Managed Hosting Security: Ensuring a Safe Online Presence in 2024

Your website serves as the digital nucleus of your business’s online presence, a platform under your control where you can optimize and realize your business objectives. However, if you’re a small business owner, the responsibilities of managing your website can be overwhelming. Beyond the visible elements of website development, several essential yet unseen tasks are critical for maintaining its functionality and security.

These include:

1. Keeping Your Content Management System Updated: Regularly updating your CMS ensures it remains secure and optimized.

2. Securing Your Website Against Potential Attackers: Implementing security measures to protect your site from malicious attacks is crucial.

3. Performing Recurrent Backups: Regular backups are essential to safeguard your website’s data in case of unforeseen issues.

As a busy entrepreneur, you may find it challenging to add website management to your already extensive list of responsibilities. Additionally, if you lack a background in web development, effectively managing your website can be an insurmountable task. This is where managed WordPress hosting services come into play.

In this article, we’ll delve into seven compelling reasons why migrating your website to managed WordPress hosting is a smart choice. But before we do that, let’s ensure we have a solid understanding of what managed WordPress hosting entails.

What is Managed WordPress Hosting?

When considering your website’s hosting options, you’ve likely explored the choice between a self-hosted WordPress website and using WordPress.com. While both have their merits, self-hosted WordPress offers greater flexibility and cost-effectiveness. However, setting up and managing a self-hosted WordPress site can be challenging, especially if you lack a background in web development.

Managed WordPress hosting offers a simplified, user-friendly experience while ensuring that your website remains both fast and secure. With managed hosting, you can delegate many of the routine website maintenance tasks to your hosting service provider, freeing up valuable time to focus on your core business operations.

For instance, at Nestify, our managed WordPress hosting includes a one-click WordPress installation, making it incredibly straightforward to set up your website, even if you’ve never worked with WordPress before.

Now that we’ve established a clear understanding of managed WordPress hosting, let’s delve into the key benefits.

Managed WordPress vs. Shared Hosting & VPS

Aspect	Managed WordPress Hosting	Shared Hosting	VPS Hosting
Management Complexity	Low	Low	Moderate to High
Performance	High	Moderate	High
Scalability	Limited	Limited	Highly Scalable
Resource Allocation	Dedicated Resources	Shared Resources	Dedicated Resources
Customization	Limited	Limited	High
Security	High	Basic	High
Cost	Moderate to High	Low to Moderate	Moderate to High
Ideal for	WordPress Websites	Small Personal Websites	Medium to Large Websites

Finally, it’s worthwhile to compare managed WordPress hosting with shared hosting and Virtual Private Servers (VPS).

Shared hosting is cost-effective but less scalable. It may come with email services and support for various content management systems beyond WordPress.

VPS hosting offers virtual machines where you can host multiple websites at a relatively low cost. However, it demands a high level of technical expertise, including SSH access and terminal commands. This level of technical involvement may not be sustainable for non-technical business owners.

Given these considerations, it’s evident that managed WordPress hosting represents the ideal choice for running your company’s website.

Learn the difference bewteen managed and unmanaged hosting here.

Top 7 Reasons to Consider Managed WordPress Hosting:

A. Performance Difference

With shared hosting, your website resides on the same server as hundreds, if not thousands, of other websites, all under the same shared hosting plan. While this arrangement is financially attractive, it introduces a level of unpredictability in terms of performance.

Managed WordPress hosting, in contrast, provides a solution that directly addresses the performance challenges associated with shared hosting. This hosting service is designed to optimize your WordPress website’s speed, security, and overall reliability.

Key advantages of managed WordPress hosting include:

1. Resource Allocation: Managed WordPress hosting services dynamically allocate server resources based on your website’s needs. This means that during traffic spikes or resource-demanding tasks, your website receives the necessary resources to maintain optimal performance. This eliminates the performance bottlenecks commonly associated with shared hosting.
2. Stability and Reliability: With managed WordPress hosting, you can count on the stability and reliability of your website. Resource allocation is efficient, reducing the risk of downtime or degraded user experiences.
3. SEO Enhancement: Site speed is a critical factor in SEO, and managed WordPress hosting’s consistent and fast performance can positively impact your website’s search engine ranking. A faster website provides a better user experience, which search engines reward with higher rankings.

