Web hosting
We don’t sell hosting — we recommend hosting choices because the wrong host caps everything else we do
Most digital agencies sell hosting as a margin-padding upsell. We don’t. Hosting decisions affect Core Web Vitals, security, uptime, backup integrity, performance under traffic spikes, and content-team workflow — and the right hosting decision varies by site type, content velocity, traffic profile, and team capacity. Selling hosting creates the wrong incentive (recommend what we sell vs. recommend what’s right). We’d rather lose hosting revenue and keep recommendation integrity.
Three things separating real web hosting work from category theater
- Hosting choice contributes 30-50% of total page-speed outcome — Shared hosting on Bluehost / HostGator / GoDaddy delivers 800-1500ms TTFB. Managed WordPress (WP Engine, Kinsta, Cloudways) delivers 200-400ms TTFB. Static-export hosts (Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages) deliver 50-200ms TTFB. The hosting decision compounds with every page-speed optimization we make — wrong hosting choice caps the ceiling of all other performance work.
- Hosting upsells from agencies create conflicts of interest — Agencies that sell hosting at 60-80% margins have structural incentives to recommend what they sell — even when a different host would fit the client better. The integrity test is whether the agency will recommend a host they don’t profit from. We’d rather give that recommendation honestly and lose the $30-100/month margin than retain the client on the wrong hosting.
- The right host varies by site type, traffic profile, and team capacity — Marketing sites with weekly content updates and modest traffic: managed WordPress. Marketing sites with traffic spikes (event-driven, viral content): managed WordPress + CDN, or static-export + headless CMS. E-commerce sites with checkout flows: WP Engine eCommerce / Shopify / BigCommerce / managed Magento. SaaS / web apps with backend logic: AWS / GCP / Azure with proper DevOps. Choosing wrong host for site type compounds problems forever.
Questions to ask before hiring web hosting
What’s the best web host for a small-business WordPress site?
Managed WordPress hosting in the $30-100/month range — WP Engine, Kinsta, Cloudways, or Pressable for most marketing sites. Avoid shared hosting (Bluehost, HostGator, GoDaddy, Hostinger) — the performance penalty is significant and the security/backup story is weaker. Below $30/month for hosting is rarely worth the savings on a business website.
Should I move from shared hosting to managed WordPress?
Usually yes if you’re running a business website. Performance improvement is typically 50-70% on TTFB, 30-50% on full-page load. Security + backups + uptime improvements are significant. Migration is usually under $500-2,000 one-time cost. ROI is fast for any site doing $5K+/month in revenue dependent on website performance.
Should I use headless / static hosting (Netlify, Vercel) or WordPress hosting?
Headless / static hosting wins on performance + security + developer experience, but requires developer involvement for content updates beyond what the CMS exposes. WordPress hosting wins on content-team-controlled velocity for marketing teams without developer support. Choose based on team structure, not on which is technically ‘better.’
Do I need a CDN with web hosting?
For business websites with traffic from multiple regions, yes. Cloudflare’s free tier covers most small-business needs. Cloudflare Pro / Business or Fastly for larger sites with high traffic + specific feature needs. Image CDN (Cloudflare Images, ImageKit, Bunny CDN) often worth separate consideration for image-heavy sites. CDNs compound with hosting choice — both matter.
Should my agency host my website or should I own the hosting account?
You should own the hosting account, with the agency as authorized user. Hosting in the agency’s name creates risk if the relationship ends — they can hold the site hostage or migration becomes complicated. Best practice: hosting in your company’s name, billing to your card, agency has authorized access. Same applies to domain registration, Google Analytics, Google Search Console — own the foundational infrastructure.
What web hosting work actually looks like inside our engagements
- Hosting recommendation per project: marketing site, e-commerce, headless, SaaS, application — different recommendations per use case
- Migration support (where the recommendation is to move): coordinating with new host, DNS migration, content migration, SSL configuration, redirect mapping
- CDN configuration: Cloudflare, Fastly, or platform-native CDN setup with caching rules, image optimization, security hardening
- Performance optimization aligned with hosting choice: server-side caching, full-page caching, object caching, database optimization where managed-WP supports it
- Backup strategy review: hosting-included backups vs. third-party backups (BlogVault, ManageWP), restore-test policies, off-site backup redundancy
- Security hardening aligned with hosting: WAF configuration, login hardening, plugin auditing, file-permission review
- Ownership transparency: hosting in client name, client-controlled billing, agency as authorized user — no infrastructure hostage situations
This isn’t for everyone. If you want one bundled invoice for hosting + agency services and don’t want to think about the underlying infrastructure decisions, plenty of agencies offer that. We’re the wrong shop for it. We work best with clients who want to own their foundational infrastructure (hosting, domain, analytics, search console) and engage us for specialized work that compounds on top of well-chosen infrastructure.
Strategy call: 45 minutes, no slide deck, no pitch — just an honest read on whether your current hosting is helping or hurting your other digital investments, and what to do about it if it’s hurting. Book the call →