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January 18, 2019

5 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Managed Wordpress Provider



If you’re starting out with a website or are thinking of getting one, you’ve probably heard about WordPress. It’s currently the most popular online publishing platform used by 32.8% of all websites. With managed WordPress hosting, you get to utilize the best available features and tools to help you build your perfect website.



But, don’t be fooled.

There are some hosting services that tout “managed WordPress hosting” but are actually selling just a tweaked version of their shared hosting plans. Shared hosting is a lot different from managed WordPress hosting.  It may be cheaper but it’s slower, less secure, and less optimized for WordPress than true managed WordPress hosting. Shared hosting may be what you opt for when you’re just starting out until you eventually graduate to a true managed WordPress hosted site.

While there are different types of WordPress hosting, and even different types of managed WordPress hosting, in this article I’ll talk specifically about how to choose a true managed WordPress hosting provider.  

What is True Managed WordPress Hosting?

True managed WordPress hosting is simply where the hosting service takes care of the monotonous processes needed for running your site. It makes your life easier by letting you focus on your business while the hosting service runs the site.

The thing is:

Many web hosting services often come with plans that offer different features. Most people simply don’t know exactly what features to look for when comparing different managed hosting providers.

So, what exactly should you be looking for?

1. Features

The first and most obvious factor to consider is the features being offered up front. You have to dig deeper when looking at these features. A provider’s managed hosting plan may offer faster speeds, better performance, and tighter security than their shared hosting plan but exactly how much of a difference is there?

Sneaky web hosts will tweak how they advertise their shared hosting plan to give it the veneer of a managed hosting plan. A closer look at the services they offer might reveal just how unimpressive their managed hosting features are.

2. Speed and Performance 

In the business world, time is money. This is why your managed hosting provider’s speed and performance can make or break your website. Managed WordPress hosting should, and usually does, perform better than shared hosting because the latter relies on crowded shared servers where thousands of sites compete for resources.

That said:

Superior speed and performance are the sums of a site’s structure as well as the hardware and software used. While most WordPress hosting providers promise you speed, your money should only go to the fastest one (or at least one of the fastest).

Your managed hosting provider should be able to maintain at least a 99.99% uptime. This is important because even a 99.90% uptime already means 10 minutes of downtime per week. That’s 40 minutes of downtime per month!

Also, your site’s page load speed should be under 500ms. Anything slower than half a second means you’re already losing visitors and potential customers.

3. Security

WordPress’s popularity is both its boon and its bane. With websites ranging from personal blogs to big businesses utilizing this platform, it’s no surprise that many hackers are also zeroing in on the content management system. One vulnerability in the back-end code could spell disaster for millions of other WordPress sites running the same version. This was what happened to 40,000+ WP sites in 2013, according to a study by EnableSecurity.

Guarding against these cyber attacks requires constant updates. Fortunately, automatic updates are becoming a standard among WordPress hosting providers. With that said, it’s always a good idea to look into the other security measures your WordPress hosting provider is offering.  

Free and configured SSL certificates are a welcome addition. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypts the data flowing from server to server. It protects the sensitive data coming from visitors and customers.

Aside from SSL certificates, a WordPress hosting provider should also have tools that prevent DDoS attacks. DDoS attacks can bring down a site by overwhelming its servers with fake traffic.

Last but certainly not least, a WordPress hosting provider should have WAFs. A WAF (Web Application Firewall) filters, monitors, and blocks HTTP traffic to and from a web application. It differs from a regular firewall in that a WAF is able to filter the content of specific web applications while regular firewalls serve as a safety gate between servers.

With all that said:

The standard security features should also be present. Look for regular Virus and Malware scans, tools that filter and prevent Spam, as well as constant and regular backups that ensure your site quickly gets restored in case it ever goes down.

4. Support team

Another key factor to consider is support. Whether you feel like you’re a WP novice or veteran, it’s always better when your WordPress hosting provider has a knowledgeable support team to back you up.

Their support team has to be able to respond as quickly as possible. This ensures that any problem you encounter is quickly resolved with the least amount of downtime. You’ll find many WordPress hosting providers that still utilize the email ticket system. While this system can sometimes provide you with quick responses, the support standard you should look for is a 24/7 live chat.

That said:

If it seems a hosting provider can talk the talk, they should also be able to walk the walk. A provider’s support team should have clear expertise in the WordPress platform and not merely above-beginner level knowledge. After all, constant 24/7 support won’t do you much good if you’re not getting the right answers. On this note, WordPress recommends three web hosts that represent the “best and brightest of the hosting world”.

5. Cost

The final factor you should consider is the cost of managed WordPress hosting. This factor is intentionally placed last for two reasons:

Firstly, if you’re looking for a WordPress hosting provider, odds are your site is already way past the fledgling (low-budget) phase. With that said, if you’re looking to minimize expenses, you’ll want to get the best bang for your buck -- especially for a service that you intend to use for a long time.

Secondly, the best bang for your buck can only be determined after you’ve inspected the previous factors in this guide. Reasonable pricing is, after all, a relative term that depends on how much value you place on each of the other factors.

Regardless:

When comparing pricing, always see to it that renewal fees are listed out. Otherwise, you might find yourself needing to pay 3x more in the following year.

Conclusion

WordPress is the most popular online publishing platform which is why many hosting providers offer managed WordPress hosting services. You will find, however, that not all hosting services are the same. If you’re looking for a WordPress hosting provider for your site, consider the 5 factors stated above to help you choose the right one for your site’s needs.



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