Let’s be honest, hosting isn’t exactly the most thrilling topic in the world. Most people don’t think about it until they need to get online or if something goes wrong, and suddenly you’re in full-blown panic mode because your site’s down, your emails aren’t working, or your blog has decided to load like it’s on dial-up from years ago.
We see these issues every day and more importantly, we know how to fix them. So, we thought we’d pull together the five most common hosting problems people run into and share a few ways to avoid (or solve) them before they give you a headache.
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The Classic: “My Website Is Down!”
This is probably the most common one we hear, and yes it’s as stressful as it sounds. One minute everything’s working fine, the next your site has vanished, and you’re wondering if you accidentally deleted the internet.
Often, it’s something simple like a domain renewal that was missed, a DNS record accidentally changed, or a temporary server issue. It’s a good reminder to double-check your renewals, especially for your domain name, and to keep an eye on any DNS changes you make. Having a hosting provider that is there for you when issues arise makes a big difference and knowing Blacknight have staff in Carlow on the end of a phone call can be a life saver.
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When Your Site Loads Slower Than a Monday Morning
Nobody has the patience for slow websites anymore. If your homepage takes more than a couple of seconds to load, visitors are likely to click away before they even see your amazing design or clever product descriptions.
Slow speeds can be caused by a lot of things—too many heavy plugins, uncompressed images, or just the “wrong type of hosting”. We always recommend compressing images, enabling caching plugins (if you’re using WordPress), and making sure you’re on a hosting plan that matches your traffic. If your site’s been growing, upgrading from a basic shared website hosting plan to something like WordPress Ultimate or Cloud Hosting might give you that extra performance boost.
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The Dreaded “My Site’s Been Hacked” Situation
This one hits hard. Sometimes, you’ll open your site and find it redirecting to something spammy. Or someone lets you know it’s been flagged as “unsafe.” It’s not a fun conversation to have.
In most cases, it comes down to security hygiene. Outdated WordPress plugins, weak admin passwords, or simply not keeping WordPress updated. The good news is, this is preventable. Always keep your CMS and plugins updated, use strong passwords and two-factor authentication. And if the worst does happen? Having backups in place can turn a nightmare into a quick recovery. Read our blog on disaster recovery.
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Email That Just Won’t Work Right
You’ve got a shiny contact us form or a business email attached to your domain, but your emails aren’t arriving, or they’re being flagged as spam. It’s frustrating, especially when you’re relying on those emails for orders or support requests.
A lot of email issues come down to DNS records. Specifically: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. If those sound like random letters, don’t worry—we’re happy to help you get them sorted. You can also use tools like MXToolbox to check your setup. And if you’re sending a lot of business-critical emails, it might be worth looking at a more robust email hosting solution like Microsoft 365 or Titan
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“Why Am I Being Charged for This?”
We all hate surprise bills. Sometimes people outgrow their hosting plan without realising it, and suddenly they’re hit with overage charges or limits on storage, bandwidth, or email usage.
It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on your usage, especially if your website traffic is increasing (which, congrats, by the way). If your current plan feels tight, chat with us to help you with the best plan for your needs.
Hosting Doesn’t Have to Be a Horror Story. At the end of the day, websites break, emails glitch, and servers get moody. But the key is knowing how to respond and having the right support in your corner. Most hosting problems are solvable, especially when you catch them early. Hopefully, this guide helps you do just that.
If you’re ever unsure or overwhelmed Blacknight’s support team isn’t just there for the technical stuff—we’re actual humans who want to help you get the most out of your hosting, without the stress.
About the Author: Alicia Stumke
