Okay… either your website crashed and you are in panic mode, or you’re preparing for some website maintenance that will cause your site to go offline.
Either way, this can be a stressful position to be in. There are probably all sorts of things running through your head, including what to say to your customers.
To save you time, we’ve created message templates for what to say when your website is down. We’ve also included some other relevant information that might be useful to you during this time.
Continue scrolling to read more, or click on a section to jump further in this article:
- Website Down Message Examples
- Methods of Notifying Customers About a Website Outage
Website Down Message Examples
Before you start creating your website down message, you’ll need to clarify whether this was an unplanned website outage or planned website maintenance.
If you are expecting to have planned website maintenance that will cause your website to go offline temporarily, your communication methods to customers will be different than if the website crashed unexpectedly.
We’ve created separate templates for you to use for both planned and unplanned website down messages, so choose which one is most appropriate for your situation!
Use these templates to send to customers so you don’t have to spend time crafting the perfect message!
Unplanned Website Outage Notification Template
Unplanned website outages are no fun for anyone!
Your customers will be frustrated and you’ll be stressed trying to get your website fixed as soon as possible. Communicating effectively during an unplanned website outage is very important to maintain a positive impression on your customers.
During a website outage, you’ll want to communicate these 3 pieces of information to your customers:
- What is happening and how it may impact the customer
- How you are actively working to fix the issue
- Where to contact you if they need assistance or more information
It’s also great to give a time estimate for when the website outage will be resolved, if possible. However, be careful with this! If you don’t meet your original time estimate, this will aggravate your customers even more. Don’t give a time estimate unless you are confident that it will be resolved by then!
Also, remember that this is a frustrating time for your customer. You should be comforting and reassuring in your messaging!
Use this unplanned website outage notification template to create a message to send to your customers:
Hello,
We are currently experiencing issues with our website. Our website may be fully or partially inaccessible during this time.
This outage may impact you in the following ways:
1. [IMPACT #1]
2. [IMPACT #2]
3. [IMPACT #3]
Our website support team is actively working to resolve this issue as soon as possible. We will provide an update to you once new information becomes available
We appreciate your patience during this time! If you need any assistance, please give us a call at 999-999-9999.
Sincerely,
[NAME]
We recommend adding a few extra sentences to this template to make it more relevant to your business and customers. Try to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and write what would make you feel comfortable if you were in their situation.
Planned Website Maintenance Message Template
A planned website outage is typically much less stressful than an unexpected crash.
Most of your stress as a business owner during a planned website outage will be dealing with customer service (unless you’re doing the website maintenance yourself…). That’s why informing your customers about the planned website outage will help make the process easier.
The most common reason for a planned website outage is website maintenance. Most website maintenance procedures can be taken care of without any website downtime, but it may be necessary on occasion.
In your planned website maintenance message, it will be most important to communicate these 4 items to your customers:
- When the website will go offline
- How long the website will be offline
- How the outage will impact the customer
- Where to contact you if they need assistance
When determining how long the website will be online, we recommend giving a “worst-case” scenario time estimate to your customers. Things often take longer than expected, so this gives you some extra time just in case. As a bonus, your customers will be delighted if the website maintenance is finished ahead of schedule!
Use this planned website maintenance message template to create a message to send to your customers:
Hello,
Due to planned system maintenance, our website may be fully or partially inaccessible from [DATE & TIME] to [DATE & TIME].
[HOW THE WEBSITE DOWNTIME MAY IMPACT THE CUSTOMER]
We appreciate your patience during this time! If you need any assistance, please give us a call at 999-999-9999.
Sincerely,
[NAME]
Most customers will understand that website maintenance is necessary, so you should not experience many complaints. However, it is possible that some customers may not see the message.
Keep reading to learn more about methods of notifying your customers about website outages so you can make sure that your message reaches everyone!
Methods of Notifying Your Customers About a Website Outage
Properly delivering your website outage message to your customers is essential. You’ll want to make sure you reach everyone with your message, otherwise, some people may be left confused.
The two most common ways of notifying your customers about a website outage are through email and social media. If you have other communication channels, such as text or mass voicemail, you should also use those!
Keep reading, as we will elaborate more on email and social media communication during a website outage.
Through Your Email List
Your email list is one of the best ways to deliver a quick message to customers during a website outage. If you don’t have an email list yet, you should start building one as soon as possible!
Most businesses use an email marketing provider, such as Mailchimp or Sendinblue, to deliver mass emails to customers.
You can also email a list of people directly through your email provider, but you’ll want to make sure you keep your customer’s information confidential when sending a bulk email. Sending through your email provider may also increase the likelihood that your message (and entire email address) gets marked as spam.
Through Social Media
Social media is also a fantastic way to inform your customers about a website outage.
Your social accounts may be the first place that customers head to once they realize your website is down, so it’s important to display a prominent message on all your social channels to reflect the website outage.
You can use the templates we wrote above on social media, as well as email!
Feel free to include some humor into your post, if it is appropriate for your brand!
Check out this tweet from Adobe during a system outage:
This tweet is humorous and helps relieve the tension and frustration that the customer is feeling because of the outage. Although this may not be appropriate for some brands, don’t be afraid to give it a shot!
Preventing Website Downtime
If your website needs some attention, you should consider seeking an expert to help out.
Many businesses are not aware of the proper steps that should be taken to properly maintain and process changes to a website. This could cause a website crash, which can occasionally be irreversible if the proper precautions are not taken.
Many of our customers have signed up for our website maintenance plans because of a website crash and have found enormous value in the maintenance service we provide to help prevent crashes and website downtime.
Just check out this comment from one of our customers!
Mark N. Ashworth of L. Lance Gilman Real Estate says, “Lacking the time and expertise to create, monitor and update my site, I rely on WPCharger to keep me and my Clients’ Listings in the public eye.”
If you’re tired of dealing with website-related tasks, our affordable website maintenance plans will help you relieve stress, maximize sales, and allow you to focus on running your business.
Our services cover website maintenance, content updates, security, and more! All this is handled by your own U.S-based account manager.
Jonathan Buckley
Jonathan is a WordPress expert with 10+ years of experience building and managing websites. He owns WPCharger, a service business that specializes in managing WordPress websites for small and midsize businesses.
