Having a fast, reliable website is critical for any small business looking to build an online presence. WordPress is the most popular content management systempowering over 40% of all websites. But for your WordPress site to perform well, you need an optimized web hosting provider.
Choosing the right WordPress hosting can impact key aspects like site speed, uptime, scalability and security. The wrong host can lead to a painfully slow site, frequent downtime and even get your site hacked.
In this comprehensive guide, we will cover:
- Why you need specialized WordPress hosting
- Types of WordPress hosting plans
- 9 best managed and cloud WordPress hosts for small businesses
- What to look for when choosing a WordPress host
- Recommendations for evaluating and picking the right provider
Why Do You Need Specialized WordPress Hosting?
Regular shared web hosting usually does not play well with a resource-intensive CMS like WordPress. Issues like server configuration mismatches can cripple site performance.
WordPress optimized hosting provides finely tuned web servers, caching, security protections and infrastructure optimized for peak WordPress performance.
Here are some key advantages of using specialized WordPress hosting platforms:
Faster Page Load Speeds – Optimized web and database servers, content delivery networks and caching lead to site pages loading up to 20-30% faster. Quick page loads improve visitor experience and search engine rankings.
Higher Uptime – Advanced server monitoring, quick auto-scaling of resources and redundancy measures minimize downtime risks. Uptime of 99.9%+ ensures visitors can always access your site.
Enhanced Security – Auto security updates, firewall protection, malware detection and integration of security plugins provide a 360-degree shield against hacker threats.
Top-Notch Support – WordPress optimized hosts have specialized support staff well-versed in fixing WordPress issues quickly. You get true experts handling trouble tickets/live chat.
Greater Scalability – It is easy to upgrade to more resources like RAM, CPU cores as your website traffic grows. No need for complex data migration.
Next, let‘s discuss the primary WordPress hosting plan types available for small businesses.
Types of WordPress Hosting Choices
There are 4 major types of WordPress hosting options:
Entry-level plans on shared infrastructure offer limited resources at cheap rates. Suitable only for new sites with very low visitor traffic. Lacks flexibility and customization capability.
2. Managed WordPress Hosting
Fully managed solution where the host takes care of everything related to infrastructure, updates, security, backups etc. Ideal for small businesses who want convenience rather than control.
3. VPS Hosting
Virtual private servers provide guaranteed resources by splitting physical servers into isolated virtual machines using hypervisors. Flexible and cost-effective.
4. Dedicated WordPress Hosting
Dedicated physical server/s allocated only for your website. Most expensive option but offers maximum control and reliability for high-traffic sites.
Now let‘s look at the top 9 managed and cloud WordPress hosting providers suitable for small businesses:
1. Kinsta WordPress Hosting
Overview – Kinsta is a premium managed WordPress hosting provider specialized for SMBs and agencies. They use the Google Cloud infrastructure with custom-built tools for WordPress site owners.
Key Features
- All sites hosted on Google Cloud ensuring good uptime and speeds
- Enterprise-grade hardware and network routing
- Integrated CDN and HTTP/2 support
- Automatic daily backups and one-click restores
- Free SSL, site migration and staging sites
- SLA guaranteeing 99.9% uptime
- Intuitive MyKinsta dashboard
Plans and Pricing
- Starter plan @ $30/month supports 20K visits
- Premium plan @ $60/month handles 100K visits
- Business plan @ $150/month supports 400K visits
- Enterprise pricing customized as per needs
Kinsta is perfect for SMBs looking for a fast, secure and fully managed WordPress host without breaking the bank. Starter plans begin at $30/month while supporting 20K visits/month.
Visit Kinsta Website
2. WP Engine
Overview – Targeted specifically at WordPress users, WP Engine is a popular managed hosting provider with over 500K sites. Owned by Automattic they offer specialized enterprise-grade hosting solutions.