B. Enhancing Security

By embracing managed WordPress hosting, you not only fortify your website’s security but also enhance its speed. The reduction in the number of plugins required for security and optimization results in a leaner, more efficient website.

This optimized website speed has additional advantages, including improved user experiences, better search engine rankings, and the ability to accommodate increased website traffic without compromising performance.

Managed WordPress hosting services, like those provided by Nestify, prioritize your website’s security by automating the update process. As soon as updates become available for your WordPress core, plugins, or themes, managed hosting services trigger these updates automatically. This ensures that your website consistently runs the latest, most secure versions of all components.

By eliminating the need for manual updates, managed hosting significantly reduces the risk of your website falling victim to security breaches caused by outdated software.

Here’s how managed hosting enhances security in this regard:

1. Automatic Backups: Managed hosting providers, such as Nestify, offer automatic backup solutions as part of their service. This means that your website’s data and configurations are regularly and securely backed up. In the event of an issue or security breach, you can quickly restore your website to a previously secure state without data loss.
2. Automatic Updates: As mentioned earlier, managed hosting automatically updates your WordPress core, plugins, and themes. By keeping everything up-to-date, you reduce the need for additional plugins designed to patch vulnerabilities or enhance security. Fewer plugins translate to a more secure website.
3. High Speed and Reliability: Managed WordPress hosting services focus on delivering high website speed and reliability. This emphasis on performance means that you won’t need as many plugins to optimize your website’s speed. Reduced plugin usage minimizes potential security risks associated with third-party code.

C. Cost–Efficiency

The cost of downtime in the digital era is an undeniable financial burden. For large enterprises operating data centers, every minute of website downtime equates to a staggering cost of approximately $5,600. While the impact of website instability may be less conspicuous for small businesses, its repercussions are equally detrimental.

A slow, unreliable website can inflict multifaceted damage on a small business:

1. Customer Frustration: A sluggish website tests the patience of your customers, leading to frustration and dissatisfaction. In an age where consumers demand instant gratification, a slow site can drive potential customers away.
2. SERP Positioning: Search Engine Results Page (SERP) positioning is a pivotal factor in a website’s visibility. Search engines, such as Google, prioritize fast-loading websites in their rankings. A slow website can adversely affect your SERP positioning, causing your website to be buried beneath competitors in search results.
3. Revenue Loss: Slow websites hinder sales and conversions. Potential customers may abandon their shopping carts or exit the site before completing desired actions, resulting in revenue loss.
4. Competitive Disadvantage: In a digital landscape where online presence is paramount, not having a website is no longer an option. In fact, the trend of businesses establishing an online presence is steadfastly on the rise. Last year alone, more than 85,000 new businesses ventured online, and this trend shows no signs of reversal.

Managed WordPress hosting, while not as budget-friendly as shared hosting, offers a compelling return on investment. Here’s how it provides a competitive edge:

1. Expert Management: With managed hosting, your website is under the care of experts who handle routine maintenance tasks, ensuring its stability and reliability. This professional oversight helps prevent downtime and maintains an optimal user experience.
2. Automatic Updates: Managed hosting automates the critical task of keeping your website’s core software, plugins, and themes up-to-date. This reduces the risk of vulnerabilities associated with outdated software, enhancing your website’s security.
3. Best-of-Class CDN: Managed hosting services, such as Nestify, often include access to a Content Delivery Network (CDN). CDNs, like Cloudflare Enterprise, optimize website speed and reliability by distributing content efficiently across the globe. This not only enhances the user experience but also contributes to better search engine rankings.
4. High Performance: Managed hosting is designed for high performance. Its resource allocation and server optimization ensure that your website loads quickly, engaging users and increasing conversion rates.

D. Safeguarding Your Data

In recent years, the likelihood of a theme or plugin causing disruption to your WordPress site has diminished. However, it remains a plausible scenario, highlighting the paramount importance of data security and integrity. This is where managed WordPress hosting, offered by Nestify, steps in to ensure your peace of mind.Effective data management hinges on reliable backups. With managed WordPress hosting, your website benefits from automatic and frequent backups. This invaluable feature serves as a safety net, eradicating concerns about data loss and the need for manual backup processes.

