What Is Basic In Managed WordPress Websites? FAQs.

What is basic Managed WordPress websites?

Managed WordPress hosting is a specialized type of hosting where Web Hosting Providers take care of WordPress website related hosting issues like automatic backups, security checks, installing and updating WordPress, WordPress themes & plugins, handle some basic administrative tasks, including troubleshooting any issues. All in order to help WordPress websites run more efficiently and securely.

Here is a list of features that are considered basic in Managed WordPress websites:

• Faster loading speeds.
• Security is taken care of.
• Free Secure Socket Layers (SSL) Certificates and Setup.
• Hosted on WordPress Optimized Servers.
• Automatic WordPress updates.
• Automatic backups and easy restores.
• Automatic plugin, theme and software updates.
• Server Caching.
• WordPress Installations.
• The option to stage sites and to test changes.
• All technical aspects of setting up the website, running and day to day maintenance are done by WordPress experts.
• Access to expert level WordPress Support.

The above are just the basics of what you should expect for Managed WordPress Websites. 

Managed WordPress hosting removes a lot of the unnecessary headaches from your plate when it comes to the administrative and technical aspects of running your site.

However, when you start shopping around for a great Managed WordPress plan you may find that many hosts either will not offer the above that is considered basic and some hosts will offer Managed WordPress plans with far more features. 

So how can you go about getting a great basic Managed WordPress plan for your website that will not break the budget?

What should you look for when shopping around for a basic Managed WordPress plan for your website?

In this post, we are going to go over all the basics that should be included in Managed WordPress websites, what you should look for, as well as some other frequently asked questions.

What is the difference between WordPress and Managed WordPress?

The word “WordPress” can mean two or three different things depending on the context. 

WordPress CMS.

For example, WordPress, the CMS, is an open source Content Management System. You can download and use WordPress CMS free of charge as well as customize it any way you see fit. 

You could also host this WordPress website with WordPress.com, get a self-hosted plan from any number of Web Hosting Providers or even host it yourself on your own computer. 

In fact, you don’t even need to host WordPress at all if you simply want to get to know the software and even build out your own custom made WordPress website.

All of which you can do locally on your own computer. This post shows you how, “Does WordPress need hosting? Hosting and No Hosting options.” All for free by the way.

WordPress.org and WordPress.com.

Then you have WordPress.com and WordPress.org. 

WordPress.org is a non-profit organization created to promote a free and open source internet through the use of WordPress CMS. 

On WordPress.org you will find thousands of free themes, plugins, community forums as well as educational resources and all things WordPress.

WordPress.com, however, is a for-profit subsidiary owned by the company Automattic. One of the founders of WordPress.org, Matt Mullenweg is also one of the founders of WordPress.com and Automattic. 

WordPress.com offers a wide variety of WordPress related services including hosting. In fact, WordPress.com even offers a free hosting plan if you just want to get started in the WordPress ecosystem.

Managed WordPress Hosting.

Managed WordPress Hosting is when all the technical aspects of having a WordPress website like hosting, security, software updates, plugins, managing your caching, file sizes, imaging as well as your website’s speed and God forbid, if your website goes down, etc. are all taken care of by your Web Hosting Provider.

Actually, if you have any issues regarding your website all these will be handled by your Web Hosting Provider. 

In fact, WordPress.com only offers Managed WordPress hosting. More of which I will get into below.

What is the difference between Web Hosting and Managed WordPress Hosting?

The term “Web Hosting” refers to all kinds of web hosting plans and options offered by Web Hosting Providers. Whereas, WordPress Hosting is a specific term that is related to managing all the “back-end” technical functions of WordPress CMS sites. 

Although with many Web Hosts, Managed WordPress Hosting might overlap with typical Web Hosting plans depending on your website’s specific server and equipment needs. These could include:

• VPS WordPress Hosting.
• Dedicated Server WordPress Hosting.
• Shared WordPress Hosting.
• Cloud WordPress Hosting. 

Therefore, understanding the differences between actual Managed WordPress Hosting and traditional Web Hosting, you should pay attention that these two are mutually exclusive. Plans may offer both. 

Web Hosting in general is a more broader term and Managed WordPress Hosting is more of a specialization within those typical Hosting plans.

