What to Look for in a Managed WordPress Hosting Provider

Why A Hosting Provider Is Necessary

Any deft business owner knows that there are certain facets of online business that should be charged to an external provider. Investing in a your website, via a good hosting provider, is one of them. If you already have an online business via WordPress, or any other portal, you may already have recognized the need for a hosting provider. Think of your hosting provider as your administrative assistant. Sure, you can attempt to take on all the precautionary clerical duties yourself, yet you may find yourself inundated and lacking the time and resources to do so. More than this, you’d be doing your website a disservice. At its base level, a hosting provider provides fundamental hosting administrative tasks from installation, automated backups and updates. A great hosting provider, however, will go far beyond this.. Essentially, the role of the web hosting provider is to offer an outlet in which you can “rent” a storage space for all of your website’s files. A hosting provider takes these files together, with your domain name, and make them accessible in website form. 

 What to Look for in a Managed WordPress Provider

A good wordpress service provider will cover all administrative tasks, from installations and backups, to updates and server-level caching. On the other hand, a truly great wordpress server (managed wordpress hosting), handles it all. Managed wordpress hosting differs from WordPress’s standard hosting provider services in both quality of service, and breadth of services offered. How this translates to your site: improved SEO and increase in sales. Managed Hosting for WordPress not only ensures fundamental functioning of your site, but automatically takes charge of your site’s basic SEO, in order for you to get noticed by major search engines.

However, the main appeal of Managed Hosting is in its reliability. It offers bulletproof security measures to prevent hacking or malware issues. Other perks include expedient speed of service and daily guaranteed backups and updates. All WordPress Core files will automatically be updated to the latest version the moment they are available.

The feature that truly sets managed WP hosting apart from standard services is superb customer service. While a standard WordPress hosting plan is known to be efficient, Managed WP Hosting goes the extra mile by offering help with areas ranging from performance, site functionality, and WordPress error correction. Clients have described it as having “a Five-Star Hotel for WordPress.” Some of what you expect : 24/7 expert support, a personalized dashboard, and learning tools that can enhance your site’s functionality.

Why Not Just Use a Standard Hosting Provider?

You may be wondering, why not just save myself extra money and go with a regular, shared hosting plan? The most obvious answer would be competition. Because standard hosting is cheap, thousands of users are drawn to its services. Your hosting platform is essentially where your website lives. If it becomes overpopulated, your ability to move quickly is stagnated. This is because a single server has a fixed amount of memory. Memory is not the only thing afflicted; bandwidth, processing power, and storage capacity all are affected by user influx. Essentially, the more users, the slower the response rate.

How Much Will It Cost?

The only downfall of a Managed Hosting provider may be the price tag. While a standard wordpress provider runs at around $4 a month, a Managed Provider may run upwards of 3x that amount. For novice web designers, or those who have a site for personal endeavors, managed wordpress hosting may not be necessary. Yet, for the savvy business owner, opting for Managed Hosting Provider is a no brainer. And, speakly frankly, a good bang for your buck. Most entry level managed WP hosting platform round in at about $30, with more advanced services falling within the realm of $150 – $270 a month. A single “right solution” doesn’t exist; your decision will ultimately depend on your particular business needs. If you’re feeling daunted by the array of options that exist when managed WP hosting provider shopping, starting with a cheaper, yet reputable provider is a wise starting point.

You may be wondering how we’re so knowledgeable on the subject of hosting. At Growth Labs, we know the standards that an excellent hosting provider should maintain. Why? Because our hosting services have helped ensure clients feel secure that their website is running at its absolute best. We’re so confident that our managed WP hosting service lives up to its name that we will migrate your website to our servers for free and show you the speed difference.

No matter the service you decide to go with, it pays to be informed. The best way to do so is to shop around, comparing each feature and service offered by the provider, as well as reading customer reviews. No one home fits any individual; look for a provider that will best house your site based on the your particular business or personal needs. Putting in the time to research your options is in itself a lucrative investment. Still unsure about your options? Our team is always available and happy to guide you, wherever you are in the decision process.