Is managed hosting for WordPress a good idea? Is it worth the expense?
Well, while you can host a WordPress site on a shoebox, it doesn’t mean that you should. And there’s more to hosting than sending traffic to an IP address with a website. The key to all this is the word ‘managed.’ The hosting needs to be monitored. The hosting needs to be secure. Software needs to be maintained. Performance is important to the website’s search rank.
These things don’t happen, at least not automatically, on low-cost hosts. Cheap and cheerful isn’t the way to go for hosting. Purchase the highest quality hosting you can afford. Find a managed WordPress host, pay the price, you will be happy you did.
We use and recommend WPEngine. The sixty plus sites using our managed WordPress hosting product are on our Enterprise WPEngine account. We haven’t had a site hacked since we started offering this service. There are other managed WordPress hosts, Pagely for example. LiquidWeb is an up and coming solution, especially if you have a WooCommerce store.
Don’t skimp on hosting. Get the best.
Managed Hosting for WordPress – What should you expect
In addition to performance, something that’s important in the search engine algorithms, managed hosting will have protections in place to block known attack vectors. These are protections that an inexpensive host can’t afford.
These are things that you could be doing, but who has the time or knowledge? A service offering managed hosting for WordPress knows what’s what, they will do what needs doing for you. For example:
- Backups made nightly
- Known vectors identified and blocked
- Core software is updated automatically
- Unsupported plugins and/or plugins with security weaknesses are not allowed
- Plugins are updated at least monthly
Can you do these things? Of course you can. But do you have the time? What if something goes awry? Managed WordPress hosting is worth the money.
What about Security?
There are many WordPress security-related things that managed WordPress hosting looks after for you.
Some of these are things that hosts don’t wish to publicize, they don’t want hackers to know what they have in place. But you can be confident that a managed WordPress host is on top of security.
Another important benefit is software updates. Out-of-date software is a key vector for hackers. They review software releases, look for security patches and just like that, they know how to exploit a website that isn’t up to date.
You should also consider adding a website firewall. We use and recommend Sucuri. A firewall blocks traffic from known bad actors before it gets to your site.
Another good resource is a premium DNS service like CloudFlare. They have a free plan, which works great. All our Inn8ly websites use the free CloudFlare domain name servers.
Fully Managed Hosting for WordPress – Conclusion
If you have a website, you should consider managed hosting for the WordPress CMS. There are many benefits. Stability, security, and performance are the big three. Another less obvious benefit is the time you save every month. You can do many of the things touched on here, but do you want to? Do you have the time? Do you know how to do it all? Look for a reputable provider of managed hosting for WordPress, or contact us. We would be happy to help.
Author: James Hipkin
CEO, Managing Director
James brings over 30 years of professional sales, marketing, and marketing consultation services to the table. Serving global brands along with small businesses, Hipkin leads a highly-skilled team of full-time developers, producers, and project managers who are committed to your success.
An excellent communicator and inventive problem-solver, his creative vision and bottom-line sensibility have proven successful at building productive, long-term partnerships with both employees and clients.