When a hosting provider gives you 72 hours to move 20+ client websites, you stop tolerating mediocre infrastructure. That’s exactly the situation Matthew Hancock, founder of happyplankton, found himself in. His switch to InstaWP’s managed WordPress hosting didn’t just solve the immediate crisis — it cut average site load times by 60%, reduced his team’s operational workload by 30%, and pushed three of his client sites to PageSpeed scores of 97, 98, and 99.
This is the story of how a New Zealand-based WordPress agency rebuilt its hosting workflow and what the numbers look like on the other side.
Table of Contents
Key Takeaway
happyplankton manages 14 client sites on InstaWP’s managed hosting, all achieving 97+ PageSpeed scores
Switching from shared hosting and VPS to InstaWP reduced average load times by 60% across the portfolio
The agency’s operational workload dropped by 30% thanks to centralized site management and one-click staging-to-production workflows
Three tested client sites recorded 0 ms Total Blocking Time and sub-1.1s Largest Contentful Paint on InstaWP’s infrastructure
About happyplankton
happyplankton is a trusted internet marketing agency based in Invercargill, New Zealand. The firm is known for delivering innovative, data-driven solutions tailored to businesses of all sizes. They offer services like search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC), website design, and social media marketing.
The team works closely with each business to understand its needs and create custom plans that bring real results, like more visitors, better sales, and higher profits. They also host and maintain the websites they build, making sure everything runs smoothly for their clients.
“I would recommend exploring the entire InstaWP ecosystem to understand how it fits into the broader WordPress landscape.“
– Matthew Hancock BDM, happyplankton
A Quick Look at happyplankton’s Journey with InstaWP
Matthew Hancock, the creative mind behind happyplankton, has been in the service industry since 2005. The last 4 years have been a massive upkeep for Matthew, stretching his resources as he hosts websites, domains, email, and more for clients.
Around the time we launched InstaWP’ managed hosting, Matthew had an issue where a hosting provider gave him 72 hours to migrate all his client websites, causing a very stressful few days. Matthew has been using InstaWP for staging and template creation at that time.
For hosting, he needed:
- Rock-solid performance to pass Core Web Vitals.
- Simplified management of multiple sites.
- Affordable pricing without compromising on quality.
When Matthew heard about InstaWP ’s promise of unmatched speed and advanced managed hosting features, he decided to give it a try. Little did he know, it would transform the way he managed his business.
By switching to InstaWP, Matthew experienced:
- 60% improvement in average load times across his 14 sites.
- Zero downtime during the transition.
- Simplified workflows, reducing his team’s operational workload by 30%.
- Higher client satisfaction, as websites now load faster and perform better.
This case study highlights Matthew’s experience with InstaWP in detail, focusing on the performance metrics of three of his sites hosted on our platform, and the game-changing benefits it has brought to his business.
WordPress Hosting Challenges Faced by Matthew Hancock
Most of happyplankton’s clients are small to medium-sized businesses looking for online exposure, especially since the pandemic started in 2019. These Clients just want something basic online and don’t care about the technical details, putting pressure on Matthew to provide a simple solution.
When it comes to hosting websites, performance and reliability are non-negotiable. Be it WordPress or any other technology, your clients expect lightning-fast load times and seamless navigation. And it’s obvious because people visiting their site want the same too.
Matthew has been using shared hosting for years, but it has limitations in terms of cost and reliability, leading him to explore VPS options. He started using a well-known VPS in late 2020 but encountered issues with reliability and cost-effectiveness, leading him to explore WordPress hosting.
The breaking point came when one of his hosting providers shut down abruptly, giving happyplankton just 72 hours to migrate 20-25 websites. “That was a harrowing few days; figuring out DNS issues, dealing with customer-facing concerns like, ‘Why is my website down?’ I couldn’t do it all manually anymore,” Matthew explains.
happyplankton clients’ sites were plagued by inconsistent performance, high bounce rates, and rising operational costs. Managing 14 websites across various hosting environments became a logistical nightmare, especially when attempting to scale or troubleshoot issues.
How happyplankton got to know about InstaWP?
Matthew discovered InstaWP around August 2023 and decided to give it a try, but he was initially unsure how the platform could benefit his business. When his VPS issues piled up, he revisited InstaWP.
“The onboarding process this time was a lot smoother, webinars, direct communication with the team, and solid support for migrating sites. The advantage of external DNS saved me so much time when pointing sites to new servers.,” Matthew recalls.
“I’ll admit, I was skeptical at first, but now I’m fully on board. The speed, the convenience, the hosting infrastructure, the tools—it’s all worth it. I’m looking forward to seeing how the agency plans develop because I’m here for the long term.
InstaWP has become an essential part of my workflow, and I’m excited to keep supporting a platform that’s clearly built with its users in mind,” tells the happyplankton founder with full enthusiasm.
“So far, I haven’t had much of a problem with InstaWP. I really appreciate how I’m treated as a customer—they don’t dumb it down, and I can get answers directly from the people working on the platform. That’s been a game-changer for me.” – Matthew
Specific Use Cases happyplankton Relies on InstaWP For
1. Staging Sites & One-Click Deployment
Matthew found the staging sites feature particularly useful for testing and developing new client websites before they went live. He loved that InstaWP allowed him to easily deploy staging sites with just one click from the dashboard, reducing the manual effort involved in migrations.
