Set Up a Free Status Page for Your Small Business (Step by Step)

A status page is a simple public web page that answers one question: "Is it down, or is it just me?" When your website has a problem, customers who can see a calm, accurate status page send fewer emails and phone calls, and they trust you more than if they hit silence. You can set one up for free in about 20 minutes, with no coding.

This guide is for owners who have never made one. It covers what to put on the page, how to connect it to your monitors so it updates itself, how to write messages during a problem, and where to link it. For the bigger picture of what a great status page contains, read the website status page guide.

Why a status page is worth the 20 minutes

Think about what happens during an outage without one. Customers refresh, try another browser, then email or call you. Each message needs an answer, and you are the person who is trying to fix the problem.

With a status page, you give everyone one place to look. You also get a record of past incidents, which shows new customers that problems are handled openly. And importantly, your status page should live somewhere other than your own website. If it is hosted on the same server that is down, nobody can see it. Our free status page is hosted separately from your site for exactly that reason.

Before you start

You need three things:

1. A free uptime monitoring account. The free plan includes 3 monitors, 5-minute checks, email, webhook, Slack and Discord alerts, and a public status page. If you have not made monitors yet, follow set up free uptime alerts step by step first.
2. The names of the parts of your business that customers care about, like "Website" or "Online booking."
3. An email address for support that people can contact if they need help.

Step 1: Decide what the page will show

Do not list your servers. Customers do not know what "web-01" is. List things they use. For a small business, two to four items is plenty:

• Website (your home page)
• Online store or checkout
• Booking or contact form
• Customer login or portal, if you have one

On the free plan you have 3 monitors, so you can have up to three items backed by live checks. If you have more things to describe, mention them in the page description instead of adding fragile items nobody checks.

Step 2: Turn on your status page

1. Open the Status Page feature from your account.
2. Create your page and give it a name your customers recognize, such as your business name.
3. Choose which of your monitors appear on it, and give each a friendly label. "Checkout" is better than "https://shop.example.com/cart".
4. Save and open the public link in a private browser window to see what customers will see.

Step 3: Check that the statuses are correct

A status page that says "All systems operational" while your site is down destroys trust. Test it.

1. Make sure each listed monitor is checking a page that really matters. A monitor on a static home page can stay green while your checkout is broken. Use a different page for your second monitor, like the cart or booking page.
2. Add a keyword check on that page so a blank or error page does not count as healthy. The keyword should be text that always appears, such as the words "Add to cart."
3. Run the Website Health Check against each address to confirm they respond as expected.

If you are unsure what a status code means, the HTTP status codes reference explains each one.

Step 4: Write your standard messages in advance

Writing a message during an outage is stressful. Prepare it now, in a notes file, so you can copy and edit. Use four stages that most status pages share:

Keep each message short, factual and free of blame. Do not promise a fix time you cannot control. Instead, say when the next update will come ("We will update again within 30 minutes"). More ready-to-use wording is in status page communication templates, and the same stage language appears in tell customers your website is down.

Step 5: Add the page to places customers will see it

A status page nobody can find does not help. Add a link in these places:

1. Your website footer, labeled "System status."
2. Your email signature or support email auto-reply.
3. Your contact page, with a line such as "Having trouble? Check our status page."
4. Your social media profile or bio.

One caution: if your website is the thing that is down, the footer link will not load. That is why the email signature, social profiles and auto-replies matter too.

You can also show a small live indicator on your own site with the Status Widget, or place a badge from Uptime Badges in a footer or README. Check that any badge or widget you embed does not slow your page.

Step 6: Connect alerts so you update the page quickly

Status only helps if you act on it. In your monitor settings, send alerts to at least two channels, such as email and a Slack or Discord channel, so that someone sees a problem fast. Webhook alerts can feed other tools if a developer wants to connect them.

When an alert arrives:

1. Confirm the failure yourself and check whether it is regional using Down From Where.
2. Follow the first 15 minutes checklist.
3. Post the "Investigating" message within about 10 minutes of confirming.
4. Update at the interval you promised, even if the update is "no change yet."
5. Post "Resolved" with the time, then, if the problem was significant, write a short summary of what happened.

Step 7: Plan for maintenance

If you are about to do something that causes a short outage, such as moving servers or updating your store software, post a maintenance notice ahead of time. Include the date, the time window in a time zone people understand, and what customers can expect. Use maintenance windows in your monitor so you are not paged for planned work, and set your site to return a proper 503 while it is down. The details are in website maintenance mode done right.

Step 8: Review the page every month

Once a month, open your status page in a private window and read it as a customer. Are the names clear? Is your support email current? Are past incidents written in a way you would be happy for a new customer to read? Add this to your monthly website health checklist.

Mistakes to avoid

• Hosting the page on the same server as your site. It will go down with your site.
• Hiding real problems. If customers see errors but the page says everything is fine, they stop trusting it.
• Over-sharing technical detail. "Our database ran out of connections" confuses people. "Orders were failing and have been restored" is clear.
• Quoting uptime percentages you cannot back up. If you show a number, understand how it is calculated. See uptime percentages explained.

When to call your host or developer

• You want the status page on your own domain, such as status.example.com, and need a DNS record added. A developer or whoever manages your domain can add a CNAME record, following the instructions the status page tool shows. Check the current setup instructions before you ask them.
• Your monitors show errors while the site loads fine for you. A firewall or security plugin may be blocking the checks, and your host can allow them.
• You want automatic alerts sent into a team tool and need a webhook URL or API key set up.
• You are down and cannot tell whether the cause is your host, your domain, or your application. Your host can read the server logs; you cannot.

Next steps

• Status Page to create your page
• Uptime Monitor to set up the checks that feed it
• Website status page guide
• Status page communication templates
• Incident postmortem template and guide

FAQ

Is the status page really free?

Yes. The free uptime monitoring includes a public status page along with 3 monitors and 5-minute checks. Plan details can change, so check the pricing page for the current picture.

Will my status page work if my website is down?

It should, because it is hosted separately from your site. That separation is the main reason to use a dedicated status page instead of a page on your own website.

Do customers need an account to see it?

No. A public status page is just a web link anyone can open. Share it widely in footers, emails and social profiles.

Should I post about very short blips?

Not usually. Post when customers would notice and might contact you. Tiny blips under a few minutes can stay in the automatic history.

This page is general information written by our editorial team and updated when documentation changes. Servers and providers differ, so test changes safely first. See our editorial policy and disclaimer.