Managed WordPress Hosting
Most of the packages offered today will be considered managed to some extent. Why? Because running a website is actually more complicated than you think. Many people can create and run a WordPress powered website without much hassle, but how many have network administration skills, can create Nginx files and/or apply operating system upgrades on their servers via SSH?
All websites are stored on computers, they all have memory, processor, hard drive, ports that handle Internet traffic, etc. – all of which need to be taken care of at the operating system level. If there is an operating system error, it must be addressed. If malware gets into the device, it needs to be removed – that’s just scratching the surface of all the everyday things that need to be done to maintain your website.
The application level management services are the type offered in managed WordPress hosting plans. Features are likely to include:
- Server-level caching (and many other performance-specific services)
- Automated daily backup of the site
- Essential WordPress Updates
- Site migrations
- Malware Scan
- Ability to create staging sites quickly and easily
- One-click WordPress on-demand backups
- Lots (we’ll touch on many of these in a moment).
Managed WordPress Hosting Features
AUTOMATICALLY MANAGED UPDATES
Automatic updates have been a feature of WordPress for a long time now. However, managed WordPress hosting can take this one step further by automatically applying security fixes as soon as they appear – the same way they apply major WordPress version updates to sites. Where possible, some companies will notify you in advance of these updates to make sure you always have plenty of time to get ready.
With almost all managed WordPress hosts, the latest version of WordPress is usually used. This not only makes your website more secure (by closing any known vulnerabilities as quickly as possible), but also makes the host’s network more secure as a whole – the benefits of which will pass on to you as the customer (more total uptime, fewer attacks, etc.).
AUTOMATIC AND MANUAL BACKUPS
Due to the popularity of WordPress, professional hosts can make backing up faster, more efficient, and more reliable. Furthermore, having the host make backups regularly makes it easier to restore your site if things go wrong (after all, what’s the point of having a backup if you’re unable to implement it yourself for whatever reason).
It is possible for your host to make regular backups that can be easily used because they are in an ideal position to understand the static architecture of WordPress.
BETTER WORDPRESS SUPPORT
The mileage with support will vary from company to company, but I think it’s safe to say that the average managed WordPress host support will (or at least should) know more about WordPress than the support of the average non-specialist host. Again, since WordPress is just one system, it is a lot easier to solve any problems that may arise.
AUTOMATIC WORDPRESS SETUP
A feature: that allows you to get a new WordPress site up and running in seconds. When you need a new site, a full WordPress installation (and necessary database connection, etc.) will be created automatically. All you have to do is fill out a short form with some admin and site details. Easy!
STAGING ENVIRONMENTS
This is a great feature for developers and/or site administrators. The Progressive Environment starts as a perfect copy of your existing site, that is only accessible to you personally (or has an unknown URL), and is easy to use to test new plugins/themes or update/modify your code before applying any changes to your live site.
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