WordPress was first released in 2003 as a content management system for bloggers. Eighteen years later, WordPress can be adapted to run almost any site but is still one of the best options to set up and run a blog.
There are two ways to create a WordPress website. You can visit wordpress.com, get a monthly plan, and set up your site on Automattic’s servers. Or you can get a hosting plan and install WordPress yourself. This second option is called “self-hosted WordPress.” It offers unbeatable autonomy, versatility, and cost-effectiveness. It’s the option we recommend if you’re working to build a strong and scalable brand as a blogger.
But not all WordPress hosting plans are created equal. In this post, we’ll dive into one of the most popular types of WordPress hosting: Managed WordPress. Whether you’re planning to migrate your blog or start a new one, this post is for you.
We’ll explore:
- The Pros of WordPress for Blogging
- What is Managed WordPress?
- The Benefits of Using Managed WordPress as a Blogger
- The Limitations of Managed WordPress
- Key Takeaways
The Pros of Using WordPress for Blogging
Before we dive into the benefits of managed WordPress, it’s worth asking: Why should you choose WordPress in the first place? While WordPress is the favourite CMS of thousands of bloggers worldwide, dozens of other options exist.
You could set up your blog on Wix, Webflow, Medium, or Squarespace. Or you could use a platform like Substack to run your blog as a newsletter. But self-hosted WordPress comes with benefits that these platforms do not offer.
Build Your Personal Brand
Platforms such as Substack don’t provide many tools to personalize your blog’s look and feel, and everything you post will feature the platform’s brand. You can’t choose your layout or fonts, and your choices are limited to logos, headers, and colour palettes.
That’s not the case with self-hosted WordPress. On WordPress, you can design your website from the ground up to fully reflect your brand. And by using powerful plugins like Elementor, you can create a unique site even if you’re not a designer.
Get Deep Audience Insights
Some platforms, such as Medium, don’t allow you to have a deep look into your audience’s behaviour. That prevents you from detecting important patterns or adapting your posting schedule to maximize visibility.
On WordPress, you can gather strategic data freely. It’s as simple as connecting your blog to platforms such as Google Analytics or installing an analytics plugin.
Expand Your Presence
Let’s say you want to launch a product. It could be an e-book, some merch, or just about anything else. If you’re running your website on WordPress, you can simply integrate an online store into your preexisting blog. There is no need to hire a team of developers, buy a different domain, or get used to another platform. It only takes one plugin – WooCommerce.
Low Expansion Costs
It’s not uncommon for platforms to charge you extra as your traffic grows. It makes sense: providing a great experience to 100,000 visitors per month demands more resources than accommodating 10,000 visitors. But on self-hosted WordPress, the cost of growing is usually very low, especially if you run your website on a Managed WordPress plan.
6 Billion Answers to Your Questions
If you enter “wordpress” on the Google search bar, you’ll find yourself in front of over 6 billion results.
WordPress is an extensively documented CMS. There are two reasons behind this:
- It’s an open-source project that has been active for 18 years.
- It’s the most used CMS in the world.
There are thousands of tutorials, guides, blog posts, and instructional videos about WordPress. So, regardless of your level of web development proficiency, if you need help setting up, managing, or optimizing your blog, you will find the answers you need. That factor alone can save you tons of time and money.
In this section, we offer five reasons why self-hosted WordPress is the best option for you. Let’s take a closer look at Managed WordPress hosting and the benefits it has for bloggers. But first, what is managed WordPress?
What is Managed WordPress?
Managed WordPress Hosting is a type of WordPress-optimized hosting plan that allows you to leave key website maintenance tasks in the hands of professionals. The best managed WordPress plans also include performance-focused features, such as:
- The ability to handle traffic spikes without interruptions
- Access to a global Content Delivery Network (CDN)
- Free SSL certificates
All this and more for a predictable monthly fee.
The Benefits of Using Managed WordPress as a Blogger
While Managed WordPress is usually more expensive than Shared Hosting plans, the difference in performance and security is significant. In this section, we’ll explore the benefits of using Managed WordPress for blogging.
Speed & Reliability = Great SEO & UX
High SEO rankings are key to growing as a blogger, and SEO should be one of your top concerns.
