Websiteprofita reference for small website owners

An independent reference for owners of small websites. Not affiliated with the former site and forum on this domain; we promise no earnings and sell no services.

Fixes

Troubleshooting

Problems with small websites usually come down to a handful of causes: an expired domain or certificate, exhausted hosting resources, an outdated plugin, a leaked password, or changed indexing settings. This section collects typical situations and the first steps for each. Start simple: check the error logs, the hosting control panel and emails from your registrar before deleting or reinstalling anything.

Before you fix anything, back up the current state — even if it's broken.

— Editor's note

How this section works: we describe the first steps in general terms, without tying them to specific hosting providers or CMSs. Look up the exact setting names in the documentation for your panel and system. If there are signs of a hack, read the steps at the bottom of this page first.

When something goes wrong

My site won't load — what should I check?

Check whether the domain registration or paid hosting has expired, and look for emails from your registrar and host. See whether the site opens from another device and network. Then look at the server error log: the cause is often a failure after an update or a lack of resources.

My site was hacked — where do I start?

Don't delete everything in sight: first save a copy of the current state for analysis. Change your passwords from a clean device and follow the steps at the bottom of this page. If you're not confident, contact your host's support or a specialist.

Spam in comments and the forum — what can I do?

Turn on pre-moderation for new users, email confirmation at sign-up and protection against automated submissions. Delete spam accounts and mark links in user posts with rel=ugc or nofollow.

My site disappeared from search — why?

Check that the site isn't blocked from indexing in robots.txt or by a meta tag, for example after moving from a staging environment. Make sure the site hasn't been hacked and isn't serving unrelated pages to search engines. Check the messages in webmaster tools.

Pages load slowly — how do I speed them up?

Start by measuring: a speed test will show what's slowing things down. Compressing and resizing images, dropping unnecessary plugins and scripts, and caching help most often. If the server itself is slow to respond, the site may lack hosting resources.

The browser shows a certificate error — what does it mean?

Most often the certificate has expired, was issued for a different name (for example, without www), or automatic renewal isn't set up. Reissue the certificate in your hosting control panel and check that it covers every variant of your site's address.

If your site was hacked

  1. Save the current state

    Make a copy of the files, database and server logs as they are now. You'll need it to understand how the hack happened and to avoid losing recent content.

  2. Change all passwords

    From a different, clean device, change the passwords for your hosting, domain registrar, site admin, database and email. Turn on two-factor authentication wherever it's available.

    Start with your email and registrar: they are used to recover access to everything else, including the domain itself.

  3. Find the entry point

    Review the logs, the list of administrators, recently modified files and installed plugins. The usual culprits are an outdated extension or a leaked password.

  4. Restore a clean version

    Restore the site from a backup made before the hack, or reinstall the CMS and extensions from official sources, carrying over only verified content.

  5. Update and close the hole

    Update the CMS, themes and plugins, and remove unneeded extensions and unknown user accounts. Without this, the hack will most likely happen again.

  6. Check the aftermath

    Make sure no foreign pages or links remain on the site and that search engines aren't warning visitors about danger. If user data leaked, work out who needs to be notified.

  • Security

    Threats to a small website: outdated plugins, weak passwords, spam sign-ups, malicious injections, phishing, domain loss.

  • Guides

    Step-by-step guides: domain and hosting, HTTPS, backups, updates, privacy policy. The article catalogue lives here too.

  • FAQ

    Answers about this reference, launching and maintaining a site, money and the law.

Sources

  • Let's Encrypt
  • RFC 9309
  • web.dev — Core Web Vitals

Information on standards and laws is based on official sources as of the preparation date. Technologies, search engine rules and laws change, so check the current documentation and the laws in force.