Domain Health Check
Run one check and get the three verdicts every domain owner needs: does the name resolve, is the certificate healthy, and is the site responding.
The report reads in the order a real visit happens — DNS resolution first, then the SSL certificate's validity and days to expiry, then how the server responded — so the first failing layer is the one to fix first.
A domain fails in layers. The name can stop resolving because the registration lapsed or a record was deleted. The certificate can expire while DNS is perfectly fine. Or both can be healthy while the server behind them serves errors. This check runs all three layers in a single pass — one address in, one combined report out.
It earns its keep at handover moments: taking on a client's domain, inheriting a site from a previous developer, or doing a periodic sweep across everything you're responsible for. Each layer degrades independently and mostly silently — a certificate doesn't warn you it's about to lapse, and DNS doesn't announce that a record went missing — so an occasional one-shot audit catches decay that no single-purpose test would prompt you to run.
What to do next
- Fix findings in visit order: DNS first, then SSL, then the response. A visitor who can't resolve your name never gets far enough to see a certificate error, let alone a server error.
- For a DNS finding, start with our guide to what DNS failure means — most fixes happen at your registrar or DNS provider, not on your server.
- For an SSL finding, read how SSL expiry breaks a website overnight and renew before the countdown reaches zero — browsers show visitors a warning the moment it does.
Healthy today doesn't mean healthy next month. Monitoring re-runs these checks on a schedule, emails you if the site stops responding, and sends an email reminder before your SSL certificate expires — both live today, by email and by text to verified Canadian mobiles.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly does the domain health check cover?
Three layers in one pass: DNS resolution (your name turns into a reachable public address), the SSL certificate (valid, matching your domain, with days until expiry counted down), and response health (the server answers over HTTP, and how quickly). It runs from PingStuff's server, so it reflects the public internet's view of your domain.
My domain resolves, so why is the site down?
Resolving is only step one — it means the internet's address book still has your entry, not that anyone is home at that address. The server at the IP can be off, overloaded or misconfigured, and the domain will keep 'working' in DNS terms the whole time. The response-health part of this report is what catches that.
How do I fix the DNS or SSL problems it finds?
DNS findings are usually fixed at your registrar or DNS provider — re-adding records, correcting where they point, or renewing the registration itself. SSL findings are fixed on the server or through your host, by renewing or reinstalling the certificate. The two guides linked in the steps above walk through each.
Can I get a warning before my SSL certificate expires?
Yes. SSL expiry reminders are live as part of PingStuff monitoring: when a monitored site’s certificate gets close to lapsing, you get an email heads-up with enough runway to renew — instead of finding out from a browser-warning screenshot a customer sends you.