Running a WordPress site involves multiple tasks such as creating content, marketing, site design, and social media management.
It is crucial that your WordPress site runs well and that you get good services from your WordPress hosting provider. Doing all this is not easy.
Web hosting has become very affordable, costing you less than $5 for an account with a shared hosting provider. That would work for you if you are just getting started, but when you grow bigger, managed WordPress hosting is more suitable.
Managed hosting has become very popular in the recent past.
It was initiated by WordPress.com VIP, but now there are other top hosting providers such as WPEngine, SiteGround, and Flywheel.
WPEngine is a balanced service that provides you with a little bit of everything and at a fair price. It is a convenient option if you want to scale and maintain top-quality professional support. You also don’t lose user-friendly tools by scaling.
SiteGround’s setup is very straightforward, and it makes a perfect option for WordPress beginners. They have excellent support, and their prices are relatively affordable. The support team will answer your questions within 15 minutes.
FlyWheel is especially convenient for bloggers, agencies, and small businesses. Some of their remarkable features include billing transfer and demo site. The service also features a blueprint, a tool that you can use to choose default themes and plugin configurations to create your Singapore websites.
Even though managed hosting costs more than shared hosting, it provides faster loading times, better security, and professional WordPress support.
What is managed WordPress hosting?
Managed WordPress hosting provides professional support with the technical aspects of WordPress, such as site updates, site speed, and up-time, so that you can focus on content creation and sharing. Hosting companies usually use their own CDN and server-level caching, which is appropriate for people who lack the technical skills or time to manage servers.
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Top Managed WordPress Hosting Providers
Let us look at some of the best WordPress-managed hosting providers.
WPEngine
WPEngine is one of the top-rated managed hosting services in the industry.
The costs are higher compared to other providers, but the company is committed to providing greater support, higher speeds, and better security. WPEngine loads under 0.26s and has fantastic support.
Their team of professionals will deliver fast and secure services, and it is no surprise that WPEgine is one of the most popular managed hosting companies.
In fact, they host top brands including HTC, Foursquare, and Soundcloud. The service starts at $35.
Features
- Staging area – When you want to test new themes and plugins, WPEngine provides you with a replica of your live site so that you can view and decide whether to apply the changes to your live site.
- One-Click restores point – In the event of a problem with your site, theme, or plugins, WPEngine provides a one-click restore feature that sets things back to how they were before things went wrong.
- Cache plugins are not needed – The service applies custom-built Ever Cache technology that provides fast WordPress delivery for Google. This technology does this even on a large scale.
- Hacking scans – WPEngine scans and monitors for any hacking attempts and in case of a hack, the company fixes it free of charge.
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SiteGround
SiteGround is a relatively affordable managed hosting service. Their WordPress security and speed solutions are reliable and unique. It offers some free features such as WordPress installation, domain name, support, WordPress migration, and email accounts. SiteGround loads under .4s and their support team respond to client questions in about 15 minutes. With prices starting at $7.95 a month, this is a really excellent service.
However, note that their startup plan does not have priority support, premium caching, and one-click staging. Their GoGeek plan offers all these features.
Features:
- Unique WordPress Autoinstaller – This feature makes WordPress setup straightforward.
- Autoupdater – any updates are automatically applied to your site’s core files.
- WordPress SuperCacher – This feature improves site performance.
- WordPress staging – a feature for testing new site settings before launching then live.
- HHVM – it loads at higher speeds compared to PHP thus improving site speed. It is only available on cloud hosting.
- Pre-installed WP-CLI – with this feature, updates and multisite management can be accessed using the command line route
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Flywheel
Flywheel offers managed hosting services made explicitly with designers and creatives in mind. It focuses on making the workflow of web designers more efficient. Some of the top features include easy collaboration, billing transfers, and site staging. With Flywheel, you get to manage multiple sites from one dashboard. It loads in under 1 second, and it has many happy customers.
The Flywheel support team is comprised of experienced and professional designers who understand exactly what your site needs. The prices are quite affordable starting at $15 per month for a pay-per-site plan. There are also bulk plans for larger developers that begin at $100 per month. Flywheel also offers custom plans.
Features:
- High speed – takes into account all factors that can slow down the sites and designs solutions for all of them.
- Nightly backups – a backup of your site is done each night for your peace of mind.
