“This Account Has Been Suspended” – How to Fix Website Problem?

Getting a “This Account Has Been Suspended” notice on your website can be a frustrating experience, but you shouldn’t worry too much, since the issue is usually fixable and reputable web hosts will assist you in quickly fixing this website problem.

When your hosting account is suspended, it usually has the nature of a sanction imposed on you by your hosting provider for failing to comply with their terms of service.

But, as we will see in this article, your account can be suspended for other reasons as well.

Reasons why your account is suspended

To understand why your account has been suspended and how to fix it, our article will provide an overview of the most common reasons why you may see an account suspended notification on your website:

Lack of payment

It may seem like a trivial matter, but you would be surprised to find out how many times this is the reason behind getting an account suspended notice. Web hosting companies are diligent in avoiding payment issues by sending email notices to customers well ahead of time, but these emails may not reach their addressees due to sophisticated spam filters, changes in email address, and other such reasons.

Even when you set up automatic payments, billing issues can appear if you forget to update your credit card information.

Resource abuse

If you’re hosting your site on a shared hosting server and your site uses up too much resources (usually memory and CPU), the hosting company may suspend your account. Since your website is using up too much resources, it affects the performance of other sites hosted on the same server.

Suspension because of resource abuse may not happen right away (you may get a notice to limit your resource usage, or else you face suspension), but some hosting companies reserve the right to suspend your account without any prior notice.

When a suspension of this nature occurs, it’s a good indicator that you’ve outgrown your current hosting account, and it’s time to switch to a VPS or dedicated hosting plan, or, if no upgrades are available at your current hosting provider, it’s time to switch hosts.

Hacked account

If your payments are up-to-date and your resource usage is within the accepted limits, you may be facing suspension because your account may have been compromised or hacked. This is also a common reason why hosting accounts get suspended.

If your hosting provider detects illegal activities or activities not consistent with their Terms of Service, they will suspend your account. Depending on the severity of the issue, you may not receive any prior notification about the suspension.

Terms of service violation

Suspension due to TOS violation can cover multiple scenarios, depending on your hosting provider’s policy. Thus, hosting content that infringes copyright laws, hosting adult websites, using your account for spamming or phishing are grounds for your hosting provider to automatically suspend your website. As a result of activities sanctioned by the law, you may also face legal action or fines.

I highly recommend InMotion Hosting, because they will email and call you if they need to suspend your account and they will help you recover it quickly. Believe me, a reliable hosting company with a good support can make a huge difference in this kind of situation.

How to fix “This Account Has Been Suspended” website problem

When you see this message on your website, the first thing you should do is to check your emails (including your spam folders!) to see if you’ve received any notification from your hosting provider. Follow the instructions laid down in those emails or contact your hosting provider for further clarification on the matter, as you may not have gotten any notifications at all.

It is also important to keep in mind that your hosting company is usually not at fault for suspending your account and there is no reason to be angry at them. Also, should you break their terms of service, they will not hesitate to suspend your account, even without prior notification, so make sure you’re clear with what you’re allowed to host on your account.

Depending on the underlying issue, the problem can be easier or harder to fix. If it’s a billing issue, submitting your payment will usually fix the problem quite rapidly. If your account was suspended because resource abuse, you’ll usually be given the option to upgrade your account or tone down your overuse of resources.

Websites suspended because of hacking and TOS violations may be a tougher nut to crack. In case of a suspension due to hacking, you need to clean up the exploit and upload a clean copy of your website from a backup. Depending on their severity, some suspensions due to TOS violations can be fixed (e.g. complying with DMCA cease and desist letter in case of copyright infringement).

Tips to avoid “This Account Has Been Suspended” website problems in the future

With a little foresight, website suspensions can be avoided. Here’s our tips on how to avoid such problems in the future:

1. Update your info: Whenever you change your credit card details or email address, make sure to update your account to reflect these changes. Thus, you can avoid problems caused by not receiving emails sent by your provider or avoid automatic payment failures.
2. Inform yourself about resource limits: If you’re on a shared hosting account, make sure you consult resource allocation and resource limit policies to avoid suspension because of resource abuse.
3. Check TOS: Reading the Terms of Service of your hosting provider will give you a fairly clear idea of the the do’s and don’ts when it comes to your hosting account. Each hosting provider has their own version of prohibited uses, so make sure to read it before you sign up for an account.

Summary

Irrespective of the reason, website downtimes can impact your business. While a website suspension may appear out of the blue, it’s not something completely out of your control. When it happens, you should get in touch with your hosting provider as soon as possible to get a better understanding about the reason behind it and the steps you can take to resolve it. To avoid having your account suspended, take the necessary precautions to update your contact and billing information and comply with the TOS of your hosting provider.