What to know if your website account has been suspended and your website and domain based email is offline, displaying a message that says, “This domain is temporarily unavailable.” ?

What does account suspension mean?

When your website account is suspended, it means the hosting provider has temporarily taken it offline. Website hosts suspend websites for a number of reasons ranging from malware to spam, or unpaid accounts. We suspend websites when needed to protect the datacentre servers that host other websites for our clients.

Other possible reasons

There are also other reasons why your hosting provider decided to suspend your website. While they don’t necessarily relate to a hacked website, they’re equally worth considering to reduce downtime and get your site back up as quickly as possible.

Non-payment of hosting and domain renewal fees: Failure to pay your hosting fees and domain renewal fees on time is a common reason for account suspension. Setting up automatic payments will prevent this payment issue.

Hosting accounts are suspended 3 days after payment due date; if unpaid. Website hosting accounts are deleted after 30 days if no client payment of arrears was made within this period.  A deleted account and domain cannot be recovered.

Additional reinstatement fees for suspended accounts (in arrears beyond 3 days of payment due date) are payable.

When we register a domain for you, you or your business becomes registered as a domain holder and registrant. Technically domains are never owned but are leased from a domain registry on an annual basis, giving the registrant legal right to the use of the domain provided the account is renewed by due date annually. Failure to pay domain renewal fees on time, will forfeit your right as domain holder and registrant.

Excessive resource usage: Overusing server resources beyond the limits of your shared hosting plan can affect other users on shared hosting platforms. Disk over usage beyond your account limit, is fined at R7 per 10MB.

Illegal content or activities: Hosting illegal content (such as pirated software, illegal video streams, etc.) or engaging in illegal activities (like phishing or fraud).

Spamming activities: Using the hosting service to send out spam emails or host spammy content can lead to suspension.

Violations of terms of service: Breaching any specific terms outlined in the hosting provider's agreement, which can include a range of activities from unauthorized reselling of services to hosting certain types of content.

Infringement of copyright or intellectual property: Hosting content that infringes on someone else’s copyright or intellectual property rights.

Content policy violation: Depending on the provider's policies, hosting adult content or other objectionable material may be grounds for suspension.

Poor website maintenance: Neglecting to update software or plugins, resulting in vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers.

Breaching email policies: Sending too many emails in a short time or being blacklisted for spam can lead to suspension.

To avoid suspension website owners need to get familiar with and comply with their hosting provider’s terms of service and acceptable use policies.

Getting your website back online

A suspended website can be incredibly frustrating and may harm the website's reputation or business income. Finding out your website is inaccessible to your visitors can be a bitter pill to swallow, even if it’s for your own protection. Hosts understand that it’s important to get the website back online as soon as possible.

Please ensure that you always pay your hosting account and domain by due date to avoid suspension or deletion of your account.