If your setting up a website for the first time you will want to know a little about website hosting. If you have a larger website such as a bigger e-commerce site or high volume information site then you might need dedicated hosting. Shared hosting is the most common type of hosting. This type of hosting is best for sites without a high volume of traffic. Shared hosting plans are typically inexpensive. GoDaddy is an example of an inexpensive standard shared hosting service but there are lots of them. It’s very important to make sure the hosting service you choose has a good reputation for up time. If your website doesn’t stay live, then what’s the point of having a website anyway?
Today, WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems out there and since WordPress is what I use and what I’m going to write about. If you are building a WordPress site I highly recommend WordPress specific hosting, especially if you are a beginner. Managed WordPress hosting came about because many WordPress customers from the blogger to the large agency wanted more security and support than what standard hosting services offered. With the popularity of WordPress, there became a market for WordPress specific expertise. It’s important to know that not every host has managed WordPress hosting. Go Daddy for example, does not offer WordPress managed hosting at this time.
While WordPress specific hosting costs more than standard hosting, it’s typically worth it with the features it offers and the amount of time it can save you in maintenance and upkeep. WordPress will come pre-installed with all of these types of services, which is great for the beginner.
These services typically offer nightly backups, security assurance, stronger customer support and higher speeds as a part of the hosting service. If anything goes wrong, it’s their problem as well as yours and they should be there to help.
If you have the expertise to manage WordPress installation, security and a content delivery network then this method may not be for you. The purpose of this would mainly be to have the utmost control over your website.
One drawback is that with most WordPress specific hosting companies there will be a list of plugins that cannot be used with their services. While this might be seen as a drawback, the reason typically is because the features of that plugin are already built in or simply that the plugin doesn’t work well with the others.
Here’s a few of the well-known and recommended WordPress specific hosting services:
Pagely
Pagely hosts the annual PressNomic WordPress conference and since as it was the pioneer of starting WordPress managed hosting services it is very established. They boast nearly a decade of experience that other providers do not offer.
They offer:
- Pagely claims to be the fastest
- Made it their mission to keep it secure, developed PressArmor security
- By Utilizing Amazon Web Services, your site gains the scalability in the cloud as some of the largest brands in the world.
- Security guarantee if the site gets hacked.
- 24/7 Support is always a click away.
Con:
- It’s an additional $5 per month for FTP access
- Pricing is based on per site basis and it’s more expensive than other hosts for multiple sites
- Limited monthly bandwidth
- The PRESSCDN is an extra $9/month
- Pagely is the most expensive option if you are starting with only one site.
Pricing: Starts at $99 a month for up to 5 sites and the next bracket up is at $499 for u to 5 sites.
WP Engine
Those in the web development business around Nashville who use WP Engine swear by it. WP Engine has a great reputation as a premium WordPress hosting provider.
- You can try it risk free for 60 days
- Staging area, website cloning & testing function
- Free restoration if data or site is compromised.
- Real time security threat detection & if you get hacked, they will fix it for free.
- Like Pagely, you can scale up your site as it integrates with Amazon S3 account to give you infinite storage.
Cons:
- It’s overall pricier than Pressable and Synthesis
- For an entry level plan, the CDN is an extra $19.99/month. It’s included after that for higher tiers.
- SSL costs extra and starts at $49.99/year but they also integrate with 3rd party SSL services
Pricing:
$29/month 1 Site, up to 25k visits a month
$99/month Up to 10 installs, 100k visits/month, 20GB local storage, unlimited Data transfer
$249/month Up to 25 installs, 400k visits/month 30GB local storage
Pressable is formerly known as ZippyKid. It’s services are built on custom Rackspace hardware and has an admirable list of clients. They advertise themselves as the #1 in customer service and so far I will say I have had a good experience with Pressable.
They feature:
- A 2 month free pricing system for the yearly prescription
- It’s Partnered with Google PageSpeed for extra fast delivery.
- WordPress experts on hand to help you if there are any problems
- If you have a smaller number of sites, Pressable offers a lower entry rates when compared to other sites.
Cons:
It limits the shared page views per month.
Pricing
1-5 sites starts at $20/month if you are on the yearly plan for up to 5 sites and 60,000 page views.
Synthesis
This WordPress hosting business was started by the owners of Copyblogger media who produce the most popular WordPress related products on the internet including the Genesis theme framework.
- Unlike the other hosting services Synthesis includes marketing tools that assist with tactics such as search engine optimization, keyword research and social media research.
- Free malware removal
Cons:
- Doesn’t have dedicated IPs
- Has a fixed fee for migrations
- No restore points (I’ve been very grateful to have my restore points with Pressable at times).
- Not designed well for themes outside the Genesis family. While Genesis is the best, this in my opinion is a big con.
- Does not have a staging site area which is another big con.
Pricing:
Plans start at $47 per month
Out of all the options I recommend Pressable for an individual or very small firm because they offer the best value according to pricing. However, if you needs are more complex, Pagely or WP Engine might be for you. Have you used WordPress managed hosting? If you have what has your experience been with the services offered? I’d love to know.