WordPress’ easy-to-use interface and endless customization options have made it the go-to platform for bloggers, small businesses, and enterprise websites. But managing a WordPress site takes plenty of time, effort, and technical know-how. This is where managed WordPress hosting services come in.
Think about it like having a helper for your website. They take care of the technical stuff, so you have more time to do other important things. Sounds nice, right?
You might be worried about letting someone else take care of your site. Maybe you think you’re the best person for the job.
But keep reading! We will explain what managed WordPress hosting is, why it might be good for you, and help you decide if it’s the right choice.
This could be just what you need to make your life easier!
What is Managed WordPress Hosting?
Managed WordPress hosting is when a hosting provider takes on the responsibility of maintaining the technical aspects of a WordPress website. This service is designed to provide users with a hassle-free experience, ensuring that the website runs smoothly, securely, and optimally.
The provider handles WordPress version updates, plugin and theme updates, security checks, and website performance optimization tasks. They also offer expert support to help resolve any issues or answer questions that may arise.
This service is great for people who don’t want to deal with the technical side of running a website or for those who’d rather spend their time on other parts of their business or blog. When you engage the services of a hosting provider, you’re paying for peace of mind, knowing that your website is in good hands and any issues will be addressed.
Features/Services Included
Here are the usual features that a managed WordPress hosting company includes:
- Automatic Updates: The hosting provider ensures that your WordPress core, themes, and plugins are always up to date so that your site always has the latest features and security enhancements.
- Daily Backups: Your website’s data is backed up daily. This way, you always get the latest version of your site to use in case anything goes wrong.
- Security Monitoring: Your site will be protected against malware, hacking attempts, and many other cybersecurity issues or threats.
- Performance Optimization: The hosting provider will provide everything your website needs to run smoothly.
- Expert Support: You’ll be able to talk to WordPress experts who can guide and troubleshoot issues for you.
- Staging Environment: A staging environment is a safe space to test any changes on your website before taking them live. This way, you won’t have any issues with your actual site. The hosting companies will give you this staging environment.
- Scalable Resources: Where your site is now won’t be like that forever; you might want to make it bigger in the future! The hosting company can give you more bandwidth and storage to handle increased visitors.
- SSL Certificate: Providers often include a free SSL certificate to secure the connection between your website and your visitors.
Pros and Cons
Managed WordPress hosting does offer a range of benefits, but it also has potential drawbacks.
Pros
In addition to the benefits mentioned above, another big reason to think about having someone else handle your hosting is the time you’ll save. This is really important if you have a lot of different tasks to take care of in your business. By letting the experts take care of the hosting, you can use that extra time to focus on other important parts of your work.
Cons
- Cost: Managed WordPress Hosting can be more expensive than shared hosting options. Depending on your business level, you might find it steep.
- Less Control: If you engage in this service, you might find that you have less control over your server environment compared to a dedicated hosting plan.
- Potential for Unused Features: You might end up paying for features and services you don’t need or use, but which your provider includes anyway and won’t remove.
- Limited Customization: Your provider might tell you not to use certain themes or plugins to maintain their security and your website’s optimized performance. That can rub you the wrong way, especially if you really want to try something new on your site.
- Potential for Vendor Lock-In: Migrating away from a managed WordPress host can be more complex, potentially leading to vendor lock-in, where you’ll have no choice but to work with your initial vendor. If you find yourself not getting along with them in the future, you might regret this decision.
Is managed WordPress hosting ideal for your business?
So after reading the pros and cons, you might be wondering if you should get managed WordPress hosting. Well, here’s an in-depth look at who should—and who shouldn’t— engage in this.
Businesses That Can Benefit From Managed WordPress Hosting
Managed WordPress hosting can be an excellent choice for the following:
1. Businesses with Limited Technical Expertise
If you or your team aren’t tech-savvy, managed hosting takes the technical load off your shoulders. You’ll also get help when you need it!
2. Growing Businesses
If your business is growing, managed hosting provides scalability. Your hosting plan can grow with you, ensuring your site remains fast and reliable.