Staging sites are a hallmark of managed WordPress hosting. They serve as a dedicated sandbox for you to experiment with website modifications, enhancements, and new features. What sets staging sites apart is that they are not accessible to the public and do not impact your live website.

Consider a scenario where you wish to implement significant changes to your website’s design, functionality, or content. Making these changes directly on your live website can be risky, potentially leading to inconsistent user experiences and disruptions for your audience.

Staging sites resolve this issue elegantly. They enable you to pre-plan every new change, allowing you to:

1. Experiment Freely: With a staging site, you can make extensive modifications and test new ideas without affecting your live website. This ensures that your users continue to enjoy a seamless experience.
2. Assess and Refine: Staging sites provide an environment for thorough testing and refinement. You can evaluate the impact of changes, fine-tune settings, and verify compatibility before deploying modifications to your live website.
3. Confident Deployments: Once you are confident about the direction of your changes, you can seamlessly deploy them to your live website with just a few clicks, ensuring a smooth transition and minimal disruption.

E. Streamlined Control

WordPress stands out as the most popular Content Management System (CMS) for several compelling reasons. It combines versatility, security, and user-friendliness to empower website owners. However, the complexity of hosting control panels can sometimes pose a challenge for users. This is where managed WordPress hosting from Nestify excels, simplifying the control panel experience.

While WordPress itself is user-friendly, the same cannot always be said for hosting control panels. Traditional hosting panels can present a steeper learning curve, requiring users to navigate complex menus and settings. This complexity can be a barrier for website owners, particularly those without a technical background.

Managed WordPress hosting from Nestify resolves this challenge by simplifying the hosting control panel. Here’s how:

1. User-Centric Design: The control panel of managed WordPress services is designed with users in mind. It prioritizes simplicity and ease of use, ensuring that website owners can access the options they need without unnecessary complexity.
2. Relevant Options: While the control panel is simplified, it retains all the essential options required for effective website management. Users can access the necessary settings to make changes and adjustments as needed.
3. Efficient Navigation: Managed hosting services prioritize efficient navigation, ensuring that users can quickly locate and access the features they require. This streamlines the website management process.
4. Accessibility for All: A simplified control panel bridges the gap for users with varying levels of technical expertise. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced website owner, the control panel provides an accessible and intuitive interface.

F. Empower Your Website with Expert Care

Your website serves as a cornerstone of your digital presence, a reflection of your business’s identity and offerings. However, maintaining a website entails numerous intricate and time-consuming tasks that demand specialized knowledge. Nestify’s managed WordPress hosting is the solution that places your website in the capable hands of seasoned professionals, offering an array of benefits that extend well beyond the realm of self-administration.

Opting for a managed WordPress hosting plan relieves you of the burdensome maintenance tasks that often accompany website ownership. Instead, these responsibilities are entrusted to a team of experts dedicated to ensuring the optimal performance, security, and functionality of your website. Here’s how their expertise translates into tangible benefits:

1. Professional Maintenance: Managed hosting services employ professionals who possess an in-depth understanding of WordPress. They take charge of essential tasks like software updates, security enhancements, and performance optimization.
2. Resource Efficiency: Recruiting and managing an in-house team to handle website maintenance can be a resource-intensive endeavor. It demands time, financial resources, and ongoing management. On the other hand, managed WordPress hosting streamlines this process, sparing you from the complexities and expenses of hiring and supervising additional personnel.
3. Risk Mitigation: Entrusting your website to a freelancer can be a risky proposition, particularly if you lack the time and expertise to evaluate and select suitable candidates. Managed WordPress hosting eliminates this risk by providing you with a professional team that is well-versed in maintaining websites securely and efficiently.

G. Unleash Creativity Hassle-Free

Imagine you’re eager to give your website a fresh look by changing its theme and introducing new sections using Elementor. However, there’s a challenge: your company website consistently receives a steady stream of visitors. Making direct layout changes in this scenario could lead to an inconsistent and confusing experience for those users currently browsing your site.

