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In this digital age, a website is essential for the success of even the smallest local businesses. Website hosting gives you somewhere to “park” that website. But not all hosting services are created equal. Choosing the right hosting can mean the difference between successful SEO and sales, and a site that simply sits there, costing you money rather than making any. WordPress is known as the best platform for building a website, and managed hosting is the best way to support a WordPress site. Here is your guide to managed WordPress hosting, as well as the criteria you should look for in a managed hosting service.
Why Managed WordPress Hosting?
Both traditional and managed WordPress hosting give you server space in which to host your website. However, managed hosting is more full-service.
Traditional hosting will allow you to install WordPress, create your website, and run the site on their servers. Everything else is up to you. This includes updating software and plugins, backing up your site, monitoring the security of your site and fixing malware, breaches, and hacks, and determining how to keep the site running smoothly when you experience surges in traffic. Even installing WordPress is up to you – traditional hosting gives you the ability to install, but you’ll still have to install WordPress yourself.
Managed WordPress hosting is intended to be a one-stop shop. It usually involves a simple installation process for WordPress, and security updates and site back-ups are often included. These hosting services are also excellent for scaling your site and will keep your site from crashing during spikes in traffic.
What to Look For in Managed WordPress Hosting Services
There are many managed WordPress hosting companies out there, and more spring up every day. How do you choose the one that will best serve your needs? There are a few factors you should consider.
Simple Setup
Traditional hosting services will make you install WordPress yourself, which can be confusing if you don’t know how to go about it. Even some managed hosting services may make things more complicated than they need to be. Look for a hosting company that allows you to install WordPress and set up your website without any fuss. One-click install is offered by some companies.
Security
Security should be one of your top concerns, if not the most important one. The hosting service you choose should make security a priority, too. Look for a hosting company that offers monitoring, updates, scans, SSL certificates, and hack protection with all plans, even the most basic.
Speed
The speed of your site can have a serious impact on SEO. If your site is too slow, visitors will leave quickly, which will cause search engines to rank your site lower. To improve SEO and increase conversions, you should make sure your site is up to speed, so to speak.
Support
When things go wrong, you don’t want to guess. Your managed hosting company should offer constant support, so you can contact them whenever you need help. Look for companies that offer phone or email support. It’s also a good idea to go with someone who provides reports and analytics at least monthly, since sometimes you may not even realize that there’s a problem.
Ability to Scale
You don’t want your site to remain stagnant – you want it to grow, and your business with it! You’ll want to choose a hosting service that allow you to scale. This means keeping your site running smoothly when your traffic spikes.
Storage Space
It’s important to make sure you have enough space for your site. This is especially important if you intend to include a blog on your site, or if you will be embedding videos. It’s a good idea to go with a plan that has enough space from the start, rather than needing to upgrade later when you run out of disk space and bandwidth.
Ability to Backup Your Site
The security features of your managed hosting company will help to keep your site running, but if it does crash, you want to have it backed up. Make sure that the backup is easy to access so you won’t lose any time between the crash and restoration.
Ability to Migrate an Existing Site
If you’ve started your site on another hosting provider or even a free WordPress platform, you need a way to transfer it to your new provider. Rather than recreating the site from scratch, it’s much easier to simply migrate the site from one hosting provider to another. Look for a managed WordPress hosting company that will allow you to easily migrate your site.
Choose a Managed WordPress Hosting Provider That Will Serve All of Your Needs
BionicWP can help your website thrive with all of the tools and support you will need. You can sign up for support for an existing site, or add support to hosting services. All of our hosting plans offer the following features:
- 10 gigabytes of disk space
- 500 gigabytes of bandwidth
- Off-site backups for 90 days
- Real-time uptime monitoring
- Updates for themes and plugins
- Daily security scans
- Free SSL certificate
- Free migration
- Free monthly reports
We also offer several plans for support services, as well as special discounts for agencies big or small. Contact BionicWP today to discuss your managed hosting needs.