what is the best way to verify if a website is working

System.Net.HttpWebRequest request = (System.Net.HttpWebRequest)System.Net.HttpWebRequest.Create(serverUrl);
System.Net.HttpWebResponse response = (System.Net.HttpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();

if (response.StatusCode == System.Net.HttpStatusCode.OK)
{
    response.Close();
    return true;
}

if ( new System.Net.WebClient().DownloadString(" url here ").Length > 0 )
{
   // ...
}