Is your store online? How to check it loads for every visitor
A store that fails to load, blocks visitors or redirects strangely cannot sell. See how the audit tests reachability and what to check when it fails.
2 min read
Area
Store discovery
Severity
Critical
Fix effort
Medium
Stores failing
0%
Of 180 stores we scanned where this check applies, 0% fail it and 100% pass. See all benchmarks.
The most basic check is whether your store loads for an ordinary visitor. A page that returns an error, hangs, or shows a bot wall to normal browsers cannot sell anything. The audit opens your address in a real browser and confirms that a real page appears.
Why it matters
Everything else in an audit depends on this. Stores go dark for dull reasons: an expired domain, a paused subscription, a firewall rule that treats real visitors as bots, or a redirect loop after a settings change. The owner often does not notice, because they are logged in or on a cached copy.
What the audit looks at
The audit checks that your store opens normally for an ordinary visitor, without errors, redirects to another site or a block page.
What usually causes it
- An expired domain or a paused or suspended store plan
- A firewall or bot-protection rule that challenges ordinary visitors
- A password page left on after a launch or a theme change
- A redirect loop caused by conflicting www and https settings
How to fix it
Make the store load for automated visitors as well as people. The effort is medium, a theme or template edit that takes an afternoon.
- Check whether a bot protection rule, a firewall or a geo-block is refusing the request.
- If you are behind Cloudflare, review the bot-fight and security-level settings -- the aggressive presets block search engines too.
- Confirm DNS resolves and the certificate is valid and unexpired.
How to check it yourself
- Open the store in a private browser window on a phone using mobile data, so no cache or login helps you.
- Try from a second network or a free "is it down" checker to rule out a local problem.
- Check the domain registrar and the platform billing page for expiry or suspension notices.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the audit say my store is blocked when I can open it?
You may be seeing a cached or logged-in version. Some firewalls challenge visitors from data centres. If your bot rules are strict, they can block legitimate visitors as well.
Is a password-protected storefront a failure?
The audit cannot read a store behind a password, so it reports that it could not load the real page. Remove the password before auditing a live store.
Related checks
Check your own store
See whether your store passes this check
Paste your store URL. The audit loads your pages in a real browser and shows the result for this check with the evidence behind it.