- Tight cybersecurity – hacking attempts and malware are always monitored to keep your sites secure. Any problems found are fixed at no extra cost.
- More intuitive SFTP – with this feature it is now very convenient to collaborate with other designers and work on client sites.
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Bluehost WP Hosting
Bluehost WP Hosting delivers high speeds and cybersecurity at a reasonable price. The most basic plan includes 2GB RAM, 30GB storage, and 30GB backup storage. This plan allows 100 million site visits a month. It also features an improved cPanel, and you get round-the-clock support from WordPress experts. It also comes with a SiteLock CDN and SiteLock Pro and up to 5 ManageWP sites. It loads in under 2 seconds, and prices start at $2.95 for the first month and $24.99/month for the following months.
Features:
- Built of a VPS platform- Bluehost is VPS-based, which ensures excellent performance and high site speeds.
- Includes ManageWP – one hosting plan allows you to manage and migrate a number of WordPress sites.
- High security – it features SiteLock and SiteLock WAF for extra protection.
- Professional support – the hosting plans feature round-the-clock support by WordPress experts.
- Enhanced cPanel – switching from shared to managed hosting can be done easily because the managed interface is familiar.
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Kinsta
Kinsta, which is powered by the Google Cloud Platform, offers a fast and efficient managed WordPress solution. Its incredible feature is that all its plans offer unlimited visitors and unlimited page views. Therefore once your site’s traffic grows, you won’t have to switch hosting plans. The customer support is professional, and they are always available to sort you out. Kinsta’s team has professional developers that have a deep understating of WordPress.
Features:
- Migrations are free – site migrations are done at no extra charge and with no interruptions. You just send a request via the dashboard and everything else is taken care of. You can monitor and manage migrations, even using mobile devices, using the wholly transparent dashboard.
- Top-notch infrastructure – Powered by Google Cloud Platform, Kinsta features automatic scaling, LXD containers, SSH access, PHP 7, WP-CLI automation, and Git. Kinsta also features a robust caching solution that ensures higher speeds than other WordPress caching plugins.
- Robust security – multi-layer protocols on the back-end ensure the security of your site. Round-the-clock monitoring is done to make sure that everything is running smoothly.
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Pagely Hosting
Pagely is the perfect managed hosting for large businesses. It is known for robust security and high speeds. Some of its main features include automatic WordPress core updates, plugin updates, and daily backups. It also features a Press ARMOR CUSTOME Wordpress security configuration for extra security. Pagely allows you to use any plugin or app. For 30 sites, 200GB of bandwidth including all the core features you pay $499 per month. It loads under 0.09 seconds.
Features:
- Convenient updates – WordPress core upgrades are automatic while plugin updates require minimal effort.
- Varnish caching – this makes the service extremely fast
- Free choice for plugins – you are free to use any plugin or theme you prefer.
- Complete site scans – malware scanning and removal are done in real-time and unnecessary firewalls Are removed. Your site will have DDoS protection.
- PRESSCDN – the company offers this service for $9 a month.
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Pressable
Pressable was formerly known as ZippyKid, and it is highly rated for customer satisfaction. Its services use custom RackSpace hardware. The basic package goes for $25/month and can handle 15,000 shared page views in a month.
Features:
- Rackspace Hybrid cloud – these are some of the best servers for your site.
- Daily backups – daily automated backup for your content.
- Secure File Transfer Protocol – SFTP ensures safety for your data while it is being transferred.
- SSL access – this will keep your customers secure.
- Cybersecurity – round-the-clock malware scanning and removal will keep hackers off your site.
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WebSynthesis
WebSynthesis applies NGINX architecture to double the traffic while consuming an eighth of the resources.
It was started by CobyBlogger Media, who also produced some widely sought WordPress products such as the Genesis theme framework and ScribeSEO.
With the use of MediaTemple dedicated servers, you are guaranteed a great hosting service.
Features:
- Top-quality servers – your site will have high speeds
- SEO – the company also provides keyword and help with social media
- Strong cybersecurity – the risks of a cyber attack are greatly minimized
- Content marketing – the company also offers content and website optimization tools
- Site Sensor uptime monitoring – your site’s uptime is monitored 24/7
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WordPress.com VIP
WordPress.com VIP provides state-of-the-art services for clients looking for enterprise-level solutions. Starting at $5000 per month, you are guaranteed high speeds even with high traffic. The service is in use by high-traffic companies such as Time, GigaOM, MSNBC, and TechCrunch.