Key Features:
- Optimized servers and infrastructure for WordPress
- Integrated Content Delivery Network
- WordPress core software updates handled by the host
- Daily automated backups
- Free site migrations
- Instant staging sites to test changes
- Geo-distributed infrastructure
- 24/7 expert support
Plans and Pricing
- Startup plan @ $30/month allows for 25K visitors
- Growth plan @ $115 supports 100K visitors
- Scale plan @ $290 can handle 400K visits/month
WP Engine is the go-to choice if you want a truly high-performance, managed WordPress hosting without taking care of the infrastructure-related complexity. Their geo-distributed servers ensure maximum uptime as well. Pricing is competitive for the quality of service provided.
Visit WP Engine Website
3. Flywheel
Overview – Flywheel is a fully managed WordPress hosting platform built specifically for designers, developers and digital agencies. Owned by WPEngine, they simplify WordPress management.
Key Features
- One-click cloning from production to staging sites
- Team collaboration allowing multiple user logins
- Git version control integration
- Custom branding options for client sites
- Free SSL certificate
- Intelligent auto-healing from issues
- CDN inclusion
Plans and Pricing
- Single site plan @ $35/month allows upto 25K visitors
- Multiple site plans for agencies start @ $200/month
Flywheel stands out with developer-friendly features, stellar customer support and simplicity. Although costlier than other managed WordPress hosts, the ease of management and white-labeled client reports make it worthwhile for digital agencies handling multiple WordPress sites.
Visit Flywheel Website
4. Cloudways
Overview – Cloudways provides high-performance managed WordPress hosting on top cloud infrastructure providers like DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultura, Google Cloud and AWS allowing you to choose where to host your websites.
Key Features
- Managed WordPress hosting with dedicated resources
- Option to host on infrastructure providers like DigitalOcean, Linode
- Built-in CDN, free SSL, unlimited DB and email
- Daily automated backups
- Free site migration
- Staging sites to test changes safely
- Caching and auto scaling support
- 24×7 expert support
Plans and Pricing
- Starts at $10/month for 1-site and scales based on usage
- Can upgrade cloud infrastructure provider as needed
- Pricing based mainly on RAM and compute resources
If you like having fine-tuned control over server location and sizing, Cloudways is an attractive fully-managed WordPress hosting solution. Despite having automated server management, their pricing model allows flexibility to scale resources based on changing site traffic.
Visit Cloudways Website
5. Bluehost
Overview – Bluehost is an affordable and officially recommended WordPress shared hosting provider. Part of Endurance International Group, they host over 2M+ websites.
Key Features
- Officially recommended WordPress host
- One-click WordPress installer
- Free domain name for 1 year
- Unmetered bandwidth and SSD storage
- Free site migration
- Automatic WordPress core updates
- CDN and free SSL certificate
- 24/7 support via phone, chat
Plans and Pricing
- Shared hosting plans start at $2.75/month
- WordPress optimized hosting at $14.95/month
- VPS hosting plans are also available
Bluehost offers an inexpensive starting point for new websites with an easy control panel and one-click WordPress installation. Their WordPress optimized shared hosting plans provide 20X faster page loads compared to regular plans. Overall Bluehost delivers decent performance at very wallet-friendly rates.
Visit Bluehost Website
6. SiteGround
Overview – SiteGround has specialized WordPress hosting optimizing 300+ server parameters. Officially recommended hosting provider for WordPress.org they have 800K+ domains under management across multiple data centers.
Key Features
- NGINX-based servers tuned for WordPress performance
- Integrated CDN and HTTP/2 support
- Free site transfer and domain for 1 year
- Daily offsite backups + on-demand backups
- Free SSL and wildcard SSL support
- Staging capabilities to test changes
- 24/7 Support team
Plans and Pricing
- StartUp plan @ $14/month allows for 10K monthly visitors
- GrowBig plan @ $24 allows 100K visitors/month
- GoGeek plan @ $48/month supports 400K visitors
SiteGround is a reputable WordPress-specific hosting provider with well-optimized servers, in-house security tools and reliable support. Their unique SuperCacher tool provides multi-layer caching for increased speeds. Competitive pricing and free migrations make SiteGround a strong contender.
