Do I need paid monitoring?

Most small businesses are covered by a free check-up, a free uptime monitor and Google Search Console. Paid tools add speed and more frequent checks.

Does my web designer monitor my site?

Many agencies do for their clients; ask what they check and how they’d tell you.

What breaks most often on small-business sites?

Expired certificates, out-of-date WordPress and plugins, and sites that nobody has updated since they were built.

Guides

Free website monitoring for small businesses

Short answer: Website monitoring checks your site regularly and alerts you to an expiring security certificate, downtime, signs of a hack, broken pages and outdated software, before customers notice. Free options include a regular check-up like Site Decay’s, free-tier uptime monitors, Google Search Console alerts, and calendar reminders for domain and certificate renewals.

Owners are usually the last to know their site broke. Here’s what to watch, and free ways to watch it.

What monitoring catches

Website problems rarely announce themselves. The owner is usually the last to know, because they don’t visit their own site as a customer would. Monitoring checks it for you and tells you when something changes:

Security certificate expiring or expired, before customers see a warning page.
The site going down or showing an error.
Signs of a hack: spam text, links or redirects that weren’t there before.
Broken pages, such as the contact page.
Software falling behind, such as an out-of-date WordPress version.

Free options

Start with a check-up. Our free check-up looks at all of the above in one go and shows you the evidence. Run it any time.
Uptime monitors (several have free plans) ping your site every few minutes and email you if it stops answering.
Google Search Console (free) emails you if Google finds your site hacked or full of errors.
Calendar reminders for your domain and certificate renewal dates still beat finding out from a customer.

If you have a web designer

Ask them whether they monitor your site, and what they check. Many agencies watch their clients’ sites and fix problems before the owner notices. If your designer is gone, see how to get control of your site back.

Common questions

Do I need paid monitoring?: Most small businesses are covered by a free check-up, a free uptime monitor and Google Search Console. Paid tools add speed and more frequent checks.
Does my web designer monitor my site?: Many agencies do for their clients; ask what they check and how they’d tell you.
What breaks most often on small-business sites?: Expired certificates, out-of-date WordPress and plugins, and sites that nobody has updated since they were built.

Rather not deal with it yourself?

Send the free check-up to your web designer: every report has a link you can forward. No designer? Tell us what’s wrong and we’ll point you to someone who can fix it. No obligation.

Get help

Updated October 17, 2026.