Visitors coming across error pages when visiting your website, does not help solving their problems.

Infact, your website visitors seeing error pages when they’re looking for help or information, makes them lose trust in your brand.

One type of error that can negatively affect visitors’ user experience is the 504 Gateway Timeout Error.

In this article we will learn:

  • What the 504 Gateway Timeout Error means
  • What are the causes
  • How to fix it

So keep reading to avoid losing your website visitors trust.

What is a 504 gateway timeout error?

A 504 Gateway Timeout Error means your web server tried to load your web page but didn’t get a fast response from the other server.

Basically, your web servers aren’t interacting with each other quickly.

That’s why your website visitors were shown this error web page.

But remember, a 504 Gateway Timeout Error doesn’t tell you what caused the issue.

Different 504 Error Wordings

The ways a 504 Gateway Timeout Error appears depends on:

  • The server
  • Operating system
  • The browser you’re using

Different ways a 504 Gateway Timeout Error can appear include:

  • Google Chrome: A 504 error appears as:
    • HTTP ERROR 504
    • “This site can’t be reached. _____ took too long to respond.”
  • Windows programs: a 504 error appears as:
    • ERROR 504
    • HTTP_STATUS_GATEWAY_TIMEOUT
    • “The request was timed out waiting for a gateway message”
  • Windows Update: A Gateway Timeout Error appears as:
    • 0x80244023 Error Code
    • WU_E_PT_HTTP_STATUS_GATEWAY_TIMEOUT
  • Operating systems, web servers, or browsers: A 504 error appears as:
    • “The proxy server did not receive a timely response from the upstream server.”

504 gateway timeout meaning

When visiting a website, your server sends a request to the server which hosts the website.

This server that receives the request is also known as the “upstream server” and uses resources needed to load the website.

But, when a 504 Gateway Timeout error appears, it means the response from the upstream server to yours was slow.

Note: The error is named a “Gateway Timeout” error because the request timed out as your server couldn’t:

  • Load the web page
  • Do its job as a gateway

504 Gateway Timeout Causes

504 Gateway Timeout Errors are confusing HTTP status codes.

Because they tell you what happened to your website, but not why it happened.

So, it’s hard to find the cause and fix the issue.

Possible reasons include:

Server Connectivity Issues

Websites on multiple servers or third-party hosting providers, could go through server maintenance or other related reason

So, this could be why your website visitors are showsm a 504 Gateway Timeout Error page.

DNS Changes

Reasons for changes to your website’s DNS server include:

  • Changing servers
  • Moving your website to a different IP address

And could cause your website to show visitors a 504 Gateway Timeout Error page.

Note: It can take a few hours to get your website up and running, as DNS changes need to take full effect.

Faulty Firewall Configurations

Your firewall protects your site from:

  • Malicious visitors
  • Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks

Firewall configurations can cause 504 Gateway Timeout Errors.

Because your firewall can deny content delivery network requests as they are seen as server attacks.

Errors in Your Website’s Code

Your server can’t answer requests from content delivery networks if there are mistakes in your website’s code.

Network Connectivity Errors

A 504 error is a timeout of a request between servers, so the problem can be the server, not the user’s internet connection or device. 

But, if only one 504 error is reported by your website visitor then it’s to do with:

  • Their modem
  • Router
  • Another device
  • Internet connection

But, there are multiple reasons why a 504 error appears, so go through each one until you find the cause.

How to fix 504 gateway timeout errors?

  • Find server connectivity issues
  • Check for DNS changes
  • Go through your logs
  • Fix firewall configurations
  • Find bugs in your website’s code
  • Contact your hosting provider

Find server connectivity issues

Your website will show visitors 504 Gateway Timeout Error pages if your server is going through maintenance or any related reasons.

To solve this issue, wait for your server maintenance to finish.

Check for DNS changes

Your website’s DNS needs an update if:

  • You’ve changed hosting providers recently
  • Moved your website to a different IP address

So, your website will show visitors 504 Gateway Timeout Error pages for a few hours as DNS changes process.

Go through your logs

Go through your server logs if the issue isn’t your server’s connection or DNS information.

Server logs show details about:

  • Server health
  • Server status

So, go through them to find other issues causing the 504 error.

Fix firewall configurations

Firewall configurations can result in 504 Gateway Timeout Errors.

Temporarily deactivate your firewall to see if its configuration is the cause.

For Windows:

  • Go to your control panel
  • Click Update & Security
  • Windows Security
  • Virus & Threat Protection
  • Manage Settings

Then deactivate your firewall on the Manage Settings page.

For Mac OS:

  • Go to System Preferences
  • Click Security & Privacy
  • Then Firewall and deactivate it

After deactivating your firewall, see if the 504 error is gone.

If the error is gone:

  • Reconfigure firewall settings on your antivirus

Or:

  • Change firewalls

If the error is still there:

  • Reactivate your firewall

And:

  • Move to the next step

Find bugs in your website’s code

Find bugs in your code to find bugs or copy your code into a development machine. 

Copying your code into a development machine:

  • Takes your code through a debug process
  • Simulating when your 504 Gateway Timeout Error occurred
  • Showing you when things went wrong

Contact your hosting provider.

If all else fails, contact your hosting provider.

Only do this after trying the above steps and the 504 Gateway Timeout error still appears.

Your hosting provider will:

  • Fix the issue
  • Give valuable insights

How 504 Gateway Timeout Errors Affect SEO

A 504 Gateway Timeout Error affects your website’s technical SEO so fixing it is worth it.

These type of errors stop your website from loading, which:

  • Hurt user experience
  • Hurt SEO performance

Similar errors include:

  • HTTP 500 Internal Server Error
  • 503 error
  • Any error starting with 5##

Other problems associated with a 504 error include:

  • Web crawler not being able crawl your web pages
  • Negative affect on your search engine results for indexed pages
  • Deindexing pages if error is not fixed

Conclusion

You can’t stop your website from showing 504 Gateway Timeout Errors, but you fix them.

Just make sure to fix errors quickly, giving your website visitors the best user experience and avoiding any negative SEO affects on your website.

Now it’s down to you.

Tell me about 504 errors you have faced and how you have fixed them.

Let me know in the comment section below.