How to Write Better Incident Updates for Your Status Page

Introduction

When something breaks, your customers want two things: to know what's going on and when it will be fixed. Yet, many incident updates on status pages fall short—either using too much technical jargon or offering vague, unhelpful messages like "We're aware of an issue."

Clear, timely communication during downtime is just as important as resolving the problem itself. A well-written incident update can reduce panic, limit support requests, and actually strengthen customer trust—even while your service is offline.

In this post, we'll break down what makes a great status update, how to avoid common mistakes, and share simple templates you can use to communicate better during your next incident.

What Makes a Great Incident Update?

A great incident update doesn't need to be long—it just needs to be clear, honest, and actionable. When customers check your status page during an outage, they're looking for confidence and clarity, not a technical post-mortem.

Here's what sets strong updates apart:

Clarity

Avoid jargon and technical terms. Use plain language that any customer can understand.

Instead of saying:

High CPU usage on our NGINX pods is causing elevated latency.

Say:

We're seeing slower load times on our website.

Calm Tone

Keep your tone steady and professional. Your update sets the emotional tone for how your customers will react.

Good example:

We're investigating an issue affecting the login experience and will provide updates every 15 minutes.

Transparency

Be honest about what you know—and what you don't. It's okay to say you're still diagnosing the problem, as long as you're communicating.

Good example:

Our team is investigating the root cause and working to restore service as quickly as possible.

Timeliness

Post early and update often. A stale status page is worse than no status page at all.

The best incident updates answer three simple questions:

• What's happening?
• Who is affected?
• What's being done about it?

When your updates consistently answer those questions, customers feel informed, respected, and less likely to churn.

The Anatomy of an Effective Status Update

An effective incident update follows a clear structure and delivers just enough information to keep customers informed—without overwhelming them. Here's a simple format to follow for every update:

1. Timestamp

Let users know when the update was posted so they can track the timeline.

Good example:

[Jul 2, 2025 – 10:34 AM PT]

2. Impact Summary

Briefly describe what users are experiencing. Focus on symptoms, not root cause (yet).

Good example:

We are currently experiencing degraded performance on our checkout page. Some users may be unable to complete purchases.

3. Current Status or Action in Progress

Explain what the team is doing right now to fix it, or what step you're currently on.

Good example:

Our engineering team has identified the issue and is deploying a fix.

4. Next Update Expectation

Tell users when they can expect to hear from you again—even if there's nothing new to report.

Good example:

We'll provide another update by 11:00 AM PT or as soon as we have more information.

Full example of a clear update:

[Jul 2, 2025 – 10:34 AM PT] We are currently experiencing degraded performance on our checkout page. Some users may be unable to complete purchases. Our engineering team has identified the issue and is deploying a fix. We'll provide another update by 11:00 AM PT.

Avoid These Common Mistakes

Even well-meaning teams can undermine trust with poorly written incident updates. Here are the most common pitfalls—and how to avoid them:

1. Using Technical Jargon

Your customers aren't all engineers. Avoid internal terms or system names that don't make sense outside your team.

Instead of saying:

We're seeing high error rates from our upstream caching layer. Say: Some users may see errors when trying to load the website.

2. Being Too Vague

Saying "We're aware of an issue" without further detail leaves customers confused and frustrated. Always include what's affected and what you're doing.

Instead of saying:

We're looking into something. Say: Our team is investigating an issue that's affecting logins for some users.

3. Going Silent

If you don't update regularly, customers assume you're not working on it—or that you don't care. Even if nothing has changed, a quick check-in shows you're still engaged.

Don't do this:

[Last update: 2 hours ago] Do this: We're continuing to monitor the issue and will post another update in 30 minutes.

4. Over-Promising

Avoid setting expectations you can't control. Instead of saying "It'll be fixed in 10 minutes," give an estimated update time and express urgency without guarantees.

Don't do this:

Everything will be back up in 5 minutes. Do this: We expect to have more information within the next 15 minutes.

When in doubt, aim for clear, honest, and human. Customers will always prefer a calm update over a rushed fix with no communication.

Examples: Good vs. Bad Incident Updates

Sometimes the best way to understand effective communication is to compare it to what not to do. Below are a few examples of incident updates—both bad and improved versions—so you can see the difference in tone, clarity, and customer impact.

Bad Example 1: Too Vague

❌ "We're experiencing some issues. Our team is working on it."

Why it's bad: This tells the customer almost nothing—no idea what's broken, who's affected, or what to expect next.

Improved Version:

✅ "[3:15 PM PT] We're investigating an issue that's preventing some users from accessing their dashboards. Our team is actively working on a fix. We'll share another update by 3:45 PM PT."

Bad Example 2: Too Technical

❌ "Service is down due to a Redis lock contention issue affecting Pod autoscaling in GKE."

Why it's bad: This might make sense internally, but to a customer, it's confusing and unhelpful.

Improved Version:

✅ "[10:02 AM PT] Some users may be experiencing slow performance or timeouts. We've identified the issue and are working on a fix. Next update by 10:30 AM PT."

Bad Example 3: No Follow-Up

❌ "We're working on it." (...2 hours go by with no updates...)

Why it's bad: Silence during an outage leaves customers anxious and can cause unnecessary support tickets.

Improved Version:

✅ "[11:00 AM PT] We're continuing to address the issue affecting API access. No changes yet, but we'll post another update by 11:30 AM PT or sooner if progress is made."

These examples show how small changes in wording and structure can make your updates feel more transparent, accountable, and professional.

When to Post and How Often to Update

Timing is everything during an incident. Post too late and customers feel ignored. Post too often without useful updates and you risk fatigue. Here's how to strike the right balance:

When to Post

• Immediately after detecting a customer-impacting issue—even if you're still investigating.
• When there's a change in status (e.g., issue identified, fix deployed, monitoring ongoing).
• When service is fully restored and the incident is resolved.

Even a quick "we're investigating" is better than radio silence.

How Often to Update

Use the severity and visibility of the incident to guide your update frequency:

Always include next update expectations in your messages. For example: Recommended wording:

We'll provide another update by 3:45 PM PT.

This sets customer expectations and helps reduce unnecessary follow-ups.

And remember: if there's no change, say so. It's better to confirm that work is still in progress than leave people wondering.

Using Templates to Speed Up Response

🟡 Initial Investigation Update

Template:

[Time – Timezone] We're currently investigating an issue affecting [affected service/component]. Some users may experience [describe symptoms]. Our team is working to identify the cause. We'll share an update by [next update time].

🔧 Identified and Fix in Progress

Template:

[Time – Timezone] We've identified the cause of the issue affecting [service]. A fix is being implemented and we're monitoring closely. Another update will be posted by [next update time].

✅ Incident Resolved

Template:

[Time – Timezone] This issue has been resolved. [Brief explanation of the fix]. We're continuing to monitor performance to ensure stability. Thank you for your patience.

Final Thoughts

A status page update might seem like a small task, but it's one of the most visible parts of your incident response. Clear, timely communication can calm frustrated users, reduce support tickets, and even strengthen your brand's reputation.

Use the tips and templates in this post to write better incident updates the next time downtime hits. Your customers—and your support team—will thank you.