$ patchitfast offline --mode=503
Taking your site safely offline? Use HTTP 503, not 404.
Sometimes a site needs to go offline briefly during patching or an incident. Do it right, and Google knows it’s temporary — do it wrong, and your SEO rankings take the hit.
Scan my shop for freeWhy the status code matters
A 503 (Service Unavailable) tells Google: this is temporary, come back soon — especially with a Retry‑After header stating when. Your pages simply stay indexed and your rankings stay intact. A 404, 500 or a timeout says the opposite: this page doesn’t exist (anymore) or is broken. Keep that up long enough and pages drop out of the index and you slide in the results — damage you’ll have to earn back after the incident.
Wrong versus right
fix: HTTP/1.1 503 + Retry‑After — rankings hold
- ×404 / 500 / timeout — Google reads this as “permanently gone” or “broken”. Over time pages drop out of the index and you slide in rankings.
- +503 + Retry‑After — Google reads this as “temporary, come back later”. Your pages stay indexed and your positions hold.
This can be done outside PHP
You don’t need to dive into your application code. The switch usually sits one layer down: a rule in your web server (nginx/Apache) or edge/CDN config can answer all traffic with a 503 and Retry‑After header, before PHP is even invoked. That means: even if your PHP layer itself is the problem — like with PHP2Shell — you can still go offline cleanly, at infra level, bypassing the vulnerable code.
- 01web server or CDN rule set
- 02Retry-After header added
- +503 live, SEO rankings preserved
Still need to patch? Know exactly what first
A 503 buys you time without SEO damage — but it isn’t a patch. Our free scan shows within minutes which CVEs hit your shop today, so you know exactly what to close before you open the doors again.
Asking for Managed patch? Your first critical patch within the agreed SLA (plan under 1 hour, rollout under 4 hours) — or that month is free.
Scan my shop for freePrefer to triage yourself first? Read the free CVE first-aid guide →
Frequently asked questions
Does taking my site offline hurt my SEO?
Not if you do it right. A 503 with Retry‑After is read by Google as temporary and your pages stay indexed. A 404, 500 or timeout that persists long enough is read as permanent and can knock you out of the index.
How do I set up a 503 without PHP?
Via your web server (a maintenance block in nginx or Apache that answers all traffic with status 503 and a Retry‑After header), via your CDN/edge (a custom error or maintenance page), or via DNS by temporarily pointing to a static maintenance page. None of these routes require your PHP layer itself to run.
Still need to patch? Start with the free scan
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