Even if your Website has an uptime of 99.9%, you know that the one time something big happens – for example you get linked to by a major news organization – your Website will go down. The funny part is that often times, this problem can be remedied. The real problem is not knowing when your Website goes. Because no matter how much of a Webhead you are, it’s impossible to monitor your site 24/7. Or is it?
Howsthe.com is a Website that allows you to monitor your Web properties. Enter in the URL you would like the site to track and select the interval in which you would like the site checked. A free plan, which gives you the ability to monitor three Websites, lets you choose between 5 minutes and 1 hour. You can set e-mail or SMS notification to send downtime notifications as the happen, every six hours or once a day.
Howsthe.com will regularly check your Website, and if they receive a code outside of the normal 200 – 300 HTTP status codes, you’ll know about it.
The site has another useful function as well. You can have Howsthe.com search the content of a Website for specific keywords or phrases.
This can prevent false positives on a website that is having database issues or application errors, the website my be reachable but is displaying errors. With keyword search you can require that the content of the website always includes this keyword or phrase.
There are two U.S.-based servers that can perform a Website “quick check” in under a second. This is a useful tool if you’d like to check a Websites without going through the free registration process.