3. E-Commerce Sites
E-commerce sites need to be fast, secure, and up and running round the clock. Managed WordPress hosting can provide enhanced security to protect customer data, and the reliability ensures your site is always available for customers.
4. Content Creators and Bloggers
If you’re focused on creating content, the last thing you might want to be doing is taking care of your website. Managed hosting lets you focus on creating.
5. Agencies and Freelancers
If you manage sites for clients, managed hosting can let you take on more clients or focus on other aspects of your business.
6. Businesses Looking for Enhanced Security
If you’re in the security business or making sensitive technology, you should get managed WordPress hosting. That way, you can be sure that your site has advanced security features that will guard your site from shady hackers.
7. Businesses Requiring Reliable Backups
Every website must be backed up regularly, and those backups must be reliable. Managed hosting ensures these two factors.
Businesses That Can Pass On Managed WordPress Hosting
Managed WordPress hosting might not be the best fit for everyone, such as:
1. Budget-Conscious Users
Managed WordPress hosting tends to be more expensive than shared hosting options. The additional cost might not be justifiable if you’re on a tight budget.
2. Tech-Savvy Users
If you have the technical know-how and prefer complete control over your server environment, you might find managed hosting too restrictive. The same goes if you’re already comfortable handling updates, security, and other maintenance tasks or if you’re a developer who wants to implement more advanced customizations and software.
3. Small Personal Blogs with Low Traffic
The extensive features and resources you can get from managed hosting might be unnecessary if you have small websites or personal blogs that don’t have much traffic as of the moment.
4. Businesses with In-House IT Teams
If you have an in-house IT team that already manages your website’s technical needs, you might not need the managed hosting services.
5. Users Who Prefer to Use Specific Plugins or Themes
Some managed WordPress hosts restrict using certain plugins or themes that might slow down your site or pose security risks. If you need to use these, managed hosting is probably not for you.
6. Businesses with Multiple Websites
Managing multiple websites means the cost of managed hosting for each site can add up quickly. This might not be the most economical option for you.
In a nutshell, managed WordPress Hosting is great for users who want a hassle-free WordPress experience and are willing to pay a premium for it. However, weighing the pros and cons is important to determine if it’s the right choice for your specific needs and budget.
Building your Sites with InstaWP: A Better Alternative
Whether you’re for or against managed WordPress hosting, you might still be looking for better alternatives. Well, InstaWP might just be what you’re looking for when it comes to not just managing your site but even starting it in the first place! Here’s why:
- InstaWP has a one-click staging plugin that provides an instant WordPress sandbox, allowing you to set up and start working on your site within seconds. Even with minimal technical knowledge, you can easily navigate and utilize the platform!
- When you start using InstaWP, you can choose any version of PHP, WordPress, and various plugin and theme combinations. You’ll get a level of customization and flexibility that is hard to match.
- You can use our WordPress sandbox or staging site as backups to your actual site.
- Our built-in migration tools will help you effortlessly move your site to any hosting provider of your choice, providing flexibility and ease of transition.
- You’ll also get a complete WordPress development toolkit – WP-CLI, SSH access, Git integration, and more.
- You can test and develop all you want without fear of destroying or breaking your live site.
- InstaWP also supports disposable instances for every pull request or push to a branch, seamlessly integrating with any of your existing development workflows.
Need help? InstaWP guarantees that anything you need help with will be addressed fast—our customers say so!
Why InstaWP is Better Than Managed Hosting
Not convinced that InstaWP can be better than traditional managed hosting? Let’s reiterate why:
Speed and Efficiency
InstaWP’s instant setup outpaces the typically longer setup times associated with managed WordPress hosting. You’ll get faster access to your WordPress environment.
Cost-Effectiveness
Managed WordPress hosting can be expensive. InstaWP, on the other hand, offers a cost-efficient alternative. You’ll get plenty of features but no hefty price tag.