Features:
- SaaS – The Turnkey infrastructure in use by the service provides a confident way to develop your site
- CDN – The service is security-focused ensuring that your site will not be cyber attacked.
- Regular backups – backups are done on an hourly basis to make sure that you never lose any site data.
- Round-the-clock support – their 24/7 customer support ensures that your queries will be answered promptly and at all times.
- No extra costs on top of the monthly rate – for a flat monthly price, you get unlimited traffic, bandwidth, and storage.
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Do You Really Need Managed WordPress Hosting?
The answer to whether you require managed WordPress hosting mostly depends on what you need for your website. There is a wide variety of managed website hosting services that are fit for clients with different budgets.
The services can be appropriate for small business owners, medium websites, and even high-traffic websites.
If you are a blogger or a developer, we would recommend using SiteGround. It is the best solution for you because it is affordable relative to other services and their customer support is top-notch.
In choosing whether to use a managed WordPress service, you will need to make quite a few considerations.
Some of the factors that you should consider include what you want to achieve with your website, your top priorities, and your anticipated site traffic.
If you are aiming for high achievements and heavy traffic, then going with a managed hosting service would be a great idea, because it will provide you with much-needed tools for your success.
However, if you are only getting started with WordPress and are unsure of what you want to achieve, you probably don’t have to pay for managed hosting.
Another factor that needs consideration is the level of support and customization you need. Shared hosting usually offers one-click non-customized installations.
This one-type-fits-all approach can leave you with settings you don’t need, and without settings, you would so much use.
On the other hand, managed hosting provides you with control over the installation process, so you get the advantage of customizing the installation according to your preferences.
All in all, you have to consider your hosting needs and make a decision on whether to go with shared hosting or with managed hosting.
11 Sure-Fire Tips for Picking the Best WordPress Website Hosting Company
Use the above information to compare the different hosting companies available in the market. It would be best to consider other factors during the selection process to make the right decision. Below is an overview of 11 tips for picking the best WordPress website hosting company.
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Average Uptime
Average uptime refers to the period your website is up and available to the audience within a specific period. This metric has a direct impact on the amount of traffic that the website gets. If the site is permanently offline, the traffic will dip, and so will the sales and visibility online.
Concisely, you will lose potential customers to your competitors when the site is unavailable. That said, it’s impossible for WordPress website hosting providers to deliver an average uptime of 100% to all clients.
Thus, your goal should be to find a host whose average uptime is as close as possible to the desired 100%. Take time to compare the reviews posted by other users to know if the company is reliable.
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Availability of Customer Support
Virtually all WordPress hosting companies have a support team that primarily responds to customer queries. Timely help when your website is down or when you need to install a new feature on the website will have an immensely positive impact on your business.
Check the timeliness and responsiveness of the customer support team before signing up to avert regrets down the road. Check the company’s communication channels to know if they match your preferences.
Today, most hosting companies have chatbots or AI-powered live chat features that quickly enable them to respond to customer queries.
The chat is loaded with answers to frequently asked questions, so you are guaranteed a response even during the wee hours of the night.
You will only be referred to the human support team if the chatbots cannot adequately respond to your question. That said, we recommend testing the reliability of the different communication channels before paying for a hosting package.
Ideally, steer clear of WordPress website hosting companies that take hours to respond to customer queries.
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Page Load Time
Page load time is the time it takes a website page to load fully. Like uptime, page load time directly impacts the amount of traffic the website receives.
This metric also influences the quality of the user experience. With the recent Google algorithm update, Core Web Vitals, taking effect, you should strive to offer the best user experience to website visitors. One sure way of achieving this goal is having your website hosted by a company that provides good page load time.
On the same point, research shows that 53% of people who visit the WordPress website using a mobile device will not hesitate to leave if it takes more than 3 seconds to load all the elements.
Use Google PageSpeed Insights to gauge the load time of different website pages.
Improve the slow pages by optimising the photos, videos, and other visuals to increase the overall load time of your website.
Once your website speed is upbeat, you can now consider the load time offered by the hosting company. Otherwise, you may judge the hosting company wrongly, yet your website is slow due to poor page optimisation.
