5 Reasons To Choose Managed WordPress Hosting

A hosting provider supplies the server on which all of your website’s data resides. As such, it is the foundation of any site, and affects everything from performance and site speed to security and technical support. It is therefore important to choose a hosting provider that is going to be good for both your website, and your business.

While shared hosting providers seem to offer a good deal at first glance, managed WordPress hosting has been designed specifically with WordPress websites in mind. From optimised server configurations to top-tier security, these plans offer a level of value that soon outweighs the initial price tag.

#1It May Cost You Less in the Long Run

• Shared hosting providers are very good at what they do. Unfortunately, what’s good for their business – and their bottom line – might not be so good for your business.
• It’s called shared hosting for a reason – these providers are able to offer extremely low rates by overcrowding their servers, often with several hundred sites at a time. While many promise unlimited resources, in practice they will often throttle sites that are experiencing a lot of traffic in the hope of making those clients leave – allowing them to cash in on clients whose sites aren’t as busy.
• What this means, in practice, is that successful online businesses running their websites on shared servers may only begin to experience a drop in performance once they start attracting more customers – potentially costing millions of pounds in lost revenue. In those situations, the benefits of managed WordPress hosting can soon outweigh the cost.

#2Improved Performance & Site Speed

• One of the main reasons for choosing managed WordPress hosting is performance. And while there are many ways to improve performance and site speed, even a highly optimised website won’t be able to perform well without good hosting.
• Managed hosting is specifically optimised for speed and performance, and their server configurations are fine-tuned with WordPress in mind.
• While shared hosting providers have to cater to the masses, this allows managed hosts to tailor their services to one CMS. Additional features such a server-level caching and the best available architecture and technology – including the latest versions of PHP and HTTP – come as standard with most managed hosting plans, boosting site speed and allowing clients to be the first to experience performance gains from new technologies.

#3Top-tier Security & Backups

• Website security is not something that should be taken lightly. A number of high-profile ransomware attacks in recent years have cost businesses, and even the US city of Florida, enormous sums of money – whether that’s through the ransom itself, or losses incurred as a result of the hacking. One major security issue within shared hosting is what’s known as ‘cross-site contamination’.
• By sharing a server with hundreds of other websites, you are only as secure as the weakest link in that chain. Managed WordPress hosts, on the other hand, provide powerful, built-in security features that work hard to prevent hacking and malware attacks. They will usually include WordPress-specific security features, as well as automatic backups and one-click restore points to prevent any of your data from being lost.
• In the event of a malware attack, most managed hosting providers are able to offer expert support, and many will have security features in place that are capable of stopping an attack in its tracks.

#4Built For Growth

• As your online business grows, so does your website’s traffic. And during these periods of sustained growth, you need to focus every resource you have on your business. That’s where managed WordPress hosting plans come into their own.
• Shared hosting providers will often require you to upgrade your plan, and eventually migrate to a dedicated server when you reach a certain level of traffic. This is not only costly and time-consuming, but also creates a negative view around growth.
• Managed hosting plans are designed to be scalable, and quickly adapt to growth without causing any difficulties or disruptions.

#5Premium Support

• Shared hosting providers don’t only stretch their servers, they also have a tendency to stretch their support teams – resulting in long ticket times and an overall lack of responsiveness. And if a business’ website is unavailable during this time, that could lead to a significant loss of revenue.
• Managed WordPress hosting providers offer premium support that is fast, responsive, and available 24/7. One of the main advantages is that these hosting providers only deal with WordPress websites, meaning that their support teams have a high level of expertise, and can intervene quickly to offer detailed, knowledgeable advice.

WP Engine

We are partners with WP Engine and here are a few reasons why we recommend them as a hosting supplier:

• Highly Secure Environment: WP Engine continuously scans their network for any vulnerable pieces of code or plugins. It also provides state-of-the-art protection against DDOS attacks, brute force attacks and other hacking attempts. This means your website has a great server-level protection that is hard to replicate manually on bespoke server architecture.
• Fast: WP Engine has developed a complex system of caching mechanisms that speed up the default WordPress. This means that your site hosted on WP Engine is fast out of the box with no need to use heavy 3rd party plugins.
• Built-in CDN: WP Engine provides built-in CDN out-of-the-box which means no additional budget needed for CDN bills and no additional time needed to configure a separate CDN service.
• Stable: Since WP Engine takes care of the underlying hosting platform, you don’t need to worry about server configuration and system admin tasks that are typically highly complex and require specialised expertise to ensure that your site has high uptime and is stable.
• Cost-effective: WP Engine offers some great competitive pricing options which we believe provide great value for the features, security and stability of the hosting platform that they offer.

Conclusion

• As much as the price may seem tempting, shared hosting providers do not offer a service that is capable of adding value to a growing online business. And many times the cost, in lost revenue, can far outweigh the savings.
• By contrast, managed WordPress hosting provides a service that can have a direct impact on performance, security and growth.
• Best of all, their premium support service offers growing online businesses a safety net when things go wrong – allowing you to get on with what you do best.