What Is a Status Page and When Do You Actually Need One?

A status page is a dedicated webpage that shows the current operational status of your services. It tells users whether your website, API, or app is working, displays any ongoing incidents, and provides a history of past issues.

Think of it as a single source of truth that answers "is it down?" before users have to ask.

What a Status Page Shows

A typical status page includes:

• Overall system status — Operational, degraded, or outage
• Component breakdown — Individual service statuses
• Active incidents — What's currently wrong and updates
• Scheduled maintenance — Upcoming planned downtime
• Uptime history — 90-day availability record
• Subscribe option — Get notified of issues

Example Status Page Layout

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           YourApp Status                     │
│                                             │
│  ● All Systems Operational                  │
│                                             │
│  Components:                                │
│  ✓ Website         Operational              │
│  ✓ API             Operational              │
│  ✓ Mobile App      Operational              │
│  ⚠ Payments        Degraded Performance     │
│                                             │
│  Uptime: 99.95% (last 90 days)             │
│                                             │
│  Recent Incidents:                          │
│  Jan 5: API latency resolved (32 min)       │
│  Dec 28: Scheduled maintenance completed    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Why Status Pages Matter

1. Reduce Support Tickets

During outages, users flood support channels asking "is it down?"

With a status page:

• Users check status.yourapp.com first
• Support tickets decrease 30-50%
• Team focuses on fixing, not responding

2. Build User Trust

Transparency builds loyalty:

• 89% of users prefer transparency about issues
• Proactive communication reduces frustration
• Honesty during incidents improves long-term trust

3. Control the Narrative

Without a status page:

• Users check Twitter, Reddit, DownDetector
• Misinformation spreads
• You lose control of the story

With a status page:

• Official updates in one place
• Users know where to look
• You control communication

4. Meet Enterprise Requirements

B2B customers often require status pages in contracts. Not having one looks unprofessional.

When Do You Actually Need One?

You Definitely Need a Status Page If:

• Users depend on your service — SaaS, APIs, e-commerce
• You have paying customers — They expect transparency
• Downtime costs money — Lost sales, SLA penalties
• You get "is it down?" support tickets — Status page eliminates these

You Probably Don't Need One If:

• Internal tool with fewer than 10 users — Just use Slack
• Static website — No dynamic functionality to break
• Personal project — No users to notify

The Simple Test

Ask: "Would users be affected if my service went down?"

If yes → you need a status page.

Common Status Page Mistakes

1. Using Internal Jargon

Bad components:

• us-east-1-web-cluster-03
• PostgreSQL Primary
• Redis Cache Layer

Good components:

• Website
• API
• Mobile App
• Payments

Users don't need to know your infrastructure.

2. Going Silent During Incidents

The worst thing you can do during an outage is not communicate. Even "still investigating" is better than silence.

Update frequency:

• First 30 minutes: Every 10-15 minutes
• 30 min - 2 hours: Every 20-30 minutes
• Extended outages: At least hourly

3. Not Including History

Users want to see your track record. Display:

• 90-day uptime percentage
• Recent incidents with resolution times
• Scheduled maintenance history

4. Hosting on Same Infrastructure

If your status page goes down with your main service, it's useless. Host it on separate infrastructure or use a third-party service.

5. Making It Hard to Find

Put a link to your status page in:

• Footer of your website
• Help/support pages
• Error pages
• Emails during incidents

Status Page vs Other Communication

Best practice: Use your status page as the source of truth, then share links via other channels.

How Status Pages Connect to Monitoring

The best status pages integrate with monitoring:

Uptime Monitor detects failure
        ↓
Status page component updates automatically
        ↓
Subscribers get notified
        ↓
You post incident update
        ↓
Monitor detects recovery
        ↓
Status page shows resolved

Manual status pages require you to remember to update during stressful incidents.

When Wakestack Is a Good Fit

Wakestack includes status pages with every plan (including free) and integrates them with monitoring:

• Automatic updates — Components reflect monitor status
• Custom branding — Your logo and colors
• Custom domains — status.yourcompany.com
• Subscriber notifications — Email updates
• Incident management — Post updates from dashboard
• No extra cost — Included, not a separate product

Comparison

Create your status page — Free, takes 2 minutes.

Quick Setup Guide

1. Sign up at wakestack.co.uk/signup
2. Add monitors for your critical services
3. Create status page — Name it, add components
4. Configure custom domain — status.yourapp.com
5. Enable subscriptions — Let users opt in to updates

Your status page is live and connected to real monitoring data.

Key Takeaways

• A status page shows your service's current operational status
• It reduces support tickets and builds trust
• You need one if users depend on your service
• Use user-friendly component names, not infrastructure jargon
• Update frequently during incidents
• Integrate with monitoring for automatic updates

Related Resources

• 10 Status Page Best Practices
• Status Page Software Guide
• Better Stack Alternative