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Free Domain
Competition is cutthroat in the WordPress website hosting industry.
Brands are always looking for ways of endearing themselves to customers. One strategy that stands out is providing a free domain to new clients for at least one year.
Take advantage of the free domain to test the hosting services offered.
While it may not look professional due to the mention of the hosting company in the URL, it will help you decide whether the hosting package is worth buying.
Also, you can use the free domain to get your feet wet and learn about the industry before fully launching your business. Note that you will be required to pay for the domain after the one-year elapses.
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Pricing and Renewal Terms
As an online business owner with a WordPress website, your goal is to generate revenue while keeping the operating costs low. Investing in a professional website that is responsive, user-friendly, and in line with industry standards is the first step to achieving this goal.
The next step is finding a web hosting company with affordable services and matching your budget. Compare the price tags on each plan and the features to make the right decision. More importantly, check the renewal terms.
Most brands offer customers who decide to renew the hosting package a special discount. Use it to lower your operating costs and save time that would have been spent transferring the website assets to another hosting company.
However, you should only upgrade or continue using the hosting service if it meets your needs. If not, don’t hesitate to look for an alternative online. Consult other website owners when researching to find the ideal hosting company quicker.
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Bandwidth and Storage
Bandwidth is arguably one of the metrics you should never forget to consider when looking for a WordPress website hosting company.
What is website bandwidth?
Website bandwidth refers to the data your website uses in a given period. An increase in traffic and resources used increases bandwidth and vice versa.
Over time, your business will grow, and consequently, the daily traffic will skyrocket.
Based on this fact, choose a website hosting company that offers unlimited bandwidth to ensure that your website is always live, even during instances of traffic spikes.
The higher the bandwidth, the better, but you may have to pay more to enjoy unlimited bandwidth.
We recommend first testing how your website performs with limited bandwidth.
Then, monitor the traffic to make plans for the future.
Like bandwidth, the hosting company should be able to provide enough storage to hold all your website resources. The amount of storage available depends on the disk’s size or disk space.
Usually, the premium plans offer not only unlimited bandwidth but also more storage space than the free plans.
It’s OK to start with the free plan but consider upgrading once you are sure about the quality of the WordPress website hosting service offered by the company.
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SSL
SSL is one of the most important things your website needs to convince prospects that it’s safe and reputable.
What is website SSL?
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It’s a technology that has been around for over a decade. Its role is to ensure that the internet connection between the website and users is secure. It does this by encrypting the exchanged data, making it impossible for hackers and prying systems to net it.
Savvy customers gravitate towards e-commerce websites with an active SSL certificate. Most WordPress website hosting companies offer free SSL to clients as part of the hosting plan.
Check whether the selected plan has this offer.
You may be required to pay a few dollars extra to get the SSL, but it’s worthwhile.
aaaaaConcisely, it will show potential customers that you care about their safety and are not just focused on making money from the services or products.
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Backups
Despite the servers encrypting website resources, anything can happen, so preparing for the worst-case scenarios is imperative.
Hackers release new malware and spyware with the potential of bringing down websites considered secure.
Can you imagine creating your website from scratch if it’s hacked? Cushion yourself from such a scenario by selecting a WordPress website hosting company that offers reliable backups to clients.
That way, you can re-launch your website after the hack within the shortest time possible.
Most brands are straightforward about the backup and the available storage space. You may have to pay for a higher hosting plan to access more backup space like bandwidth.
A copy of your website will be stored in the backup for future reference if the site goes down or is compromised.
The backup file is regularly updated to encompass new pages and elements such as videos and images that you add.
Most hosting companies have made it easy for clients to access the backup files. If not, you will have to contact the support team for help retrieving the website files.
Either way, ensure that your website is backed up in a secure, encrypted server and readily available to you or the hosting company.
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Security
The security of your website is of paramount importance to your business, clients, and business partners.
Loss of personal data to hackers and unauthorised personnel could wreck your business.
Protect the credibility and reputation of your brand by making sure that your WordPress website hosting by a company that offers different new generation security features such as;
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- DDoS Protection
- RAID
- SSL
- LetsEncrypt and more
Don’t take the brand’s word for it, as sometimes they use “salesy” language to attract unsuspecting customers.
Do extensive research online and speak to other clients whose WordPress website is hosted by the company to know the security features offered.
