If you’re a business owner you know that a finding reliable web hosting can make or break your online presence. From slow loading times to security breaches, the wrong hosting provider can cost you thousands in development, downtime, and lost revenue. At Kow Abundant, an SEO, PPC, video production, and digital marketing agency in Columbus, Ohio, we’ve guided dozens of clients through the perils of cheap hosting and into the confidence of a managed WordPress solution.
Note: We were once affiliates for WP Engine, but as of this writing, we no longer hold any affiliate relationship. We choose WPEngine purely because it delivers superior performance and reliability; even for our own website.
How to Choose the Best Web Hosting for Your Business
Before jumping into the case studies, here are a few popular search phrases that describe what business owners and developers look for:
- “best web hosting for WordPress” – There are a few that work well and all depend on your level of technical skill. We often recommend WPengine as it is a nice balance of great UI and ease of use and the support is the best you can get for the price. Beware of low cost website hosting solutions like Godaddy or Bluehost for example as business owners will pay for those lower costs one way or another. Remember the old saying, “if you pay with peanuts, you get monkeys”.
- “managed WordPress hosting” – Managed hosting solutions is a term that means that the hosting provider covers the technical aspects of managing the server. This includes core updates to the server ,no your site wordpress updates, maintenance of the server only, and maintaining the server for your use. This is the most common method today for businesses to purchase hosting as for small deployments the days of running your own web server off of a PC are all gone.
- “reliable website hosting provider” – This makes me think of the beach boys song “Wouldn’t it be nice”, well Wouldn’t it be nice if all hosting was reliable and didnt have major downtime issues? Unfortunately, not all hosting is treated equally. In fact, some hosting companies do not even have legal mentioning anything about downtime at all! Make sure that your hosting company has a mention in their legal section about downtime and remedies you get if such downtime occurs. Luckily, WPengine does have such legal in their terms, Bluehost does not!
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- “secure WordPress host” – security of a server these days is usually pretty good overall. The issue with lower cost hosting options is that the poll of users that they let in is usually others who never update their site and as you know, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. For this reason, generally speaking, more expensive hosting options are often supported by larger tech teams on the firm end or enterprises that maintain better security standards themselves. So if you are sharing a poll of server storage there actually can be less of a risk in some cases. The biggest security risk really is how often you update your own WordPress site. Older outdated plugins, older themes carry security risks. We recommend business owners that don’t pay for updates go into their wordpress every quarter and update it.
- “fast hosting for SEO” – WPengine is one of the fastest hosts by independent tests out there. Average server load time is around 600ms which is very good. We have seen many reports of it being under 300ms. There are other options and if anything we strongly suggest alternatives to lower cost solutions like Godaddy or Bluehost, this is due to uptime issues and lack of support that ironically small businesses need when starting out.
When evaluating hosts, consider:
- Backup & Restore Ease: Can you automate daily backups with a single click?
- Security & Access Control: Does the host support individual user permissions instead of shared logins?
- Support Responsiveness: Are expert engineers available within minutes to resolve hacks or errors?
- Uptime Guarantees: Is your site monitored 24/7 with documented track records?
Top 4 case studies of Why Choosing a Reliable WordPress Host Is Crucial
Below, we explore four case studies that illustrate how switching from cheap or generic shared hosting (like Bluehost or GoDaddy) to a managed host transformed our clients’ businesses.
Case Study 1: From Costly, Error-Prone Backups to Automated 1-Click Restores
Client Challenge:
- Hosted on Bluehost with unreliable WordPress plugin backups.
- Manual FTP and Dropbox backups took hours and often failed.
- A theme conflict led to a catastrophic site crash—no quick rollback option.
Impact:
- $900 in development fees.
- One full week of downtime and site recovery.
Our Solution:
We migrated the client to WP Engine’s daily automated backups. Now:
- 1-click restores complete in under 3 minutes.
- IT costs dropped by 80%.
- Downtime is virtually eliminated—even if a plugin or theme update breaks the site.
Result: Rapid recovery and predictable IT budgets thanks to a managed WordPress hosting environment.
Case Study 2: Avoiding Devastating Hacks with Development Modes & Secure Access
Client Challenge:
- Chose a sub-$10/month host and shared single site credentials with multiple contractors.
- Site was hacked; credentials stolen.
- No staging environment, no development workflow.
Impact:
- Total rebuild and content copy cost: $3,000+.
- Weeks of lost revenue and customer trust.
Our Solution:
We switched the client to WPEngine’s dev, staging, and production workflow, which provides:
- Collaborative user access—no shared passwords.
- One-click staging site creation for testing updates before push live.
- Logging and audit trails for every user action.
Result: A fully secure development pipeline that prevents credential leaks and dramatically reduces rebuild costs.
Case Study 3: Rescue Support That Saved $10,000 in Re-Entry Costs
Client Challenge:
- A manufacturing reseller’s site was injected with malicious code.
- All product pricing, SKU data, and updated content were at risk.
- GoDaddy and Bluehost email support took days—or never responded.
Impact:
- Potential re-entry of data valued at one month of work (~$10k).
- High risk of SEO penalties if malware remained undetected.
Our Solution:
We contacted WP Engine’s expert support via live chat:
- WP Engine engineers identified malicious snippets within minutes.
- They walked us through a targeted removal and internal security audit.
- The site remained live; no data entry was lost.
Result: Averted catastrophic data loss, maintained SEO health, and eliminated a potential $10,000 recovery bill.
Case Study 4: Guaranteed 24/7 Uptime to Keep Your Store Open
Client Challenge:
- Frequent outages on Bluehost and GoDaddy—15–30 minutes of downtime every few days.
- Online orders were lost; visitors bounced when pages failed to load.
Impact:
- Direct revenue loss from closed “digital doors.”
- Damaged brand reputation and frustrated customers.
Our Solution:
We moved the site to WP Engine’s high-availability infrastructure, which includes:
- Round-the-clock monitoring with zero outages in the past three months.
- Global CDN for lightning-fast page loads—beneficial for both user experience and SEO.
Result: Consistent site availability, higher conversion rates, and improved organic search rankings thanks to faster, more reliable hosting.
The Bottom Line: Invest in Managed WordPress Hosting
As these case studies show, cheap hosting can introduce hidden costs:
- Unreliable backups
- Security breaches
- Lengthy support delays
- Frequent downtime
By contrast, a managed WordPress host like WP Engine offers:
- Automated, rapid backups and restores
- Secure user management and staging environments
- Expert, near-instant support
- Rock-solid uptime and performance
At Kow Abundant, we no longer rely on affiliate partnerships to recommend hosting. We choose WP Engine because it delivers for our clients—and for us. If your site is critical to your revenue, reputation, and growth, investing in a reliable hosting provider is one of the highest-impact decisions you can make.
Ready to upgrade your hosting and give your website the stability it deserves? Contact Kow Abundant today for a free consultation and see how managed WordPress hosting can transform your digital presence.