How to Monitor Website Uptime in 2026: The Complete Guide
Your website is your storefront. When it goes down, you lose customers, revenue, and trust. Here's how to ensure you're the first to know when something breaks.
What is Uptime Monitoring?
Uptime monitoring is the practice of continuously checking if your website or API is accessible and responding correctly. A monitoring service pings your site at regular intervals and alerts you when something goes wrong.
The goal is simple: know before your customers do.
Why Every Website Needs Monitoring
- Revenue protection: E-commerce sites lose an average of $5,600 per minute of downtime
- SEO impact: Google penalizes sites with poor availability
- User trust: 88% of users won't return after a bad experience
- SLA compliance: Many contracts require 99.9% uptime guarantees
🚀 Start monitoring in 60 seconds
No credit card required. Free forever for up to 5 monitors.
Get Started Free →Key Features to Look For
1. Check Frequency
The interval between checks matters. A 5-minute check means you could be down for 5 minutes before anyone notices. Look for 60-second or faster checks.
2. Multi-Region Verification
False positives waste time. The best monitors verify from multiple locations before alerting you.
3. SSL Monitoring
Expired SSL certificates cause browser warnings that scare away customers. Monitor expiry dates proactively.
Getting Started
Setting up monitoring takes just minutes. Add your URL, configure your alert channels (email, SMS, webhooks), and you're protected.