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Refund Options
Does the company refund clients unsatisfied with the quality of web hosting service offered?
Before paying for a WordPress web hosting plan, this is the first question you should ask yourself.
Even though most companies have a free plan that allows new clients to experiment with the service before subscribing, it’s still prudent to check the refund options before paying.
That way, you know you can get part or all your money if the service offered doesn’t match your expectations.
People often air their grievances online when web hosting companies fail to give them a refund. Read these complaints to understand the company’s refund or money-back guarantee clearly.
Contact the support team if you are unsure about the refund policy to avert arguments and other related inconveniences down the road.
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Provision of Extra Features
WordPress website hosting companies are keen on providing holistic hosting services to clients.
We recommend selecting a company that offers extra features either for free or at a discounted price to existing clients to realise the full potential of your website.
The extra features can include but are not limited to;
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- Free site transfers
- Unlimited or free email accounts
- cPanel availability
- CDN availability
- Access to the site builder
- One-Click WordPress installation
- Specific data centre location
Note that the features vary from one web hosting company to another, so do due diligence to make the right decision. Also, consider the feasibility of the features to your website as some may not be necessary.
Frequently Asked Questions about WordPress Website Hosting
The above 11 tips will help you find your online business’s most ideal WordPress website hosting company.
Here are the top three questions about website hosting that we receive from our readers.
Can WordPress host my website?
WordPress is primarily a website site builder, but you can have your website hosted on its server. However, it’s best to seek a hosting service from an external company that supports WordPress websites to be safer if the servers are compromised.
How much does it cost to host a WordPress site?
The cost of hosting a WordPress website starts at $3.95 per month. Other costs that you should consider are plugins, themes, and domains. Plan to pay anywhere between $11 and $40 per month or a one-time cost of $200 for a reliable web WordPress hosting plan.
Can I run a website without hosting?
Yes, you can create a website and have your computer as the host. But, converting your laptop into a hosting server is too technical for a beginner. Besides, hosting companies have better servers, and the quality of hosting service is better.
Can WordPress delete your website?
WordPress offers support to admins who want to delete their website but cannot delete it without your consent. The deletion process is also reversible; you can retrieve your website within 30 days of deleting it. If not, it will disappear forever.
Conclusion
MediaOne Marketing is the leading provider of WordPress website development services.
Our team has years of experience and will create a complete site for your business within a short period.
We will also help you select the best hosting company and hosting plan at no extra cost. Contact us today for more details at +65 6789 9852.
Our Top Picks
We have carefully reviewed each of these hosting providers, and have identified some of the best providers. Here, we will look at their features and why I think they offer the best hosting solutions.
SiteGround – This service offers features such as Git integration, a staging area, and SSL support. The prices are very affordable, and the service is appropriate for developers and bloggers.
The company offers free migration, and its customer support is efficient.
Within one to two hours, your support question will be answered. Their live chat support is not very knowledgeable on technical issues, and you might need to use their ticket support system to get your technical questions answered.
Flywheel – The service is easy to use and is particularly convenient for designers, small business owners, bloggers, and others who aren’t developers.
The service does not contain any technical jargon, and its dashboard is very user-friendly. If you can configure WordPress sites, but you are not a developer, Flywheel is your perfect fit.
Pagely – If you are a developer and you have quite a flexible budget, then Pagely might be your choice of service. Their servers are hosted by Amazon, and since last year, they have pioneered high-quality service delivery for small blogs, membership sites, global corporate sites, and Saas solutions.
Their service features HHVM, automated daily backups, real-time cybersecurity monitoring, built-in redundancy, and developer-friendly tools. They have easy-to-use tools such as SSH, GIT, WP-CLI, PressCDN and Press Armour.
WPEngine or Kinsta – These two options are for people who want a little bit of everything. If you want to scale, maintain high-quality support, keep user-friendly tools and stay within budget, these two services are the best fit.
I have never had any problems with WPEngine, and I have used their service for quite some time.
To conclude, there are many options for managed WordPress hosting to choose from.
The best way to do it is by first defining your needs, then comparing what is available in the market with these requirements. Managed hosting is generally a better service than shared hosting.
However, If you figure out that you do not need managed hosting, shared hosting is also a good option. This article will prove to be a great guide for your WordPress hosting decision.
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