Why Should I Use WP Engine for Hosting WordPress Websites Instead of GoDaddy Hosting?

January 21st, 2021

Web

David Fugit

Male working at computer with Title: Why Should I use WPEngine for hosting Wordpress websites instead of GoDaddy hosting?

This article will review how WP Engine is superior to other shared hosting providers like GoDaddy and why they may be a good fit for your needs. After you’ve read through this post, you will have the tools to understand the importance of website security and how to pick an effective, safe hosting service for your website.

WP Engine is a safe, secure alternative to unmanaged shared hosting plans, allowing your website to run and function effectively as your business grows. While other shared hosting platforms (like GoDaddy, HostGator, BlueHost, and more) offer very cheap hosting plans, these plans cannot handle heavy traffic or adequate security. Many sites that use shared hosting are vulnerable to attacks. If your website is hacked or unsafe, your customers will lose confidence in your company.

Below are a few questions we will be answering in this post.

What is shared vs. premium managed hosting?
Do I need premium managed hosting for my website?
What makes WP Engine the best option for me?

What is shared vs. premium managed hosting?

Whether you are reading this article because you would like to start a new website or upgrade your current site’s security/functionality, you have basically two options when it comes to hosting.

Shared hosting

Shared hosting presents the best option initially, especially to cost-conscious users who want to get online quickly and for as little money as possible. These plans offer inexpensive website packages that offer the functionality to customize a website and publish it. These low-cost shared hosting options may be sufficient for a smaller blog, but they will run into issues as a website grows. It becomes a problem when your WordPress blog starts growing exponentially, and more significant server resources are required to handle your increasing traffic.

Many shared hosting platforms require you to share server resources with other sites.

Space and security for your site are shared with other websites. As your website grows and demands more resources, your site essentially must compete with the other sites on the server. This can translate to slower speeds and poor functionality for your website.

Unmanaged, shared hosting sites pose greater security risks.

If another website on your shared server is hacked, there is some risk that this could affect your site’s security and any users whose information is stored there. Losing your users’ confidence and trust is a severe liability to your future, whether you’re a doctor, law firm, accountant, or offer some professional service or ecommerce products.

Premium managed hosting

Swarm has partnered with WP Engine (click here to view plans and sign up), which is a premium managed hosting service. This means when you host your site on WP Engine, they take care of security, making sure your website is always available at the fastest speeds, and that it’s safe for your customers/clients. This is the difference between paying $5/mo in hosting vs. $30/mo for your basic website.

Why do you need premium managed hosting? Here are a few of the benefits and features that make it a premium product. Whether it’s worth the price is your judgment, but this is what stands out:

To increase the revenue your website generates. WP Engine is the fastest managed WordPress host available and faster sites lose less visitors and convert more customers. While WP Engine is a premium offering, the investment you’re making isn’t in the quality of their hosting, stability, security, or even their easy-to-use features. The investment you’re making is in growing your digital business. If your revenue growth plans for your website aren’t higher than the meager cost difference between WP Engine vs. a cheaper host, then WP Engine may not actually be a good choice for you. If you have bigger plans for your revenue, then it may be handy to have a partner whose platform is specifically optimized for growth.
WP Engine is a custom management platform that’s easy to manage sites with. Geared specifically for WordPress sites, most users will find it straightforward to customize their website to fit their needs and get online safely and effectively.
WP Engine features an easy-to-manage staging environment, so you can test updates before going live with them. This feature is especially helpful for working out bugs in new developmental features in websites. Working in a staging environment allows you to test things out and then, with one click, transfer what you’ve done to the live site. While all websites will occasionally have bugs, having a fully-functioning website with minimal errors and glitches will help you gain trust and credibility with your users.
1. WP Engine manages all security, so your site has a much lower risk of being hacked, gaining malware, and it is essentially safer compared to shared hosting that is not managed.
2. All the speed enhancements are built-in, so you don’t have to worry about caching[link:https://aws.amazon.com/caching/] to increase load times. Caching speeds up your website’s performance by allowing browsers to “remember” bits of information from pages so that they load quicker when revisited. WP Engine also provides plugins and WordPress improvements to make sure your website is as fast as possible.
3. Load balancing allows your website always to have the resources it needs no matter how hard it gets hit with a traffic spike. You may have to pay for it, but it’s there if your site requires it.

These features are some of the reasons we strongly recommend a premium managed hosting service like WP Engine. With the confidence that your website is always secure and ready for traffic increases, you can focus on customization and other website updates and functions.

Do I need premium managed hosting for my website?

Some argue that the wide portfolio of WP Engine features are overkill for a small website. You must evaluate the pros and cons of your specific site and needs, but for any business website, or eCommerce website with large volumes of sales, these features pay off in the long run.

The last thing you want is your business website, whether you’re a doctor, law firm, accountant, or offer some professional service, or ecommerce products, being hacked, gaining malware, or otherwise endangering your clients. We have personally seen this with 90% of our clients who have been on popular unmanaged shared-hosting sites. While it can be recoverable, it can require a great deal of time and money to restore a site’s confidence and security. Much of this time and money could be saved by choosing a secure, managed hosting platform at the site’s outset.

For many of our clients, WP Engine fits perfectly within a reasonable budget. While larger or higher dollar value sites have traditionally focused on proprietary solutions, for most, WP Engine is a great fit, and offers high-powered solutions that combine WordPress with best-in-class cloud providers like AWS and Google. It is certainly much safer, faster, and more reliable than your run-of-the-mill hosting company. We believe that excellent hosting for a smaller website should cost around $30/month; paying less generally means you are getting ripped off with horrible hosting that’s slow, not secure, and dangerous.

Some common reasons you may need premium managed hosting for your site include:

Your website has heavy traffic and runs slowly or badly on a low-cost shared hosting solution.
Your business is growing and requires more speed and server resources.
Security is a high priority for you to keep your site and clients’ data safe.
You are using a WordPress site – WP Engine is perfectly optimized for this type of website.

You must evaluate your current situation, or, if starting a new site, your expected needs, to determine the best solution for your website.

What makes WP Engine the best option for me?

Unless your website is a small blog with limited traffic, you probably need a better hosting service than what low-cost shared-hosting platforms offer. Premium managed hosting allows you to have confidence that your site will perform well to meet your business and clients’ needs by managing security and speed, among other things.

WP Engine is a great fit for businesses large and small, whether you are running an eCommerce site or offering a professional service or something else. For most businesses, a premium managed hosting service like WP Engine covers their needs with ease. Many of our clients who need solid functionality and trusted security find that WP Engine is the perfect solution.

Need help with your website?

We hope that this post has helped you understand the importance of carefully considering your site’s functionality and speed and how you host it. Low-cost shared hosting may look attractive with minimal monthly fees, but the risk of vulnerability is rarely worth the price difference.

If you need help with your website or have any further questions about WP Engine, please let us know. As affiliates with WP Engine, we understand this platform and would be happy to help you find a great fit for your website needs.