What’s the Difference Between Shared Hosting and Managed WordPress Hosting for Agencies?
Pam Aungst September 15, 2020 When you’re looking to launch a new website, two of the most important decisions you’ll need to make first are to choose:
- Your domain name. The domain name is your website’s address.
- Where you’re going to host your website. The web host is the place where all of your website files are located.
There are different types of hosting services available. In this blog post, we’ll be diving into two types of web hosting and the difference between the two: shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting for agencies.
What is Shared WordPress Hosting?
WPForms defines shared hosting as “a web hosting solution where your website shares the resource of a single web server with a number of websites. And the main advantage of using such a service is they’re available at an affordable rate.”
Because multiple websites are using the same, shared server, you’ll pay less for hosting services than if you were using a dedicated WordPress hosting service. This type of hosting service is a great option for low traffic websites, such as personal sites, bloggers, and small businesses, to help keep their monthly web management expenses down.
Some pros and cons of shared hosting include:
Pros
- Cost: This is probably the biggest advantage of using a shared hosting service. Businesses can purchase these services for as low as $ 2.75 a month.
- cPanel: Most site hosting companies offer cPanel — which is a graphical interface that looks like a control panel or dashboard — that makes it easier for you to manage your website, domain, emails, and more.
- Email Accounts: As an added bonus, professional email services are usually included for free with your hosting service, which means you can create a business email for no additional charge.
Cons
- Shared Server Resources: With shared hosting accounts, hundreds, sometimes thousands, of accounts are housed on the same server. That means the server’s memory, bandwidth, storage, and processing power are all split between all of the websites hosted on the same server. If one poorly constructed website is using more than its share of the server’s resources, all of the other sites housed on the same server might experience the following:
- Slow Response Time: Because shared hosting means your site is sharing a server, you may experience slow load speeds, especially compared to sites using managed WordPress hosting services.
- Downtime: Businesses that work with shared hosting companies have experienced frequent downtimes for their website.
What is Managed WordPress Hosting?
On the other hand, WordPress managed hosting, according to WPForms, “is a type of hosting service that provides the most powerful technologies for your WordPress site to make sure your website is both secure and fast.” This type of web hosting service is usually a more comprehensive and inclusive option. WordPress updates, backups, and security checks are usually included in your monthly service subscription.
Managed WordPress services are ideal for high-traffic websites or businesses that hire professionals to manage the technical aspects of their website. However, premium services like these come at a cost. Most managed hosting services start around $ 16.95 per month.
Here are some pros and cons of using managed WordPress hosting for agencies, corporations, and large businesses:
Pros
- Daily Backups: With daily backups, you can rest assured that your website and accompanying files are always safe, which will allow you to quickly restore your site should you ever need to.
- Fast and Secure: Managed WordPress hosting, for agencies and large corporations, in particular, offers the latest updates and technologies to ensure your site is fast and secure from hackers and malware.
- Core Updates: WordPress managed hosting services usually take care of implementing core WordPress updates, which help to boost your site’s security. Some managed WordPress services will even update your themes and plugins automatically.
- Support: Companies that offer WordPress managed hosting services are known for providing outstanding customer service and support. Their staff is typically very knowledgeable about all things WordPress and are easy to contact if you ever have a problem with your website.
Cons
- Expensive: If you don’t have a large budget to dedicate to website hosting, WordPress managed hosting may not be the best solution for your business. Because managed WordPress services are more comprehensive than shared hosting services, they’re usually also more expensive.
- Limited to Certain Plugins: Because WordPress managed hosting services focus on improving your website’s speed, you might not be allowed to use certain plugins that may slow down your site.
- Only Available for WordPress Sites: It’s important to note that WordPress managed hosting services are only available for WordPress websites. If you used a different website management platform to build your site, you’ll need to seek out alternate hosting services.
What is the Difference Between Shared Hosting and WordPress Hosting?
The difference between shared hosting and WordPress hosting, as Winning WP describes it, is the “type of hosting setup where your account ‘shares’ resources with other accounts on the same server. […] Managed WordPress hosting, on the other hand, is perhaps best defined as a concierge set of WordPress-specific features and optimizations that can be added to any hosting setup. You can have managed WordPress hosting that uses shared infrastructure, managed WordPress hosting that uses VPS [virtual private server]/cloud infrastructure, or even managed WordPress hosting using [a] dedicated infrastructure.” While managed WordPress services can use a shared infrastructure, most popular shared hosting providers don’t include WordPress managed hosting features in their regular plans.
Is WordPress Managed Hosting Worth It?
Managed WordPress hosting for agencies is usually worth the extra cost because of the additional features and support included in the managed hosting services. After you examine the difference between shared hosting and WordPress hosting, it’s clear that while the less expensive price tag for shared hosting may be attractive, managed WordPress services are the better choice for agencies, corporations, and large businesses.
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