Visit SiteGround Website
7. A2 Hosting
Overview – A2 Hosting markets itself as the fastest WordPress host using custom servers and a properly tuned stack. They offer managed and unmanaged plans backed by a anytime money-back guarantee.
Key Features
- 20X faster Turbo Servers optimized for WordPress
- Free site migration, CDN, wildcards SSL
- Continuous backups and 1-click restore
- Anytime money-back guarantee
- Free SSL certificates
- Hosting infrastructure spread globally
Plans and Pricing
- Unmanaged plans like managed WordPress @ $12.99/month
- Managed WP plans like Swift plan @ $24.99/month
- Options to directly choose server (Intel vs AMD)
If raw hosting speed is your top criteria, A2 Hosting is a worthy contender with cutting-edge hardware, well-tuned software stack and strong uptime record. Budget plans start at just $12.99/month making them quite affordable.
Visit A2 Hosting Website
8. GreenGeeks
Overview – GreenGeeks offer managed WordPress hosting powered completely by renewable energy. Using RAID-10 SSD-based storage their plans promise good uptimes and fast page loads.
Key features:
- Green web hosting infrastructure
- Free site migration from cPanel servers
- Nightly backups
- Free SSL, CDN, dedicated IP
- Power plugin compatibility testing
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Plans and Pricing:
- Advanced Lite Plan @ $9.95/month handles 20K visitors
- Power Plan @ $17.95/month allows 200K monthly visitors
For eco-conscious businesses, GreenGeeks hits the sweet spot between green credentials and robust WordPress hosting performance. Unique testing of popular plug-ins ups compatibility while advanced server configuration facilitates good uptimes and faster speeds.
Visit GreenGeeks Website
9. HostGator
Overview – Part of Endurance International Group, HostGator provides easy, affordable shared hosting and dedicated WordPress plans. With 7 million domains hosted and strong reliability they offer an attractive option for price-conscious users.
Key Features:
- 99.9% uptime commitment
- Unmetered bandwidth on mid-tier plans
- Free site migration, dedicated IP
- Automated backups
- 45-day money-back guarantee
- 24×7 Support via live chat
Plans and Pricing:
- Hatchling shared @ $2.75/month
- Baby dedicated WordPress plan @ $5.95month
- Business WordPress plan @ $9.95/month
HostGator keeps processes easy with its cPanel interface, one-click WordPress installer and hassle-free managed WP plans. Without too many frills HostGator focuses on delivering reliable performance on a budget.
Visit HostGator Website
How to Choose the Right WordPress Host
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Analyze traffic – Understanding current and 3-year projected traffic helps dimension hosting resources like RAM, bandwidth needs ensuring room for growth.
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Server configuration – For huge spikes in seasonal traffic, you need providers with auto-scalable cloud infrastructure. If uptime consistency is vital choose providers with geo-distributed infrastructure.
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Scalability options – Look for hosts where upgrading resources like RAM, Computing cores is transparent giving flexibility to scale as per growth.
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Cost factor – Balancing performance vs price point is key for budget-conscious businesses. Apart from server resources analyze costs of add-ons like backups, CDN, SSL etc.
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Reliability & Support – Check third-party monitored uptime records and support responsiveness before choosing mission-critical reliability and backup capabilities.
Evaluating strengths around these five areas will help identify the WordPress hosting provider most aligned with your small business needs and budget.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right WordPress hosting provider has significant implications on your website uptime, page load speeds, security protections and ultimately business revenues.
It pays to evaluate managed WordPress hosts like Kinsta, WP Engine in depth before opting for unmanaged or shared hosting plans to save pennies. The nine providers discussed here represent the cream of the crop when it comes to WordPress hosting services for SMBs.
Weigh your priorities across performance, ease of use, scalability and pricing to pick a host that meets your specific hosting requirements. This will ensure your small business website enjoys five-nines (99.999%) uptime along with blazing fast page loads to engage more visitors.
