When you type a URL into your browser’s address bar or click a link to a website, your device normally loads the intended online page. However, there are times when something goes wrong and you receive an error.
There are numerous types of website errors, each with its own three-digit HTTP status code. The most common error codes you’ll notice are those in the 400-499 range, which indicate a user-side (web browser) fault, and those in the 500-599 range, which indicate a server-side problem. The most common errors you may see while browsing the internet, as well as what they mean, are listed here.
Why Do I Need To Know What Specific Website Errors Mean?
You may believe that because your IT crew and developers are specialists, they are the only ones who need to understand what each website problem signifies. You would, however, be mistaken.
It’s useful to know what the mistakes signify while visiting a website. It could mean the difference between recognizing when your website is experiencing momentary overloading issues and contacting your technical team.
Simple website problems can save you a lot of time and money if you understand them. It’s always necessary to have a basic understanding of cyber security to boost your awareness of website issues.
The most common website errors, as well as their meanings, are listed below:
404 NOT FOUND
This is one of, if not the most, prevalent website errors you are likely to have encountered. If you notice this error, it signifies that this webpage does not exist, though it’s also possible that you typed the address incorrectly.
If you encountered this website error after visiting a link on your own website, double-check that the URL was typed correctly and that the link’s address is still active.
403 FORBIDDEN
If you’re seeing this website issue, it signifies that the site’s owner has restricted access to this page to a select group of individuals.
This could be anything from country-specific access to IP address and user-specific access. It’s a fantastic technique to keep critical information and pages safe from unauthorized access. This also makes it more difficult for hackers to gain access to the site. Check the permissions for this page on your website to make sure it’s set up appropriately.
ERROR 400 BAD REQUEST
This website error occurs when the server is unable to understand the browser’s request.
This could be due to a number of factors, including a poor internet connection, a malfunctioning browser, or a caching issue. If you’re having problems, check your internet connection and settings, then clear your cache and try again. If that doesn’t work, try a different browser.
ERROR 503 SERVICE UNAVAILABLE
If this message shows after you visit a website, it means the server was unable to process your request.
It’s possible that the website is undergoing maintenance or is currently overburdened with requests. If you’re seeing this on another website, the best thing to do is come back later. If it’s showing up on your site, contact your IT department to see if they’re working on it.
If they aren’t, have them look at your online traffic to determine if you’re getting a lot of it. If this is a recurrent problem on your site, you might consider upgrading your server.
ERROR 401 UNAUTHORISED
When you try to access a restricted web page and aren’t authorized to do so, you’ll see this website error.
This can also happen as a result of a failed login attempt. If this is your site, double-check your login credentials and security settings to confirm you have the appropriate permissions. If you haven’t had a failed login attempt and are trying to access a third-party site, try again later or contact the company.
ERROR 500 INTERNAL SERVER ERROR
When the web server encounters an internal error, it returns an error code of 500. This could be due to a variety of factors, such as an overburdened server that is now unable to handle this request. If this is happening on your website, it’s worth alerting your technical team to look into it.
These are six of the most typical website problems that you might come into on your own or on a third-party website. However, there are other errors to be aware of; if in doubt, contact your IT department.
If your website isn’t doing as well as you’d like it to or requires an upgrade, we can help. With our website support services, you can ensure that your website is secure, up-to-date, and in the best possible shape to meet your marketing goals.
We are best placed to be your safe pair of hands, providing expert support and maintenance, because of our knowledge and commitment to providing award-winning customer service.
ERROR 405: METHOD NOT ALLOWED
The 405 error is less common and more difficult to characterize than other errors. A 405 error basically means that the server understands what the web browser is requesting but refuses to fulfill it. A 405 error could be caused by a bad redirect or a coding mistake on the website.
504 GATEWAY TIMEOUT
The 504 error code denotes a gateway timeout, which occurs when one server does not receive a timely response from another server when attempting to load a page. Most of the time, this is not a website’s fault, but there are a few things you can do to fix the problem. If your website is on WordPress and the problem is caused by a corrupted database, you can use a plugin like WP-DBManager to repair and optimize your database. It could possibly be a problem with your .htaaccess file in WordPress. Alternatively, you could contact your hosting company to see whether the problem is with them.
408 REQUEST TIME-OUT
This error message appears when the server does not get the entire request from the user within the duration it has specified for waiting. If either the server or the user’s system is overburdened, or if there is a temporary internet outage that slows the message’s delivery to the server, repeated 408s will occur. When you see a 408 error notice, the best immediate action you can take is to reload the page and check whether the problem persists.
CONNECTION TIMED OUT ERROR
This error is most likely to appear when a site has attempted (unsuccessfully) to load for a long time. It means that the server is having trouble loading the site and has given up.
This can occur for a number of reasons, the most prevalent of which is that your site lacks the resources it needs to perform effectively. If you’re utilizing shared hosting, for example, another site could be consuming up all of your server’s resources. Alternatively, it’s possible that your site has reached its bandwidth limit.
As a result, if you notice this problem occurs frequently, you might want to consider increasing your hosting plan. A higher-tier plan can help you avoid slowdowns and downtime by giving your site additional server resources and ensuring that it is not harmed by traffic spikes on other sites.
CONNECTION REFUSED BY HOST
This error message, like the 403 error, usually indicates that the user does not have permission to visit the site or that any attempt to log in was unsuccessful, usually due to an incorrect password.
Chrome, like all internet browsers, saves a lot of information in its cache. These include the history of visited websites, cookies, or static material such as photos or log-in data, all of which are saved in the cache so that the corresponding pages can be loaded faster the next time they are requested. This can be a problem if the cache states are out of date and no longer correspond to the most recent version of the contacted website. Clearing the Google Chrome browser cache could be a remedy for the ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED error message.
FAILED DNS LOOKUP
This error occurs when anything goes wrong with your DNS servers, such as when they become timed out or when they are unable to connect to DNS servers for whatever reason.
This error can occur when your computer uses incorrect DNS information. DNS Lookup Failed errors in Google Chrome can also be caused by expired caches. When this happens, you won’t be able to load any web pages in your Chrome browser.
In order to fix it, you just need to replace the default DNS server on your computers with a third-party DNS service, like Google’s DNS or OpenDNS. Both are great DNS server alternatives that come highly recommended by both regular users and specialists.
