5 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Website Monitoring Services

You, like many other website operators, have realized the value that a website monitoring service can provide. You understand that downtime equates to lost profits and one of the best tools in your anti-downtime arsenal is quality website monitoring. After all, the first step towards fixing downtime is to know when it is happening. The question is, how do you know which website monitoring service to pick? Here are five questions you need to ask before choosing any website monitor.

1. How Many Servers Are There and Where Are They Located?

The number of servers utilized by your website monitor and where those servers are located is a big deciding factor. Why? What if your website monitoring service only has one server or multiple servers in one location? What if a power outage affects that location? Then your site is no longer being protected or monitored. You need to find a website monitor that has multiple servers located across numerous locations.

2. What is the Method of Communication?

Many website monitoring services offer communication via email. Sometimes this just isn’t enough. What if your email server goes down with your site? Then you won’t be notified of the outage until your site is back up and running again because you won’t receive the email. Make sure you utilize a website monitor that communicates via SMS text message and phone in addition to email. This will ensure that you know when your site goes down, regardless of whether or not your email server goes down with it.

3. What Protocols Are Monitored?

Not all website monitoring services are created equal. Some only check your HTTP URL for a valid response while others will monitor your site in a variety of ways. Look for a website monitor that checks your POP3 status, your PING, your SMTP, your custom script and your DNS in addition to your HTTP URL – at a minimum. This will ensure that you know of any issues that your website may be having and that you won’t only be notified when your HTTP URL is having an issue.

4. Are Event Logs Provided?

Being notified of website downtime is one thing; being provided with logs that will help you understand that downtime and take measures to correct it is something else entirely. Make sure that you utilize a website monitoring service that provides you with event logs and reports that you can use to analyze your website downtime, pinpointing what the problems are and how you can fix them.

5. Is Monitoring Suspended for Planned Maintenance?

If you’re working with a good website monitoring service than chances are that you are paying to receive text messages or phone calls when your site goes down. You don’t want to be paying for these forms of contact just so the service can notify you of downtime that you are already aware of due to planned maintenance outages. Make sure that the service you use is able to suspend monitoring during planned maintenance so you aren’t paying for services you don’t need.

Not All Website Monitoring Services are Created Equal

In the world of website monitoring service, there are good services, not so good services and downright terrible services. You want to make sure you sign up with a website monitor that provides you with what you need when you need it. Make sure you ask the above five questions whenever you are considering a website monitor and let the answers you receive dictate whether or not that particular monitoring service is the right one for you.