It’s key to understand them since there are Web Hosting plans that do use a Shared Server environment as well as a few that offer Managed WordPress Hosting using a VPS, Cloud or even a Dedicated WordPress Server environment. 

Understanding these differences will not only help you choose the right plan, but the costs can also vary widely as well.

Is Managed WordPress Hosting worth the extra price?

If you are not technically minded, nor have the desire to become so and you just wish to focus on growing your business, creating content etc. then Managed WordPress hosting is definitely worth the price. You can have the best of all worlds in regards to having a WordPress website. 

For example, because WordPress is open source, this means you own your theme plugins as well as any customizations you have made to it. 

Therefore, should you choose to migrate your WordPress website to another host you can do so with everything intact. 

However, as I’ve mentioned above, if you don’t like the technical aspects of running all the backend issues that websites require, then you can have someone else do it for you in a Managed WordPress hosting plan.

Is WordPress.com managed?

When you get a hosting plan with WordPress.com you should know that you are getting a Managed WordPress Hosting plan. 

In fact, a Managed WordPress hosting plan on WordPress.com is Managed WordPress hosting in the extreme. What does this mean? 

This means that your hosting can only use WordPress’s administrative interface, no FTP, email hosting, cPanel or database access (which you can only get with a VPS or Dedicated Server Hosting plan).

In addition, WordPress.com is 100% responsible for all of the technology in the back-end of your “dashboard”. This means they not only scan your website’s file for potential coding issues and malware, but they may even block plugins or themes that conflict with their own built-in hardware, software and functions, like caching.

Actually, WordPress.com’s Managed WordPress Hosting will limit you to not only the plugins you can and can not use, but your themes as well.

However, most other Web Hosting Providers who offer Managed WordPress Hosting use more of a hybrid approach that doesn’t limit you as much. 

They simply offer better performance, security, control panel features specific to WordPress, and of course backups and overall support. Many will even include a CDN service for your image hosting, for example. The best ones always include an active firewall.

However, the converse can also be true even with some Web Hosting Providers that WordPress recommends for self-hosting. In fact, many will simply bundle a bunch of premium sounding, non-critical oversized plugins as well aa a couple of other bells and whistles and call it a day. 

Good luck getting the proper support from “WordPress Experts that you will need if your website ever goes down.

Meanwhile, you still end up paying for “Managed WordPress Hosting” all the same. So, before you brush off WordPress.com, do your homework.

Is Managed WordPress free with WordPress.com?

Actually, Managed WordPress is free with WordPress.com. Why?

Because Managed Hosting is the only type of hosting that WordPress.com offers. Actually, even with WordPress.com free blog plan, that WordPress free blog is also managed by WordPress.com. 

So in essence you can say that free Managed WordPress Hosting is only available through WordPress.com in the form of their free personal blog plan.

What is basic in Managed WordPress Websites, conclusions.

As you can see, what is considered basic in Managed WordPress Websites depends mostly on the Web Hosting Provider offering the Managed WordPress Hosting plan and what’s included in that plan.

Basic Managed WordPress plans for websites can vary greatly depending on the Web Hosting Provider. 

You can have one extreme with WordPress.com, that offers everything that you should expect with a Managed WordPress hosting plan. 

However, they may not offer everything that other Web Hosting Providers may offer, for example, email hosting. And may even go overboard in their managing of your WordPress website by limiting the plugins and themes you can use on their Managed WordPress Hosting plans.  

Depending on the WordPress.com plan some offer and include email addresses with their plan for example, and some don’t. Whereas, most Web Hosting Providers that offer Self-Hosted Managed WordPress plans, offer them as far as their basic Managed WordPress plan for all your websites.

The bottom line is, when choosing a basic Managed WordPress Hosting plan you need to find out how many websites are included in that plan and what exactly is offered in that plan. 

But most importantly, the number one reason you should choose Managed WordPress Hosting is superior support. The best Managed WordPress Hosting Providers only deal with WordPress. 

This means they don’t mess around with other CMS like Drupal, Magento, Joomla, or any other type of CMS or software. This includes only hosting WordPress sites on designated WordPress Servers.

So when getting a basic Managed WordPress Hosting plan for your websites, shop around. Choose the most reputable Web Hosting Provider host with WordPress experts, that include most of the services you’d expect from a Managed WordPress Hosting plan at the best possible price.