Asking your website to run well is the starting point.
We all want a fast, secure, and reliable website. After all, your online presence directly affects your profits. The problem is…
Most website owners don’t know what’s standing in the way.
If your site is slow, keeps crashing, or gets hacked… The problem is likely your hosting. And this is where managed hosting steps in.
What’s Inside:
- What Is Managed Hosting?
- Why Managed WordPress Hosting Matters
- Key Benefits of Managed Hosting
- Is Managed Hosting Worth the Investment?
What Is Managed Hosting?
Managed hosting is a type of web hosting in which the hosting provider takes care of all server-related tasks for you.
You can think of it as an all-inclusive managed IT service without the exorbitant overhead costs of a full-time IT department.
In managed hosting, the hosting provider will set up and maintain the server, monitor security and install updates, perform daily backups, optimise performance, and provide technical support. All the tedious (but important) tasks required to run a website smoothly.
Managed hosting contrasts shared hosting, where you’re largely on your own in terms of maintenance and security.
Let’s clear this up:
Businesses running websites on WordPress can benefit from investing in trusted and dependable WordPress hosting for business. Managed WordPress hosting takes the idea of managed hosting further by optimising everything specifically for WordPress sites, down to the server configuration. The server will be configured to run WordPress as smoothly and swiftly as possible.
Very smart, right?
Why Managed WordPress Hosting Matters
WordPress runs about 43% of all the websites on the Internet. That’s a big number.
But wait there’s more…
Running a WordPress website is more than just installing it on an affordable shared server. WordPress websites need regular security updates, patching, and server optimisations to truly shine.
Let’s look at the statistics:
Sites on managed WordPress hosting have load times that are, according to Kinsta, 37% quicker than sites on standard hosting. Speed is critical because when a site is slow, it loses visitors. Lost visitors equal lost revenue.
Managed hosting providers also manage the security part of it. WordPress is the most used content management system (CMS) in the world. This makes it a key target of cybercriminals. Managed hosts offer firewalls, malware scanning and automatic security updates to keep WordPress sites safe.
Key Benefits of Managed Hosting
So now that we’ve got that out of the way. Let’s now delve deeper into what managed hosting brings to the table. These are the benefits that are the main reasons why many businesses switch to managed hosting.
Blazing Fast Performance
Speed matters on the internet. Your visitors have come to expect web pages to load in a second, tops. Anything longer than that and you’re looking at losing them.
Managed hosting providers offer server technology that is cutting edge with content delivery networks (CDN) and advanced caching systems that work together to make sites load in no time at all.
The result of this is…
Your website will offer a better user experience. Better search engine rankings will be a happy side effect as well as more conversions.
Rock-Solid Security
Security is no longer a “nice to have” when it comes to website security. Cyberattacks are going on every day.
Managed hosting providers have got multiple layers of defences such as automatic malware scanning, DDoS protection, SSL certificates, frequent security updates and firewall monitoring.
These things combined will ensure that your website remains safe from the most common threats with no effort on your part at all.
Automatic Backups
Imagine the horror of having your entire website gone in a night and having no backups and no way of restoring the website.
That will be a nightmare scenario.
Managed hosting gets rid of this risk with the auto daily backup. If something happens to your site, it can be restored within a few clicks.
Expert Support
Things will happen. Technical things, and when they do, having access to real experts will go a long way.
The majority of managed hosting providers offer 24/7 support by WordPress experts. You will not have to wait for days just for a generic reply. Problems will be sorted out as quickly as possible.
Automatic Updates
Ensuring that WordPress core, plugins, and themes are updated is vital to both performance and security. The problem is it can also be very time-consuming.
Managed hosting providers do the updating for you automatically. This will ensure that the website is running the latest most secure version all the time.
Scalability On Demand
Traffic spikes will cripple websites with basic shared hosting plans.
The problem with this is:
A blog post going viral or a successful marketing campaign should be something to be celebrated and not dreaded. Managed hosting has scalable resources that will be able to accommodate traffic spikes. This will mean no crashes in the most important moments.
Is Managed Hosting Worth the Investment?
Let’s not beat about the bush here.
Managed hosting is more expensive than shared hosting. There you have it.
But this is what the statistics are telling us in terms of cost of downtime. Based on a survey done by ITIC in 2024, over 90% of medium-sized companies estimated that downtime would cost at least $300,000 per hour. Even small businesses have estimated website downtime losses of $427 per minute. These businesses are well aware that if their site is down, they will lose money.
Let’s see how you can break this down.
One hour of downtime could easily wipe out a whole year’s worth of managed hosting costs.
Managed hosting will reduce the likelihood of downtime massively. The increased uptime, improved security and performance will typically provide a solid return on the investment in most cases.
Let’s see the alternative if you continue not to have the correct hosting:
- Slow sites will lose customers (visitors won’t wait)
- Security breaches will ruin trust (one hack, and the reputation is gone)
- Crashes will hurt rankings (search engines won’t reward unstable websites)
- Manual maintenance will take time away from your business (time spent on updates and maintenance will be time away from core business functions)
For businesses that are reliant on their websites…
Well, the choice becomes pretty clear.
Who Should Use Managed Hosting?
Managed hosting is not for everyone. However, for these kinds of cases, it is a great idea.
The cases for managed hosting to be used are in:
- Ecommerce stores with transactions taking place
- Business websites with leads that it generates
- Blogs and content sites with high traffic volumes
- Agencies running multiple websites for clients
- People who do not want to waste their time
Personal projects or small hobby blogs may not require managed hosting. But for any website that is a source of revenue for a business or is representative of a business brand in a professional capacity, managed hosting is worth taking seriously.
Tying It All Together
Managed hosting takes out the technical pain of running a website. With managed hosting, you’ll get faster speeds, better security, automatic backups, and expert support… All without having to have any technical know-how.
To quickly recap:
- Managed hosting will deal with all server management tasks
- Managed WordPress hosting optimises for WordPress websites
- Quicker load times mean a better user experience and better search engine rankings
- Security features will protect your site from common threats
- Automatic backups will prevent loss of data
- Expert support will have your problems sorted
The cost is higher than basic shared hosting. However, the benefits far outweigh the cost for most businesses that take their online presence seriously.
The success of a website begins with a strong foundation. Managed hosting will provide you with just that.