if you use third-party email management tools like Microsoft Outlook, see if the hosting email is on your list of active emails or not.
Email accounts can be viewed and controlled from the hosting admin panel. There you can find the web version of your email inbox to check either you have received any emails or not.
If there is nothing in the list either, you should contact the support team of your hosting and ask them to check server settings in this regard.
Common Errors
There are times that we enter the address of our website in the browser and end up seeing a white screen or an error with code or descriptions.
Some of the usual errors are as follows:
Error Establishing Database Connection
In normal conditions, you are the one in charge of controlling your database. But, exceptions exist as well.
The first thing to check for this error is the wp-config file of your site.
See if your login information and hostname are correct and make changes if necessary.
Secondly, go for a security scan for possible security breaches. There is an assortment of free and paid security tools available online to use on your WordPress site.
If there's no breach, contact your hosting company immediately since they may have deactivated your database for excessive use or other security measures.
Talk to the support team and confirm what has happened to your site.
Server Does Not Exist
This error is often associated with account suspension. It can be the result of not renewing domain name or hosting service.
It's even possible that the hosting service provider has decided to suspend your account for other reasons, such as suspicious traffic.
Whatever happened, don't hesitate to contact them right away and ask for consultations.
White Screen of Death
This error often results in a white screen without any message in it.
This kind of error is more confusing than others since there are no codes to indicate what is going wrong.
Caused by a memory limit or bad configurations, it's probable to be displayed on certain parts of the site, not all pages.
Those who have multiple websites hosted on a single server should check for this problem on their other sites in the first place.
If the same error appears on them as well, the chances are high that it has to do with your hosting provider.
Otherwise, you can deactivate your themes and plugin and then reactivate them one after another to define the tool with a problem.
Memory Exhausted
The exhaustion of memory size limit on WordPress is often down to a plugin or script.
The error usually shows a message that indicates the size of memory, which is exhausted.
The solution to this error is increasing the PHP memory limit.
You add the “define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT,' ‘512M' );” code into your wp-config file and increase the limit if necessary.
Doing so will tell WordPress to increase this limit to the specified amount (here 512 MB).
Connection Timed Out
Seeing the “ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT” error shows that your site is busy doing more than it can handle.
Mostly caused on shared hosting, this error can be fixed by removing extra plugins on the site and increasing memory exhaustion.
Similar to previous steps, try to disable your plugins and then activate them one by one to see what causes the problem.
If doing so and increasing the memory limit didn't help to troubleshoot the issue, you should contact your hosting service provider.
Parse or Syntax Error
Parse or syntax errors are signs of adding code snippets into the files of your site.
Typically, you may have misspelled a part of the code or missed some characters.
There is a useful article on the wpbeginner website that gives you in-depth instructions on how to paste snippets to your WordPress site.
When you are done getting the hang of it, you can process to diagnose for this error.
Fixing a syntax begins with editing the code that has made it. Use FTP to access your site and locate the file that has caused this error.
Now you just need to remove the code or ask an expert with knowledge of coding to edit it properly.
After finishing the edits, save the file and upload it again on the server. Your site should now function the way it used to be.
Internal Server Error
This problem is by far the most common issue that a lot of WordPress users encounter.
Generally speaking, this error shows that there is something wrong within your site, but the server can't find out about it correctly.
So the chances are high that you can't exactly find the error in the first try.
Begin with checking your .htaccess file.
Rename it by adding a few characters to the end, save it, and refresh the website.
If it worked, head over to your WordPress dashboard > Settings > Permalinks. Click Save Changes without making changes in any field:
Pricing and Support
The competition is really high between hosting service providers.
When considering the packages they offer, things can get complicated because you don't know precisely what their plans include.
Also, the companies typically offer monthly or yearly services, whereas you can find usage-based plans as well.
As earlier pointed out, to troubleshoot a high number of WordPress hosting problems, you have to contact the support team.
You may end up losing reputation and revenues If your service provider doesn't have a reliable and knowledgeable team of support.
How to Fix It:
Try to go for the hosting services that clearly indicate what you get for the price you pay.
Transparency of pricing should be the top quality you look into.
If you are not sure about the total number of traffic surges in a month, the usage-based solutions best fit your needs.
Above all, always try to use companies that allow clients to make their own customized plans based on their real needs.
Put a great focus on what their clients say about the support team and their methods.
The old-fashioned way of sending multiple emails for a single issue is really a thing of the past.
Instead, you should be provided with live support that solves the problems in real-time.
Companies who have permanent monitoring of their services are the best choice to be relieved from the stress that comes to you when the website goes down.
To Wrap Up
WordPress is among the top-rating CMSs to use for a website.
Many users now benefit from great automation and improved functionalities with the increase in WordPress-specific hosting plans provided by hosting companies.
Yet, WordPress hosting problems are unavoidable, and it really sucks when things go wrong on a site.
The common WordPress issues mentioned above will give you a better understanding of what happens when your site needs fixes.
Even if you can't get the job done, you at least know what to tell the support team once you reach out and speed up the process.