“I currently have 14 sites hosted on InstaWP Live, and about half a dozen more in staging that will likely move to live once they’re finalized. This seamless workflow has cut down hours of manual effort. If I had to estimate, tasks that used to take me an entire week now take just a day or two, max” – Matthew.
2. Pre-Installed Plugins & Templates
As an avid user of Elementor, Matthew appreciated having pre-installed plugins and templates ready to go. This simple but powerful feature saved him time and effort, eliminating the need to install plugins from scratch on each project.
3. Team Collaboration
InstaWP’s ability to add team members to a plan without requiring separate accounts was a gamechanger for Matthew. His team could access the dashboard immediately, streamlining collaboration and ensuring everyone was on the same page from day one.
4. Effortless WordPress Migration
One of the standout features that Matthew values about InstaWP is its seamless WordPress migration tool. Moving websites between hosting environments is often a complex, time-consuming task. However, with InstaWP’s intuitive migration tool, the process becomes incredibly simple.
5. Customer Service
InstaWP’s customer service is another area where Matthew saw exceptional value. InstaWP team listens to feedback and uses it to improve the platform continually, which has made a huge impact on happyplankton’s day-to-day operations.
“The customer service is Phenomenal. Whenever I have a query, there’s always someone on the other end ready to help. They genuinely listen to feedback and use it to improve the platform. That’s something I’ve noticed over time—it’s not just a hosting service; it’s a continually evolving ecosystem built specifically for WordPress sites.” – Matthew
Testing the Waters: Core Web Vitals & PageSpeed Insights Results
We were interested in figuring out if everything’s actually as good for Matthew as he said (wishing he’s right 😀). So, our team began testing three of his client websites on InstaWP.
The results? Nothing short of extraordinary.
Below, we’ll break down the performance metrics recorded using PageSpeed Insights:
Website One
With InstaWP, this website achieved perfect visual stability and load times under a second. The client saw an immediate reduction in cart abandonment rates.
- Performance Score: 99
- First Contentful Paint: 0.7 s
- Largest Contentful Paint: 0.8 s
- Total Blocking Time: 0 ms
- Cumulative Layout Shift: 0.019
- Speed Index: 1.0 s
Website Two
This corporate portfolio site went from being an average performer to passing all Core Web Vitals benchmarks with flying colors. Visual stability, smooth scrolling, and zero blocking time made it a hit.
- Performance Score: 98
- First Contentful Paint: 0.7 s
- Largest Contentful Paint: 1.0 s
- Total Blocking Time: 0 ms
- Cumulative Layout Shift: 0
- Speed Index: 1.2 s
Website Three
The site’s homepage, loaded with high-resolution images, now loads in under a second, a feat previously unimaginable. Even the most design-heavy elements display seamlessly, thanks to InstaWP’s edge caching and built-in CDN.
- Performance Score: 97
- First Contentful Paint: 0.8 s
- Largest Contentful Paint: 1.1 s
- Total Blocking Time: 0 ms
- Cumulative Layout Shift: 0
- Speed Index: 0.9 s
What Makes InstaWP Managed Hosting Work for Agencies
Here are some of the reasons why hosting companies like happyplankton love InstaWP.
Performance Infrastructure
InstaWP’s managed hosting uses edge caching, a global CDN, and optimized server configurations at the platform level — not as optional plugins you configure manually. Every site benefit from this stack from day one.
Global Data Centers
With data centers distributed across multiple regions, InstaWP minimizes latency for international audiences. For happyplankton, serving clients in the Asia-Pacific region, this eliminated the need to source dedicated Australian servers.
“InstaWP Live’s hosting infrastructure helps me mitigate the need for Australian servers.”
– Matthew Hancock BDM, happyplankton
Security Built Into the Platform
InstaWP’s managed WordPress hosting includes InstaShield WAF, DDoS protection, AI threat detection, and real-time failover; all active without requiring manual configuration. For agencies responsible for client site security, having this handled at the infrastructure level removes a significant operational burden.
Staging to Production in One Click
Because InstaWP’s staging and hosting environments share the same infrastructure, there are no environment mismatches when sites go live. What works in staging works in production. Matthew’s agency now uses this as a standard part of every client delivery workflow.
Centralized Site Management
Managing 14+ client sites from a single dashboard, with one-click access, team collaboration, and bulk operations is a core reason managed WordPress hosting for agencies works differently than managing the same number of sites across
Results: A Game-Changer for Matthew’s Agency
“Let me tell you, InstaWP Live has been a complete game changer for me in managing my workflow. Earlier, managing staging sites and hosting was such a hassle. I had to manually migrate websites, configure DNS, and spend hours setting up everything. Now, I just log in to my dashboard, select the staging site, click a button to move it to live, choose the hosting plan, and the system handles the rest. All I need to do is update the DNS records, and voilà—it’s done!” – Matthew
Ready to See What Managed Hosting Can Do for Your Agency?
happyplankton’s results, 97+ PageSpeed scores, 60% faster load times, 30% less operational overhead, aren’t exceptional outliers. They’re what happens when an agency stops managing hosting as a separate problem and treats it as part of a unified workflow.
If you’re managing multiple client sites and spending more time on infrastructure than on client work, InstaWP’s managed WordPress hosting is worth a closer look.
“I would recommend exploring the entire InstaWP ecosystem to understand how it fits into the broader WordPress landscape.” -Matthew Hancock, happyplankton
