Best Managed WordPress Hosting for WordPress Business
WordPress is the most popular content management system around, and for good reason. It’s flexible, free, and open-source software that allows you to build a website without needing experience in HTML or CSS. Plus, with over 500 million downloads, there’s almost certainly a version of WordPress available on any computer you may use.
But with all of its benefits, running your own WordPress site comes with its own unique set of challenges. Chief among them is securing WordPress hosting.
Managed WordPress hosting is the perfect solution to this challenge. Designed for WordPress users who want to create a professional-looking site without having to learn how to properly code their site, these platforms have all the tools you need within their administrative panels, and they take care of the security for you. This way, you can focus on what’s important to you – growing your business. While you’re at it, having a well-designed, modern site is also important, so make sure you work with a professional designer who has experience with WordPress to create a striking page.
What Are The Different Types of Managed WordPress Hosting?
When comparing the various managed WordPress hosting options, you’ll first want to consider the basics – what type of hosting do they offer, what are the plans included, and what is their support like? Below, we’ll dive into those questions and more.
Choosing The Right Host
WordPress can be installed and operated on just about any web host, but that doesn’t mean that all web hosts are created equal when it comes to creating a successful website. Your host’s various offerings – shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting – will determine how much you can use and how much you’ll have to pay for, and it’s important to pick a host that offers the right combination of stability and performance for your needs.
Shared hosting is inexpensive and easy to get started with, but it also means that every website on your host’s network is competing for space and resources. If you’re looking for a free blogging platform or want to create a simple portfolio site, shared hosting is probably a great choice. But if your site has a lot of images or videos and you’re looking for fast load times, you may want to consider a VPS hosting plan instead.
A VPS hosting plan gives you an isolated IP address, so your visitors will always see your site as coming from a trusted IP address. While the price is higher than that of a shared hosting plan, your payment is spread out over 24 months, which makes it more affordable. Plus, you have the option of adding more storage and computing power whenever you want. This plan is perfect for users who want to run a professional-looking site with the ease of a shared hosting plan.
How Do I Install WordPress On My Hosting Plan?
Installing WordPress on your host is pretty easy. First, you’ll need to visit the hosting provider’s website and create an account if you don’t have one already. Next, you’ll need to log in and locate the WordPress icon on their web site. Click on it and follow the on-screen instructions to install the software.
When the installation is complete, you’ll be presented with the option to activate WordPress. Simply choose Activate now to get started. Then, you can access your dashboard where you can see a variety of tools that can help you manage and grow your site.
What Type Of Security Does My Hosting Plan Offer?
One of the most important considerations when choosing a WordPress hosting plan is making sure that the security settings are adequate for the needs of the site. All web hosts will offer basic security settings, which will protect your site from hackers and spam, but it’s important to consider the level of security that’s offered by the particular plan you’re interested in.
For example, if you’re looking for a free blog platform, you may want to choose one of the hosts that offers basic security measures due to the abundance of harmful bots and spam that exist online. But if you’re running an e-commerce store with a lot of financial information, you may want to consider a hosting plan that offers greater security measures.
All web hosts will have some type of antispam protection in place so that your email isn’t harvested by bots and spammers. But if you’re looking to create a more secure environment for your e-commerce store, check out some of the great hosting packages that offer enhanced security features. These features will keep your email and personal information safe from prying eyes.
Does My Hosting Plan Include 24/7 Support?
One of the best things about having a professional-looking site is being able to easily get tech support when you need it. But if you’re doing business online, you know that things can and will go wrong. That’s why it’s important to pick a hosting plan that offers 24/7 support so that you can get answers to your questions promptly and without causing you any unnecessary stress.
Even though you signed up for a free blog platform, you may want to consider paying for some type of support so that you can get the aid you need when you need it. A lot of web hosts offer 24/7 support through live chat, phone calls, or email inquiries. It’s up to you to determine which one you prefer so that you can get the best customer experience when you need it.
Does My Hosting Plan Have Caching And Compression Tools?
If you’re creating a site that users will visit often, you may want to consider enabling caching and compression on it to improve the overall performance of the site. These kinds of tools work together so that when a user requests a page from your site, instead of having to download the entire page, the server will store it in a cache until the next time the page is requested.
With caching, you’re essentially increasing your site’s performance by storing previously downloaded files so that when a visitor requests one of those files, it won’t have to go through the entire process of downloading it again. This can greatly improve the performance of your site so that it’s more like that of a typical commercial online store.
Most web hosts will have caching enabled as a default, but sometimes it can be tricky to find out where exactly it is located. To make it easier for you, you can purchase a premium version of WP Engine that includes the functionality right inside their dashboard. With WP Engine, you won’t have to do any setup – the caching is already enabled and managed directly from their control panel. So, if you’re looking for a simple, one-click installation, this is the perfect solution for you.
Choosing The Right WordPress Theme
Just like an ordinary WordPress site, the security and functionality of your business site will be determined by the theme you use. When picking a theme, make sure that you’re aware of how professional you want your site to look. Do you want something sleek and modern with simple navigation? Or would you rather go with something more ornamental with lots of features? There are tons of gorgeous WordPress themes out there, but not all of them are suitable for business sites.
Here are a few tips to help you find the right one:
Look For A Child-friendly Theme
If your site is targeted at children, you may want to consider picking a theme that’s easy for them to navigate. That way, you can rest assured that they’ll have fun on your site and won’t get hurt by any misleading links or content.
For example, if you have a food blog with recipes and you know that some of them contain images that might be too tempting for little eyes, you could choose a simple, clean-looking theme that doesn’t have any distracting images.
The key is to find a theme that suits the audience you’re trying to reach. If you have a specific niche market in mind, like lawyers or accountants, you may want to look for a theme that’s designed for that type of audience.
Look For A Theme That Has A Solid Structure Of Navigation
The structure of the site’s navigation is very important, so make sure you get one that’s going to be easy for both you and your visitors to navigate. Avoid overly complex menus or navigation structures that can confuse users.
As a general rule, less is more. Keep things simple and easy to understand so that your visitors won’t have too much difficulty navigating your site.
You also need to make sure that the navigation is functional on all platforms – desktop, tablet, and mobile.