While you are surfing on the internet casually, you try to open up your favorite website only to find it is down due to some HTTP Error. Now, you might be wondering what caused the website to go down? Don’t worry, in this article, we will explain to you what an HTTP error is? and some of the most common HTTP errors found in a website.

However, before delving deep into our topic, let’s first understand what an HTTP Error is?

Understanding What is an HTTP Error?

When the client (web browser) makes requests to the server, the server manages the request and sends responses to the client. These responses depend on how the request is being managed. Even though the response from the server differs at times but mostly includes client errors, server errors, redirects, etc.

Basically, HTTP error codes define the reason why the server failed to service your request.

Now, as we have got a briefing about What an HTTP error is, let’s see some of the most common HTTP error codes that can bring negative impact to a website.

Most Common HTTP Error Codes:

Moving ahead, here are the 6 common HTTP error codes that are critical for your website.

HTTP Error 401: Unauthorized

The 401 status code or unauthorized error is the first common HTTP error code that we will discuss. This error simply means that the server either obtained an unauthorized request or couldn’t properly authenticate the request.

Alternatively, the 401 Error means that you either don’t have permission to view the page.

Fix

• Check if the URL is correct
• Clear browser cache and cookies

HTTP Error 400: Bad Request

Next, in our list of HTTP Error codes is the 400 status code or bad request code. This error signifies that the server received an invalid syntax HTTP request.

Some other reasons for HTTP 400 Error are:

• The site cookies got corrupted
• You are using a defective browser

Fix

• Check if the link has been typed correctly
• Clear the cookies of your browser

HTTP Error 404: Page Not Found

Second in our list of the most common HTTP errors is the 404 status code. The 404 status code or the page not found error simply signifies that the user isn’t able to discover the requested file or resource as it has been moved, deleted, or doesn’t exist in the server.

Meanwhile, you can read our blog post on failed to load resource error to fix the 404 error in WordPress.

HTTP Error 403: Forbidden Error

If you observe the 403 status code or Forbidden error, it simply signifies that you don’t have permission to view that page.

Another reason for HTTP Error 403 is that the IP address specified in the .htaccess settings is used to deny requests.

Open the .htaccess file and check if your IP is blocked or not.

HTTP Error 500: Internal Server Error

The 500 status code or the Internal Server Error is a generic error that occurs when the server isn’t able to process the request for some unexplained reason.

This error is displayed to the user either due to a corrupt .htaccess file or packages are missing as PHP isn’t installed appropriately on your server.

Some other reasons why you are experiencing 500 Internal Server Error are:

• Bandwidth got exhausted
• Inadequate storage space
• Sudden surge in website traffic

If you are experiencing the 500 HTTP Error due to the above reasons, we suggest that you go for Cloud Hosting plans as it follows the pay-as-you-go model so your server resource will never get exhausted. Another benefit of Cloud Hosting is data redundancy. With data redundancy, you have a slight level of website backup as your data is stored in various places.

HTTP Error 503: Service not available

Last, in our list of Common HTTP Error Codes is 503 HTTP Error. The 503 status code or service unavailable error occurs when the server is either on scheduled maintenance or facing an overload of requests and can’t serve a new request.

As this HTTP error is a server-side error, you can only contact your hosting provider and report the issue.

If your website regularly faces HTTP error 503, then it could be because of your web hosting service provider’s negligence.

As we discussed, most of the common HTTP errors occur when the server faces some issues and thereby fails to service the request.

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