As the name suggests, it’s a plan where your provider ‘manages’ your site and server for you. This means it will take care of various key tasks, like updating your site, so you don’t have to.

There are no set criteria for what a managed plan should look like, so what you’ll get varies from provider to provider. However, most managed hosting options will:

• Take care of updates for you, and create frequent backups of your site for safekeeping.
• Scan your site for security threats, and react quickly to deal with any issues that arise.
• Handle performance optimization, to keep your site running fast at all times.
• Configure your server to meet your needs, if you’re on a VPS or dedicated plan.
• Offer staging sites to help you safely test changes and updates.
• Provide lots of support options to answer your questions.