There’s a new WordPress hosting solution in town, and it’s carrying some big guns.
It’s called StudioPress Sites, and it’s a managed WordPress hosting solution from a company you already trust.
(As Copyblogger, they’ve been teaching you about content marketing for about seven years, and you’ve been buying themes from them as StudioPress for about five. They already provide hosting solutions at Synthesis, where I host this site, and the Rainmaker Platform.)
As you’d expect from these folks, it offers a lot more than plain vanilla managed WordPress hosting — much more.
Managed WordPress Hosting
Managed WordPress hosting is different from the typical entry-level shared hosting. Without getting into too much geek speak, some of what sets managed WordPress hosting apart from shared hosting includes:
- Sites run faster, because the servers are optimized to run WordPress and there are fewer sites crammed onto each server
- Sites are more secure, for two reasons — because the servers are optimized for WordPress, and because the hosting company ensures that WordPress is updated when new versions are released. (Remember, the Panama Papers leak happened because the law firm couldn’t be bothered to update WordPress!)
Examples of managed WordPress hosting include WPEngine and Synthesis (which hosts this site).
StudioPress Sites is an All-In-One Solution
In addition to offering the normal benefits of managed WordPress hosting, here are five compelling reasons to use StudioPress Sites to host your WordPress site.
#1. Themes are Built In
StudioPress Sites includes the Genesis Framework and 20 of the best StudioPress themes. If you’re launching a new site, that alone will save you around $100 in startup costs. (Based on past history, I expect they’ll continue adding new themes on a regular basis.)
#2. One-Click Plugin Installer
Take the guesswork out of plugins. Don’t spend time researching whether a plugin will do what it says, or will crash your site instead. StudioPress Sites offers a one-click install of approved plugins.
These are plugins they’ve already vetted, so you’ll know up front that they work as advertised, and that they’re of good quality and well coded.
You’ll still be able to install other plugins in the usual way, but they’ll also maintain a blacklist of bad plugins that you will not be allowed to use. This will improve your site’s security and keep page load times speedy.
#3. Theme and Plugin Updates are Taken Care Of
In standard managed WordPress hosting, the company makes sure WordPress is up to date. StudioPress Sites takes this a step farther, updating your included plugins and theme as well. Many site owners pay a monthly fee to people like me for this service, but when your site is hosted here, it’s included. Quite honestly, this feature alone pays for the hosting!
#4. Advanced SEO Functionality
SEO is important, and StudioPress has known that for a long time. They’ve always built themes with advanced SEO functionality, but with StudioPress sites, they’re taking it even farther. They’ve even included support for AMP (if you don’t know what that is yet, you’ll be hearing more and more about it over the coming months.)
#5. 24/7 Support
Last, but certainly not least, is the friendly and knowledgeable round-the-clock support.
I’ve not had a chance to try out this hosting in advance, but based on the quality of the company’s Synthesis and Rainmaker Platform hosting, I have no reservations about recommending it. Also, please note the links here are affiliate links — if you sign up for StudioPress Sites from one of the links on this page, I earn a commission. This is the first time I’ve ever affiliated with a hosting I haven’t already tried myself, but — just to be sure — I’m setting up an account. I’ll give StudioPress Sites a thorough trial, then report back to you.
Bonus Reason #6, Low Introductory Pricing
Sign up for your new StudioPress Sites account today — prices start at only $27/month, and are even less if you choose an annual plan. They haven’t said, but again, based on how the company has done things in the past, they’ll continue to add more extras and more functionality but keep your price the same as long as you maintain your account. (Join later, after they’ve added more goodies, and you’ll pay more.)
Yes, this is an affiliate link. If you sign up to host your WordPress site with StudioPress sites, I receive a commission. It helps me keep this site running, and lets me offer you lower prices on the work I do for you.