5 Common WordPress Hosting Issues And How to Fix Them

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A WordPress website is a fantastic way to share your passions and ideas or run a business online. 

WordPress is easy to use and beginner-friendly. It allows you complete control over its core software, plugins, themes, etc.

But sometimes, technical difficulties can arise, leaving you frustrated and unsure how to fix them. 

This beginner-friendly guide will equip you with the knowledge to troubleshoot common WordPress hosting issues and get your website back on track.

After reading through, you can fix common WordPress hosting issues without hiring or needing a developer assistant. 

Understanding the Basics

Before troubleshooting, let’s establish a basic understanding of website hosting and its connection to WordPress. 

Imagine your website as a house and your hosting provider as the company that rents you the land and lays the foundation. 

The hosting provider stores your website’s files and databases on their servers, making them accessible to visitors 24/7. 

WordPress is the software that allows you to create and manage the content on your website, like the walls, furniture, and decorations of your online house.

This more straightforward analogy explains the connection between WordPress and hosting or web servers. 

Identifying WordPress Hosting Issues 

The first step is recognizing the signs of a potential hosting issue. 

Before you attempt fixing any issues associated with your website hosting, you must identify or understand a problem with your hosting service.

Here are some WordPress hosting red flags to watch out for:

• Slow loading times – If your website takes a long time to load for visitors or loads intermittently, it could indicate a problem with your hosting server.

• Error messages – Encountering error messages like “Connection timed out” or “Internal Server Error” can also point towards hosting issues.

• Website downtime – If your website is completely inaccessible or displays a message like “This Site is Experiencing Technical Difficulties,” it might be due to a hosting problem

• Limited functionality – Website features like commenting or contact forms might malfunction due to hosting issues.

• Error 429 – Too Many Requests – If you see this error on your WordPress sites, it could also point to hosting issues.  

Gathering Information 

Once you’ve identified a potential problem, gathering information to diagnose the issue effectively is crucial. 

This initial task will help provide insights into how to best resolve the problem. 

Here’s what you’ll need

• Your website address (URL)—If the issue affects a specific page on your site, note down the exact website URL.

• Error messages (if any)—The exact wording of error messages can provide valuable clues about the problem.

• Recent Website Changes—Did you recently install a new plugin, update WordPress, or change your website’s code? Knowing this can help narrow down the cause.

5 Common Hosting Errors in WordPress and Their Solutions

Now that you’re armed with the basics and some diagnostic information let’s explore some familiar WordPress hosting issues and how to troubleshoot them:

1. Slow Loading Times

Generally, slow loading time is associated with hosting quality. But, sometimes, it may not necessarily mean your hosting server is slow, or you need to upgrade to a faster hosting infrastructure. 

You should consider some steps before deciding to move to another host. Upgrading hosting or migrating to another web host should be one of the last options for fixing a slow website. 

Consider the following troubleshooting recommendations: 

Image Optimization 

First, optimize all images on your site. Large image files can significantly impact loading times. 

If your WordPress database contains many unoptimized images, the size of the database could increase, leading to slow server performance. 

There are many free and paid image compression tools available online. These tools can reduce your images’ file size without sacrificing quality. 

Some of the most popular WordPress image optimization plugins include Imagify and Smush.it, ShotrPixel, and EWWW. 

Install one of these plugins, and start optimizing your images for good. 

However, when compressing images, aim to balance image quality and file size for optimal website performance.

Reduce Plugin Usage.

Too many installed plugins can bog down your website, especially if they are poorly coded and add too much bloat.

Review your installed plugins and deactivate any that you’re not actively using. This will free up resources and potentially improve website speed.

If a plugin is not always required, there’s no reason to have it on your site all day. 

For example, a database optimization plugin can be installed quarterly or monthly, depending on your database maintenance schedule.  

Once the database optimization is finished, you should uninstall the plugin.

Also, if a plugin performs several tasks, don’t use another for features already present in such a plugin. 

For example, you have WP Rocket and a database plugin installed. WP Rocket performs database cleaning on a schedule, so having another plugin for this task is unnecessary.

Upgrade your hosting plan.

If your website is experiencing consistent slowness and you’ve tried the above troubleshooting tips, it’s time to review your hosting plan.

Your website hosting plan might not have enough resources to handle your traffic, or your web host infrastructure might not be up to the task. 

Most hosting providers offer various plans with different bandwidth, RAM, and CPU levels. Upgrading to a plan with more resources can significantly speed up website loading time. 

However, as upgrading to a higher plan might resolve the issue, moving to a better web host sometimes seems the ideal solution. 

Some web hosts lack the server stack technology to deliver fast loading times, regardless of the hosting plan you subscribe to on their site. Even if you upgrade to a higher plan, the benefits won’t bring the desired hosting result.

So, when choosing a hosting plan, you should research carefully and consider your website’s traffic and resource needs.

2. Connection Timed Out Errors

This is another standard hosting error in WordPress. Several factors can cause connection timeout timeout. If the website uses Cloudflare CDN, you will probably see notifications like this.

Here, we look at the most common factors and recommend helpful troubleshooting tips. 

Check your internet connection.

The first step is ensuring your internet connection is stable and functioning. Because you might be the only one experiencing the connection timeout timeout, not other users. 

Run an internet speed test or try accessing another website to see if the issue is isolated to your website or only you. 

Once you’ve established that the issue is related to hosting, not internet connection, move to the next step. 

Contact your hosting provider.

Connection timed-out errors often indicate an issue on the hosting server side. These issues could be server overload, maintenance, or other technical problems. 