You face a dilemma—how to experiment and innovate without disrupting your live website and potentially losing valuable traffic. Two common approaches come to mind:

1. Hiding Behind Maintenance: One option is to employ a plugin like WP Maintenance mode to hide your website temporarily while you make changes. However, this comes with its own set of risks. Visitors who encounter a maintenance page may quickly navigate away, seeking alternatives among your competitors.
2. Introducing Staging Sites: This is where the power of staging sites, a hallmark of managed WordPress hosting, comes into play. These staging sites offer a dynamic and risk-free environment for you to experiment, create, and fine-tune without any impact on your live website.

Staging sites provide an array of benefits that empower you to innovate confidently:

1. Isolated Experimentation: Staging sites are not accessible to the public, ensuring that your experiments remain concealed from your website’s visitors. You have the freedom to create, modify, and test without affecting the user experience on your live website.
2. Risk Mitigation: Experimentation can be inherently risky, but staging sites minimize these risks. You can thoroughly assess the impact of changes, evaluate their compatibility, and refine your ideas without any adverse consequences for your live website.
3. Effortless Deployment: Once you’ve perfected your changes and are confident about their direction, deploying them to your live website is a straightforward process, requiring just a few clicks.

Nestify’s managed WordPress plans go the extra mile by including a staging site feature for every website you host. These staging sites are readily available, allowing you to harness their power for hassle-free experimentation and website enhancement.

H. Elevate Your Focus

Amidst the intricacies of website management and optimization, the true essence of managed WordPress hosting by Nestify shines through. Beyond the dazzling array of features and capabilities, its most invaluable benefit is the gift of peace of mind.

Managing a website entails a myriad of responsibilities—ensuring its availability, readiness for traffic surges, and continuous updates to maintain peak performance. These tasks can often be daunting, consuming precious time and effort that could be channeled into other aspects of your business or personal pursuits.

Managed WordPress hosting creates a sanctuary of assurance where you can focus on what truly matters to you. Here’s how:

1. Reliable Online Presence: With managed hosting, you can trust that your website is always online, regardless of the challenges that may arise. This reliability ensures that your audience can access your site whenever they need, enhancing their experience.
2. Prepared for Traffic Peaks: The unpredictability of website traffic can be a source of anxiety. Managed hosting equips your website to handle traffic spikes with ease, eliminating worries about downtime during critical moments.
3. Effortless Updates: Continuous updates are vital for website security and performance. Managed hosting takes the burden off your shoulders by handling updates automatically, leaving you free from the time-consuming task of manual updates.

Managed WordPress hosting liberates your time and energy, allowing you to direct them toward endeavors that truly matter to you:

1. Business Growth: You can focus on growing your business, strategizing for the future, and expanding your reach. The assurance of a well-maintained website allows you to invest your efforts where they can yield the most significant returns.
2. Personal Pursuits: Whether it’s pursuing a hobby, spending quality time with loved ones, or simply enjoying life outside of work, managed hosting ensures that your website doesn’t encroach on your personal life.

As your business evolves, you may eventually consider bringing in experts to manage your website. The time saved with managed hosting enables them to embark on more ambitious and specialized activities. Instead of grappling with routine tasks like updates and backups, they can focus on:

1. A/B Testing: Implementing A/B testing to enhance user experience and conversion rates.
2. Accessibility Enhancements: Making your site more accessible to a wider audience, promoting inclusivity and usability.

Get the Best Managed WordPress Hosting Today

Nestify specializes in hosting services tailored to small businesses like yours. Launching your business online is crucial yet challenging, and our mission is to simplify this process for you. Begin your journey today by exploring Nestify’s managed WordPress hosting services.

Grow your business and website with confidence. Managed WordPress provides peace of mind through premium performance and security without the typical WordPress maintenance hassles.

Nestify’s managed WordPress hosting includes the following features and more:

– Full-page caching with over 200 worldwide locations

– 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

Choose Managed WordPress Hosting with Nestify today and focus on growing your business with peace of mind. If you’re already a Nestify customer, contact us today to get a 1-month free trial of Managed WordPress!