My story starts on a Monday morning. I just returned from a blissful summer vacation with my best friends. We went paddleboarding, played beach volleyball, rode the coasters at Canada’s Wonderland and had fires on the beach. It was perfect.

When I opened up my inbox upon returning to the office I received something else that was perfect – timing. Five minutes prior, our trusted WordPress security plugin began sending alerts of a potential exploit in a commonly used plugin. For those of you who aren’t familiar with WordPress security, hacker attacks on the software are prolific. The numbers are staggering. More on that later.

The sheer number of alerts I received from the security plugin was overwhelming. More importantly, the lack of information in these alerts was disconcerting. Many questions raced through my head. Have we been compromised? Where do we start? How do we fix this?

After nearly a week of our team combing through log files, cleaning source code, updating passwords and software, the dust finally settled – the silicon cooled.

It’s now time for answers. Actually, we just needed the answer to one question – how could this have been prevented?

The answer was hosting. We needed a host that can provide a wide array of protection. Not only that, we needed a host that knows WordPress inside and out.

So our search for a WordPress hosting provider began. We talked to numerous reps, poured over 3^rd party comparison charts, compared pricing and ran diagnostics. I’ll admit, paralysis of analysis was starting to set in. How is it possible to compare a seemingly endless multitude of comparable options? The only way was to test the services ourselves and a winner quickly prevailed – WP Engine.

There were a number of features that we required including security, CDN, automated backup, staging environments and customer support. WP Engine offers all of these. We’re very pleased to be partnered with such an outstanding managed WordPress hosting provider.

Here are just a few of the features we love:

WordPress Security

WP Engine offers multiple firewalls including detection and removal of malware. These services are built to prevent hackers from gaining access to your site. If they do, system scans will automatically detect and remove the malware. WP Engine also offers free SSL certificates!

---

CDN (content delivery network)

Nobody has time to waste. The CDN’s at WP Engine deliver content at lighting speed, no matter where the user is located.

---

Staging Environments

This is one of my favourite WP Engine features. With 1 click, you can create a fully functional duplicate of your production site. Make content or design changes, update plugins and test new features behind the scenes. When you’re ready to deploy, your updated site will be live within minutes.

---

Customer Support

This is where WP Engine really shines. When you encounter a problem, which I guarantee you will, WP Engine’s support staff is there. Within minutes, you’ll have one of their talented engineers working on the case.

---

Automated Backup

Backing up data is essential. WP Engine makes it easy with daily, automated backups. You can also run a 1 click backup any time you choose.