Managed WordPress hosting
Managed WordPress hosting, looked after by a person
Fast UK hosting with the updates, the backups and the security handled for you, by someone who notices a problem before you do.
What managed actually means
Plenty of hosts sell something called managed WordPress and mean nothing more than a server with WordPress preinstalled. This is the other kind.
- Core, theme and plugin updates done for you, not left in your dashboard going red
- Updates tested on a staging copy first, so a broken plugin never reaches your live site
- Monthly malware and security checks, with anything found dealt with rather than reported to you
- Daily off site backups, and I restore them, you do not have to work out how
- Uptime watched, so if the site goes down at 6am you are not the one telling me
- Priority support, your ticket goes to the front
The difference between this and the £9.95 tier is not the server. It is the same platform. The difference is whose job it is when something needs doing.
Who this is worth it for
If your website brings in enquiries or takes bookings or sells anything, an afternoon offline costs you more than a year of the difference between the two tiers. That is the calculation.
It also suits anyone who has been meaning to update their plugins since March and knows it. That is not laziness, it is a job nobody has been given, and it is exactly the kind of thing that goes unnoticed until a vulnerability gets found.
If your site is a brochure that nobody depends on, the standard tier is the honest recommendation and I will tell you so.
What it runs on
UK infrastructure in ISO 27001 accredited data centres, on an autoscaling platform rather than a single shared server, so a busy neighbour cannot slow you down.
- Fast SSD storage with edge caching
- Free SSL certificate, renewed automatically
- Web application firewall and daily malware scanning
- Daily off site backups, restorable to a point in time
- Staging environment for testing changes
- Email held on separate infrastructure from the website
I resell this platform under my own name, which means when something goes wrong you call me and I deal with it, rather than being handed a support queue in another country.
Moving from another host is free, and I do it
The reason people stay on hosting they dislike is not price, it is the fear of a broken week during the move. So I do the move, at no charge, and you approve it before anything switches over.
Your site is copied across and tested on the new platform while the old one keeps running. When it looks right, the DNS changes and the switch happens with no downtime you would notice. Email comes across too, with the mailboxes and the history intact.
If something is wrong afterwards, I fix it. The old site stays put until you are happy.
Questions people ask
Is there a contract?
No. Monthly, cancel whenever. If you leave I will help you move your site out, which is the opposite of how most hosts behave and is deliberate.
What if an update breaks something?
That is what the staging copy is for. Updates go there first. If something breaks it breaks where nobody can see it, and your live site carries on.
Do you build the site as well?
Yes, though you do not have to have me build it to have me host it. Plenty of clients arrive with a site somebody else made.
Can I still get into the WordPress dashboard?
Of course. It is your site. Managed means I look after the infrastructure and the maintenance, not that I lock you out of your own website.
Hand the whole thing over
Call 07706 601114 and I will look at what you have now and tell you honestly whether this is worth it for you.