Site speed is an important ranking factor for Google. The search engine benefits fast websites and ranks them higher than their slow counterparts. The reason is quite simple: fast sites provide a better user experience.
It’s not just Google; users prefer fast websites too. Higher site speed is associated with higher traffic and better engagement rates. And these two metrics can turn your blog into a promising and profitable online platform.
Managed WordPress hosting is optimized to run WordPress as efficiently as possible. And, if your plan includes a global CDN, high site speed is almost guaranteed.
CDNs deliver your website’s heaviest assets through a server node that’s physically close to the user instead of sending them from a server that’s thousands of miles away. That guarantees that, whether a reader is in Colombia or Japan, your website will load in milliseconds.
Automatic Backups & Updates
With automatic backups, you can ensure your content is always safe from site-breaking errors and attacks. While managed WordPress significantly lowers the chances of suffering from either, prevention is always a plus.
One of the reasons attacks are very unlikely on Managed WordPress is that this type of hosting plan includes automatic updates, and regular updates can prevent most WordPress vulnerabilities. And your Managed WordPress site will always run the latest versions of WordPress, your themes, and your plugins.
A Free Staging Site
Aside from keeping your website and your content safe, managed WordPress gives you a parallel platform to experiment on. A staging website is a private space where you can try new plugins, design changes, and more.
For instance, let’s say you want to add an online store to your blog. You could install WooCommerce on your staging site and test the plugin before applying the changes to your live site. Regular users can’t access your staging site.
Let’s say you forget to use your staging site, apply changes directly to the live version, and they don’t work. For instance, you install an unstable plugin. Thanks to automatic backups, you’d be able to revert the changes with the click of a button.
It Prevents Common Security & Speed Problems
With your Managed WordPress hosting plan, you won’t experience some of WordPress’ most common downsides. For example, WordPress can be slow and vulnerable to attacks.
Speed and security problems usually come from one of three sources:
- Outdated or poorly optimized plugins
- Outdated or poorly optimized themes
- Low-quality hosting
Through automated maintenance tasks and high-quality infrastructure, Managed WordPress makes your site both fast and safe. On the other hand, its high speed reduces the number of optimization plugins you’ll need.
Managed WordPress: Some Limitations
Now that we’ve explored the benefits of using managed WordPress as a blogger, let’s examine the cons.
No Email Addresses
Shared Hosting plans have very limited performance. But one of their benefits is that they include almost everything you need to run your digital presence. For example, Shared Hosting plans usually include custom email addresses and managed WordPress hosting doesn’t.
It Requires a Higher Hosting Budget
Managed WordPress is far less expensive than hiring a team to manage your site. But still, Shared Hosting remains the most affordable option.
The cost difference between Shared Hosting and managed hosting isn’t as significant as the performance difference. With Managed WordPress, you can get incredible performance and security by paying a little extra.
It’s WordPress-Only
Managed WordPress hosting is optimized to run WordPress with the best possible performance. But it only supports WordPress. If you want to migrate your site to Joomla or create an online store with Magneto, you’ll need a completely different hosting plan.
Key Takeaways
Managed WordPress hosting automates your site’s maintenance tasks and gives you the resources you need to connect with a large international audience. With this type of hosting plan, you’ll spend less time worrying about your website and more time working on great content. While Managed WordPress is more expensive than other options, the price difference is worth it.
The Best Managed WordPress Hosting for Small Businesses
HostPapa is the largest independent hosting company in the world. We specialize in helping entrepreneurs grow their businesses online. If you’re looking for reliable and affordable hosting with 24/7 support, you’ve come to the right place.
Grow your company and website with confidence. Managed WordPress provides peace of mind with premium performance and security, without the usual WordPress maintenance.
Managed WordPress comes with the following features and more:
- Full-page caching (over 200 locations worldwide)
- Automated backups and updates
- One-click staging website
- One-click restore and recovery
- Website Security Suite
- Website Application Firewall
- WAF/CDN analytics and reporting
- 24/7 expert WordPress support
Are you already a HostPapa customer? Contact us today to get a 1 month free trial of Managed WordPress!