What is managed WordPress hosting?

Date:
Tue, 23 Jun 2020 14:04:44 +0000

Description:
A look at a different way of handling hosting for the worlds most popular CMS.

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What is a managed WordPress site? To understand this, you first need to understand what hosting is in general. Website hosting refers to storing your website data on a public computer (called server) to make it available to other people. That way, visitors can input your website address to view your site in their browser.

Since very few people own servers themselves, the usual way to do this is to rent space from so-called hosting providers (who in turn rent servers in data centers). These are companies that whose business it is to provide you with the means necessary to host your site online. They usually offer different packages around hosting your website with different levels of service.

Two main distinctions in this area are managed and unmanaged hosting: the latter is what most people go for. It simply means you get server space where you can put your website and the provider takes care of keeping the servers running. However, the rest is pretty much up to you. No one will be managing the site upload for you, nor will they monitor or perform maintenance tasks for your site.

Managed hosting is if youre choosing a host that also takes over much of running your site. If you are not sure about what that means, this post
covers managed hosting in detail, explains what it is and how it can help
you. Youll receive a full description of managed hosting, its benefits, and a list of the top providers. Youll also learn who these providers are along
with some highlights about each of them. What is managed WordPress hosting?

So, what is managed hosting? Managed hosting means that a host offers various services along with server space that will make running your site much
easier.

While unmanaged hosting providers also provide packages with different features (for example, different amounts of storage space or priority support), managed hosting goes a lot further.

With a managed WordPress website, your hosting provider will take care of
many of the tasks that are usually up to the site owner. This includes stuff like updating your website, backing it up, performing security checks and monitoring it. Services offered by managed WordPress hosting

The services offered by managed hosting providers usually include two different levels of management:

Server-level management This references the ins and outs of your WordPress hosting operating system. Meaning that a hosts team is handling and managing your website and will provide support in the instance of your website having
a surge of visitors, which results in a crash. Support can also aid you if your site experiences website bugs or something far worse like a breach from
a hacker.

Application-level management More technical, high-level services. These services include: running website backups, performing updates, managing WordPress plugins, and implementing security measures to prevent cyber attacks.

However, that is not all. Managed hosting providers usually also help you in getting a leg up on their service. When you purchase a hosting package from a provider, they will walk you through the process of integrating your website on their servers.

So, instead of navigating the hosting process alone, you also have someone by your side to help. Key benefits of managed WordPress hosting

In contrast to unmanaged hosting, managed hosting provides a number of benefits . 1. A devoted support team

As already mentioned, one of the greatest strengths to managed hosting is the hands-on approach a team of experts will provide. Technical issues can happen on any website, which can take a lot of time and energy trying to solve them on your own.

So, to have someone personally help you solve any issues will be a weight off of your shoulders. These teams are usually available 24/7 to support you by answering any questions or concerns you might have.

Also, usually speaking, managed WordPress hosting providers only deal with that particular platform. By focussing on WordPress alone, the support team will have a higher level of knowledge than the average support team that
looks after several other platforms. 2. A fine-tuned hosting experience

Flowing from the previous point, by concentrating their efforts on one platform, a managed WordPress hosting provider will be able to deliver an optimised environment thats fine-tuned to work with WordPress. This results
in increased levels of performance and uptime.

For instance, on a shared hosting youll typically use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) together with caching plugins to make sure your pages load quickly. On the other hand, good managed WordPress hosting providers will
take care of this for you and guarantee fast page loads without any extra efforts on your part. 3. Done-for-you monitoring and maintenance

Unlike support, having website services means that the hosts team will supervise your website regularly and monitor it for suspicious activity. Theyll also handle the maintenance of your site and can solve technical
issues that might come about. Therefore, instead of seeing an issue and needing to wait for support, you can rest easy that there are people in the background already taking care of this stuff for you. This also saves you a lot of time.

For instance, whenever there is a new critical WordPress update, you can rely on the managed WordPres hosting provider to handle it on your behalf. Theyll have a team wholl make sure that your website isnt powered by an outdated piece of software that might be vulnerable to attacks. 4. Strong safety and security infrastructure

Managed hosting can offer higher levels of security. You may take care of
your site really well, but what you might not have is a strategy in place on how to handle bugs, spam or any cyber breaches that might occur. Plus, if you are primarily the one handling the security of your site, you might not have the same resources that a hosts team of experts have.

This is an advantage to managed hosting because your host and their team will already have a strategy and the capabilities to quickly and efficiently
handle any issues you might face. The host will likely implement preventative measures, monitor your website for suspicious activity, and will perform regular WordPress backups to restore your website if anything were to happen. 5. Regular backups handled automatically

As weve mentioned earlier, backups are key to security, but we dont always have the time to perform them regularly. This is why its important to pay attention to a managed hosting providers packages and look for their process on backups. Some providers have nightly/daily backups, while other providers make weekly copies. You have to decide how often you want your website to be backed up and look for the option that fits what you want.

With a support team offering services like backups, updates, heightening a websites security and giving support, this will lead your website to running quicker, smoother and more reliably. Who should be your next managed
WordPress hosting provider?

Managing all aspects of a WordPress website independently can be a hassle. Unmanaged WordPress hosting is practically a part-time job. You have to constantly monitor your website, perform regular backups, run updates and
much more.

It can be draining to try and handle everything yourself or even split it between you and someone else. If you arent a tech expert, it can also be frustrating to try and solve issues on your own. If you perform unmanaged hosting, then you may have the option to seek support. But, it may come in
the form of an FAQ or sending an email and waiting days for a response.

This is why managed hosting makes things easier. It takes this stress away with its committed support, list of services and heightened security. Most of the managed hosting providers, as you can see, offer 24/7 contact support so that if any issues arise, you can have them quickly and efficiently taken
care of by the hosts team.

That is why we have compiled a list of the best Managed WordPress hosting providers . Nick Schaeferhoff is a WordPress expert writing for WP-Engine . We've also highlighted the best web hosting .



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