Managed Hosting vs Self Hosting

What Type of Website Hosting Do I Need?

Feeling confused about all the hosting services out there? We completely understand how it can all get a bit complicated. The intention behind this post is to give a clear understanding of the concepts of self-hosting and managed hosting. While also providing you with the pros and cons of each option. As a result, allowing you to make an informed decision on the best hosting solution for your website.

By the end of this post, you’ll be confident in understanding the benefits of managed hosting. You’ll be aware of the boxes a hosting service needs to tick to be compatible with your website requirements. We’ll explain why our own managed web hosting can be the best solution for your website. Predominantly, this we feel is because everything is handled for you. Our clients needn’t worry about a thing in relation to their website hosting. Primal Space handle everything for them! We’ll cover some of these individual concepts later in this blog post.

Do I really need website hosting?

Website hosting is required by anybody who wants to have a website online. Your website needs to be housed somewhere on the internet. As a result, you’ll buy or rent the space from a hosting company to enable your website to have a home. Websites are hosted on a server which is essentially a large computer operating system.

What is Self Hosting?

There are two types of self-hosting as we see it. Self-hosting for a large business with a big budget and a high number of resources. Or self-hosting for a smaller business on lower-cost platforms. Let’s take a look at each of these options.

Large Businesses Web Hosting:

Self-hosting can mean a few things. The most basic form of self-hosting is when a website is housed on your own server. In most instances, this option would be for large businesses that have the money to invest in experts with the knowledge. As well as the skill set, to set up all of the required services within the server. Then perform security updates when required and troubleshoot when errors occur that could compromise the website’s security or functionality. On the other hand, the benefits of self-hosting on this scale, are that you have full control over the service you are essentially providing to yourself.

Small businesses or startup hosting:

Perhaps you are a small business that has initially set up your site on a budget web platform such as Wix, Weebly or Squarespace. These platforms generally include website hosting within the monthly set-up costs. Although this type of hosting service is accessible to those starting out in business with little or no budget. However, the disadvantage is that they can end up costing significantly more in the long run. Not only financially, but also in terms of time and resources. Mainly in the instance that if anything goes wrong, all of your content will be lost as there are no offsite backups provided to you the website owner.

Another downside is that you cannot move the content from your website to a different platform easily. You need to enlist a web development expert to scrape the content. Or sometimes completely build the website from scratch! You are also restricted in the functionality available within the design. As with any add-ons, the provider offers must be compatible with all sites.

Although both types of self-hosting have their place, an alternative option to look at is managed hosting. This provides solutions to the disadvantages outlined with self-hosting services.

What is Managed Hosting?

Managed hosting is essentially a similar process to conventional hosting. However, unlike self-hosting when the buck falls on you to deliver all of the maintenance aspects to keep things running smoothly. Managed hosting provides exactly what it says on the tin – ‘management.’ As a result, providing various services to you, as part of your monthly hosting fee.

At Primal Space, we do all of the above and more for you, our client, when you opt for our UK-managed hosting service. The types of services provided by hosting companies vary. However, the most important ones to look out for, which are part of our Primal Space managed hosting service include;

1. Website Support

A client support system is extremely important to have in place. If in the instance that your website goes down then you want to be able to get in touch with a person to resolve the issue straight away. However, many of the budget services don’t offer this speedy service. Often leaving clients on hold on the phone to report the issue. Or having to raise a ticket and await a response for the issues to be resolved.

As a result, this could mean a huge loss in revenue while you wait to get things back up and running. Particularly if you are a retail business. Primal Space managed hosting offers a quick turnaround with issues being resolved substantially quicker than the industry standard. Pick up the phone, and speak to a human being straight away in the UK! Over and above that, since our company’s creation, all our servers combined have run an average of 99.995% up-time. Another massive selling point we offer our hosting clients is that we do not use ticket systems! We hate them as much as you do! Just email us, and we’ll reply to help you. Simple!

2. Back-Ups

A huge advantage of managed hosting is that it provides both on-site and off-site backups of your website and its database. Hypothetically, you’ve accidentally deleted some content from your website. You cannot bring it back and the content is lost. Then this can easily be restored from the database without having to rebuild the website from scratch. We have rolling incremental database back-ups. The website files and database backups are stored both on the server and off the server as well for added security. Primal Space provides a number of different hosting packages. As well as platform-specific options including; Magento managed hosting, WordPress managed hosting and WooCommerce managed hosting.

3. Security & Software Updates

Managed hosting provides security updates and malware scanning, ensuring that your user’s data is kept safe from viruses and hacking. Software updates are provided as part of the managed hosting service. We ensure that the most up-to-date versions are installed at all times. As a result, your website will perform better and run faster. Investing in a hosting company like Primal Space which has the knowledge and experience to perform these updates. While also troubleshooting potential issues before they arise is a worthy investment. Not only will it save you time, but will also save you a small fortune in the long run.

4. No Hidden Costs

It can be easy to overlook the investment of opting for a managed hosting service, over budget low-cost hosting service. However, the onus is on the client with these companies to update things. Taking action yourself during breakages/hacks etc. Whereas with a managed hosting service, the small difference in price often equates to huge savings in the long term. As with most insurance policies, often you don’t find out that you’ve made the wrong choice until something goes wrong. You aren’t restricted to the services that you get to benefit from with our managed hosting. You pay a monthly fee at an agreed fixed price. While there is no excess fee to have issues rectified that are covered by your hosting package, which is a huge benefit.

WordPress Managed Hosting

What kind of managed hosting does Primal Space provide?

Our Primal Space managed hosting service delivers a well-rounded service. We take full responsibility for everything in relation to the website. With three different packages to choose from, and affordable options for every size of website and budget. Whether you’re just starting out and have a small single-page website, or you’re a more established business with a larger website. Or perhaps you’re an online store with hundreds or even thousands of products and a large database. Primal Space can deliver a specialised WordPress managed hosting service giving you complete peace of mind for the running and maintenance of your WordPress website.

Our WordPress-managed hosting service gives the benefits of both on-site and offsite backups. As well as security and software updates, with no hidden costs. We also deliver an excellent support service which guarantees that issues will be resolved promptly. You can easily get in contact with us directly by telephone or email for a fast response.

Next steps

By now you should have a much greater understanding of the different website hosting options available to you. As a result, we hope you appreciate the benefits of opting for a managed hosting service. At Primal Space, we have built and adapted our hosting packages over a number of years, always with our clients in mind. Trying to keep the hosting packages as simple as possible. While offering a reputable service, with full WordPress management included. Choosing us for your hosting ensures your website is housed on reliable solid foundations.

Contact our team today, and we’ll be able to recommend the best hosting package to suit your website needs and budget.

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