Get Notified About Website Downtime

I can’t tell you the number of times somebody has contacted me to check if I can see a website.  ”Is it down for you or just for me?”  9 times out of 10 I have to respond with, “just for you” followed by “just restart your computer, I’m sure it will be fine”.  It usually is.

Ding It's Up!

There are some neat web based services available that will help you determine if a site is down.  If you run a site (corporate, personal blog, etc.) then you should pay attention to these quick and easy services.

Before you call me, please go to Down for everyone or just me? This is really simple, just put in the name of a domain and hit enter.  It will tell you if the site really is down or if you need to restart your laptop.  Very useful.

Second on the list, and most valuable, is a service that you just need to give info to once.  DING IT’S UP! is a site that lets you choose a domain and then a method of contact.  You can go with an @reply on Twitter, an SMS to your phone or an email. I went with email, I didn’t want to clog my Twitter stream more than it already is. It will tell me when a site is up or down via a quick mail message.  Very useful!

I’m adding a third, because I know that most of you want to know when Twitter is up or down.  Yes, you can use the sites that I already mentioned, but why not go to a page specifically crafted for your obsession? Is Twitter Down is made for folks like you (and me, don’t think I’m throwing stones here) that have a hard time breathing when the the fail whale rears its ugly head.  Go to this site and it will make it pretty easy for you, either a Yes or a No will greet you and let you move on with your day.

I use these services frequently for sites that I monitor for clients, I hope you find them useful as well. If there are any others that you like, please feel free to share with all of us in the comments.