Flexibility and Control
InstaWP grants you more control over your choice of PHP versions, WordPress versions, and specific plugins/themes. You won’t face certain restrictions in a managed hosting environment.
Ease of Testing and Development
InstaWP’s platform is made for testing and developing WordPress websites with its sandbox and different integrations. You’ll have an easier time using this over other managed WordPress hosting services.
Simplified Migration
InstaWP’s built-in migration tools make moving your site to any hosting provider easy. Other managed hosting services may be unable to do the same for you.
In summary, InstaWP offers a rapid, flexible, and cost-effective solution for building and managing WordPress sites, especially if you’re looking for speed, efficiency, and control.
Managed WordPress Hosting and Opportunities for Development Agencies
Do you know what’s good news for you if you’re an agency?
Well, you can use InstaWP to manage and develop WordPress sites for your client. And, if you are an agency that offers Managed WordPress hosting services, you can use it to offer best services in a cost-convenient way to your clients.
After all, as mentioned above, managed WordPress Hosting makes running WordPress sites easier, and InstaWP adds even more help for development agencies.
In short, you can make your work smoother, satisfy clients better, and open up new chances for your agency to grow and do well.
Why is it a Profitable Idea/Service?
Here’s why you should do this for your agency to earn more income.
- Time Efficiency: With InstaWP’s quick setup and pretty much quick anything, you’ll be able to get client sites running in no time. Plus, you can even share with them the site you developed for feedback using the same link.
- Cost Savings: Not only do you save money by engaging in InstaWP’s service—and reduce your labor cost—but your client also saves money, which means they’ll be willing to pay you more.
- More Earnings: Because you’ll be able to manage plenty of sites with InstaWP, you can get more clients and earn more as a result.
- Competitive Edge: Your competitors might be surprised at the speed with which you release and manage sites. Plus, providing development and hosting positions you as a one-stop shop, which is good for attracting clients who want to talk to only one person.
All of this is sounding pretty good right now, agree?
Sell Managed Hosting with InstaWP: Here’s how
Wondering how to do this? Well, it’s pretty easy since you can offer managed hosting plans for your users through InstaWP’s WaaS feature.
InstaWP will let you create pre-built templates and set all related hosting settings, letting your customers create their own websites.
You can read the link for more details, but to summarize what you’ll get from this:
- Templates: You can choose from plenty of pre-made templates available or turn your already-built sites into templates. You’ll be able to build sites faster and even sell your templates to your clients.
- WaaS Builder: Follow our handy WaaS Builder guide to make one without difficulty. You can set up your plans linked to your hosting accounts and add your brand’s colors and logos.
- Landing Page: Customize and white-label your WaaS so for your agency’s promotion. Embed the page onto your website.
- Hosting Plans: You can create custom hosting plans to re-sell your connected hosting accounts, link or buy hosting services from us, or even offer monthly or yearly plans to your clients.
- Offer Trials: You can let your customers experience your templates via a trial site. And if they like it, they can go live in seconds! Collect their credit card details during the trial already. But since they’ve tried it, they’ll likely buy it!
In short, with InstaWP’s WaaS feature, you can effectively sell managed hosting, create a steady income stream, and provide a valuable service to your clients.
Conclusion
Managed WordPress hosting has pros and cons, but for many, its ability to help out less technical people while ensuring optimal website performance makes it a tempting option. However, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. While it brings undeniable benefits, it also comes with a higher price tag and potential limitations in customization.
InstaWP stands out as a robust alternative for development agencies and freelancers, offering rapid setup, plenty of customization options, and many development tools that can cut down the time and effort required to get a WordPress site up and running. Its Website as a Service (WaaS) feature opens up new avenues for agencies to offer managed hosting plans to their clients, creating additional revenue streams.
In conclusion, whether or not managed WordPress hosting is the right choice for you depends on your specific needs, capabilities, and budget.
If you value time over money and prefer a hands-off approach to website management, it’s worth considering. However, suppose you’re looking for a more economical and flexible solution, InstaWP is a great alternative, especially if you’re an agency looking to scale your operations and earn more.