Contact your hosting provider’s support team and report the error message. They can investigate the cause of the issue and provide further assistance.

Moreover, consider whether you recently installed/updated a theme or plugin. The newly updated theme or plugin could have compatibility or configuration issues, causing server overload and using up the CPU. 

If so, you can log on to your server using an FTP program like Filezilla and disable the plugin or theme. 

Read the step guide on connecting to a hosting server using Filezilla for guidance on accessing a web server. 

Note: You need to get your login credentials from your web host. This should be in your account information.  

3. Internal Server Errors

500 internal server error is an HTTPS status code indicating something is wrong with your website server. 

The status code is a generic response; it doesn’t say much about the specific issue or error it catches.  

Several causes could trigger internal server errors, such as 500 status codes. Regardless of the causes, here are some steps you can take to resolve the issue. 

Deactivate plugins

Sometimes, a plugin conflict can cause internal server errors. Deactivate all of your plugins and then reactivate them one by one. 

If the error message reappears after reactivating a specific plugin, you’ve likely identified the culprit. 

Deactivate the problematic plugin and look for an alternative, or contact the plugin developer for support.

Note that you must connect to your site via the FTP client if you can’t access your WordPress admin dashboard. Refer to the link I give in the above section. 

Check file permissions

Incorrect file permissions on your WordPress files can lead to internal server errors. 

Your hosting provider’s control panel might have a file manager tool that allows you to view and adjust file permissions. 

However, If you’re unfamiliar with file permissions, it’s best to consult your web host’s documentation or support team for guidance. 

They can advise you on your WordPress installation’s correct file permission settings.

Reinstall WordPress core files

In rare cases, corrupted core WordPress files might be the culprit behind internal server errors. 

Reinstalling the core files can sometimes resolve the issue. Important: Before attempting this step, create a complete backup of your website’s files and database. 

Most hosting providers offer backup and restore functionalities within their control panels. 

Once you have a backup, you can download the latest version of your WordPress from the official website and upload the core files to your website using an FTP client (File Transfer Protocol) or your hosting provider’s file manager tool.

This step should resolve the problem completely. 

4. Error Establishing Database Connection. 

This happens when your website cannot connect to the database to serve the request. A missing link is somewhere along the line of connection to the database. 

Probably, it could be incorrect database login details, a corrupt database, an issue with the database itself, and, often, sudden traffic spikes. 

However, the good news is that visitors to your site might not see this error immediately after it happens. Depending on your site’s cache expiration time, if your site still serves cached pages, users will still be able to access them. 

However, the earlier you move to resolve the error Establishing Database Connection, the better. 

Try the following troubleshooting recommendations. 

Verify database credentials

The error message might provide some clues regarding the database connection issue. 

Carefully check your WordPress configuration file’s database username, password, and hostname (wp-config.php). 

These credentials should match the ones you created when setting up your WordPress database. 

A common mistake is accidentally adding extra spaces before or after the credentials while copying and pasting. Ensure everything is entered correctly and save the wp-config.php file.

Contact your hosting Provider.

If verifying the credentials doesn’t resolve the issue, the problem might lie on the hosting server side. 

Your database might be corrupt or experiencing technical difficulties. Contact your hosting provider’s support team and explain the error message. 

They can investigate the database issue and help you get things back online.

For in-depth troubleshooting guides on fixing establishing database connection errors, read the comprehensive guide on the Kinsta blog. 

5. Website Down or “This Site is Experiencing Technical Difficulties” Message

Mostly, the website is down or experiencing technical issues that are often related to hosting issues. 

Here are some helpful guidance on how to fix the problem.

Check Your Hosting Provider Status Page

Many hosting providers have a status page accessible through their website. 

This page will inform customers of scheduled maintenance or outages causing website downtime. 

If the status page indicates an ongoing maintenance window, you’ll need to wait until the maintenance is complete before your website can return online.

Clear your browser cache.

As mentioned earlier, a cluttered browser cache can sometimes cause display issues. Clear your browser cache and try accessing your website.

Check with your domain registrar. 

Occasionally, issues with your domain name registration can cause website downtime. 

Log in to your domain registrar’s control panel and verify that your domain name is active and pointing to the correct server. 

If you’re unsure about domain name management, contact your domain registrar’s support team for assistance.

Restore the Website to an Earlier State

If you can’t figure out the problem and have exhausted all possible options, the last thing to do is to restore your website to a former state. 

Your web host should have a dated backup of your site database. You can restore to an earlier state from the backup. 

When to Seek Professional Help

While this guide empowers you to tackle common hosting issues, there might be situations where seeking professional help is the best course of action. 

Here are some signs you might need to call in a professional:

• The issue persists after trying all the troubleshooting steps.
• You’re uncomfortable making changes to your website’s code or database.
• The problem seems complex and beyond your technical expertise.

Many hosting providers offer support plans that include troubleshooting assistance. 

Additionally, there are freelance WordPress developers who specialize in resolving website issues.

However, be careful who you trust with your site login details. 

Don’t trust some random strangers to access your site administrative area unless they can be held responsible if the unexpected happens. 

Conclusion

WordPress errors are common occurrences in website management. You’ll surely encounter many errors as you manage an online business. 

Understanding the basics of website hosting, learning how to identify and gather information about hosting issues, and following the troubleshooting steps outlined above, you’ll be well-equipped to handle many common WordPress hosting problems. 

If the issue seems complex or you’re unsure about any steps, don’t hesitate to seek help from your hosting provider or a qualified professional. 

With some troubleshooting know-how, you can keep your WordPress website running smoothly and deliver a positive experience for your visitors.