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BusinessDay.ng Website Experiences Temporary Outage, Leaving Users Frustrated

Published: October 26, 2023 at 12:00 PM GMT | Last Updated: October 26, 2023 at 12:30 PM GMT

lagos, Nigeria – BusinessDay.ng, a leading Nigerian financial news website, experienced a temporary outage on Thursday, leaving users unable to access its content. the website displayed a “Page Not Found” error message for a period of approximately 30 minutes, causing frustration among its readership who rely on the platform for up-to-date business and economic information.

The issue,first reported around 11:45 AM GMT,affected all sections of the site,including its breaking news coverage,market data,and analysis pieces. Users attempting to access the website were redirected to a generic error page, offering a link back to the homepage. The disruption comes at a crucial time, as Nigerian markets react to global economic trends and local policy changes.

BusinessDay.ng is a prominent source of financial news in Nigeria,serving a diverse audience of investors,business leaders,and policymakers. The website’s temporary inaccessibility highlights the critical importance of website reliability for news organizations in the digital age. A spokesperson for BusinessDay confirmed the outage and stated that technical teams were working swiftly to resolve the problem.

“We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the temporary disruption to our website,” the spokesperson said. “Our technical team identified and addressed the issue promptly, and the site is now fully operational. We are committed to providing our readers with uninterrupted access to accurate and timely financial news.”

The outage underscores the growing vulnerability of online platforms to technical glitches and cyber threats. News organizations are increasingly investing in robust cybersecurity measures and disaster recovery plans to mitigate the risk of disruptions. This incident serves as a reminder of the need for continuous monitoring and maintenance of critical online infrastructure.

Understanding Website Outages and their Impact

Website downtime, weather due to technical errors, server issues, or cyberattacks, can have significant consequences for businesses and news organizations. Beyond immediate user frustration, outages can damage brand reputation, lead to lost revenue, and erode trust. According to a report by WebsitePulse, the average cost of website downtime is approximately $5,600 per hour. [https://www.websitepulse.com/blog/cost-of-website-downtime](https://www.websitepulse.com/blog/cost-of-website-downtime)

Several factors can contribute to website outages, including:

• Server Issues: Hardware failures, software bugs, or network connectivity problems.
• Cyberattacks: Distributed Denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, malware infections, or hacking attempts.
• Human Error: Mistakes made during website maintenance or software updates.
• Traffic Spikes: Unexpected surges in website traffic that overwhelm server capacity.

To minimize the risk of outages, organizations should implement proactive monitoring, regular backups, and robust security measures. Utilizing Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) can also help distribute website traffic and improve resilience.

Frequently Asked Questions About Website Outages

1. What causes a website outage? A website outage can be caused by server issues,cyberattacks,human error,or unexpected traffic spikes.
2. How can businesses prevent website downtime? Proactive monitoring, regular backups, robust security measures, and utilizing CDNs can help prevent downtime.
3. What is the financial impact of a website outage? The financial impact can be significant,costing businesses thousands of dollars per hour in lost revenue and productivity.
4. What is a DDoS attack? A Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt online services by overwhelming a server with traffic.
5. Why is website reliability vital for news organizations? Website reliability is crucial for news organizations to maintain trust and provide timely information to their audience.
6. What is a CDN and how does it help? A Content Delivery Network (CDN) distributes website content across multiple servers, improving performance and resilience.
7. How quickly should a website be restored after an outage? Organizations should aim for rapid restoration, ideally within minutes, to minimize disruption and damage.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information about website outages and their impact. It is not intended to provide technical or financial advice. Consult with qualified professionals for specific guidance.

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What are the key business impacts of frequent 404 errors on a website?

Understanding the 404 Error

A “404 Not Found” error is a standard HTTP error code indicating that the server can’t find the requested resource. For businesses, especially those relying on online presence, encountering a 404 error can be detrimental. It signals broken links,lost traffic,and a potentially negative user experience. This Businessday update focuses on diagnosing, resolving, and preventing 404 errors to maintain a healthy website. Common causes, as highlighted in resources like Baidu zhidao https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/2000579013123206987.html, include incorrect URLs and server-side issues.

Impact on businessday Operations & SEO

The impact of frequent 404 errors extends beyond simple user frustration. Here’s a breakdown:

Lost Revenue: Broken links can prevent customers from reaching product pages or completing transactions,directly impacting sales.

SEO Penalties: Search engines like Google view a high number of 404 errors as a sign of poor website maintenance. This can negatively affect your search engine rankings for relevant keywords like “online store,” “e-commerce website,” or industry-specific terms.

Damaged Brand Reputation: A frustrating user experience due to broken links can damage your brand’s credibility and trustworthiness.

Wasted Crawl Budget: Search engine crawlers spend time indexing pages that return 404 errors, wasting valuable crawl budget that could be used to index significant, functioning pages.

Diagnosing 404 Errors

Identifying 404 errors is the first step towards resolution. Several tools and methods can be employed:

Google search Console: This free tool provides a report of 404 errors detected by Google’s crawlers. Regularly monitoring this report is crucial.

website Analytics (Google Analytics, adobe Analytics): Track 404 errors as events within your analytics platform to understand which pages are generating the most errors and how they are impacting user behaviour.

Log File Analysis: Server log files contain detailed data about all requests made to your server, including 404 errors. Analyzing these logs can pinpoint the source of the errors.

Broken Link Checkers: Online tools like Dead Link Checker or Screaming Frog SEO Spider can crawl your website and identify broken links.

Resolving 404 Errors: Actionable Steps

Once identified, 404 errors require prompt attention. Here’s a tiered approach:

1. Correct the URL: If the error is due to a simple typo in the URL, correct it instantly.
2. Implement 301 Redirects: This is the most effective solution for permanently moved or renamed pages. A 301 redirect tells search engines that the page has moved to a new location, preserving link equity. Use your website’s .htaccess file (for Apache servers) or server configuration to create redirects.
3. Create Custom 404 Pages: Instead of displaying a generic error message, create a custom 404 page that is user-friendly and helpful. Include:

A clear explanation of the error.

A search bar to help users find what they’re looking for.

Links to popular pages on your website.

Contact information for support.

1. Restore the Page: If the page was accidentally deleted, restore it from a backup.
2. Soft 404 detection: Ensure your server is correctly sending 404 status codes. Sometiems, pages appear to be working but are actually returning a 200 OK status code when they should be a 404. This can confuse search engines.

Preventing Future 404 Errors

Proactive measures can substantially reduce the occurrence of 404 errors:

Internal Link Audits: Regularly audit your website’s internal links to ensure they are accurate and up-to-date.

Content Inventory: maintain a extensive content inventory to track all pages on your website.

URL Structure Consistency: Use a consistent and logical URL structure.

Monitor External Links: While you can’t control external links pointing to your website, monitor them using tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush and request broken links be updated if possible.

* Website Migration Planning: When migrating to a new website or redesigning