WP Buzz is a new, WordPress focused, website hosting company currently looking to make a buzz with an incredible hosting offer.
For a one off charge WP Buzz provides unlimited SSD, unlimited bandwidth, free SSL, staging, global CDN and unlimited email accounts for 5 years.
The platform delivers impressive speed gains, moving one of my websites from an F rating on GT Metrix to an A. What’s all the Buzz about? Let’s take a closer look.
Who are WP Buzz?
WP Buzz LTD is a UK registered company founded by Haider Shah. Incorporated in December 2020 they are based in Rotherham, they are a registered limited company, company number 13103657.
They’ve chosen to take the approach of focusing only on WordPress hosting, rather than offering a wide range of other potential apps, in order to optimise the service for just that platform.
They are offering a premium hosting service that has everything you need to set up a website.
What do they offer?
At the time of review the package on offer includes:
- Unlimited SSD
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited email accounts
- Ability to create staging website
- SSL included
- Global CDN included
They also offer a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee so you can try before fully committing.
On the FAQ page they provide some further information regarding the underlying technology:
- Load balancing, auto-scalling, servers
- Google-based DNS
- Samsung SSD discs
- High end dual octa-core processors
- Redundant power supplies
- 24/7 on-site technicians
- Biometric security access
What this all means is you’re getting a lot of your money! For example, staging is not something I’ve had access to with my previous hosts, TSO Host. This is the ability to create a copy of your website to try things out on, maybe try a new plugin, a redesign with a new theme, or even for troubleshooting reasons.
Any changes made to the staging site are not made to the live site, giving you the ability to try whatever you want and if you break something it doesn’t matter, just delete the staging site. If you like the changes made this draft site can be published to replace the existing live website.
Website Setup
As with any website host you will need a domain name for your website, you can either purchase through WP Buzz (a .co.uk domain is $9.99, a .com is $19.99) or you can purchase elsewhere. If you have a domain/purchase from elsewhere you will need to point it to WP Buzz.
For the best results you will need to change the nameservers, then manage the domain in the WP Buzz control panel.
If you use a service such as Ezoic this might not be possible, so you can create an A record and point it at your new website host.
Also worth noting that if you have an existing email address there is a very easy to use email migration tool that logs into your account and copies all the email into your WP Buzz email account, doesn’t take long and saves a lot of hassle.
WP Buzz Interface
I’ve found the control panel to be very easy to use. There are two main panels, a top level control panel for your account and a website control panel.
Account Control Panel
The account control panel allows you to manage the products you have with WP Buzz, giving you access to ordering additional hosting or domain URLs as well as updating contact details and customer support tickets.
On the right of the screen is a package select option, this is where you select the website you want to manage and selecting a website takes you to the website control panel.
Website Control Panel
This is where a lot of the magic happens. You have a selection of WordPress management tools, including the ability to see and update the plugins without needing to log in to the WP Admin dashboard.
The CDN section gives you control over the web optimisation features and also allows you to block visitors either by IP address or at a country level.
Email is included as standard and you can set up multiple email accounts. Access can be via webmail or you can add it as an account to a mail client on your computer/laptop/tablet/mobile phone.
PHP, SSL, and hotlink protection are all easy to manage and you even have a malware scanner included.
I feel the need, the need for speeeed!
Included with the deal is Edge Caching and a global CDN. A CDN is a content delivery network which serves your website from locations around the world, that means that visitors in America get served the website from America, reducing load times.
WP Buzz has over 20 point of presence servers located around the globe, covering Europe, North America, Asia & Oceania, Africa and South America.
I moved an existing website over from TSO Host to WP Buzz. Recently I’d found TSO Host had gone down hill, I kept getting notification the site was offline and when I contacted support they were unhelpful and it felt like I was bothering them.
I was also getting a poor result from GT Metrix despite using the free version of Cloudflare and paid version of WP Rocket:
Moving to WP Buzz didn’t initially see an improvement in speed, which left me disappointed and the hosting team confused. They looked into it and it turned out WP Rocket was to blame, although I’d uninstalled the plugin it had left behind some unwanted activity that interfered with the servers caching ability. After removing this was the GT Metrix result:
To get this result I changed host and removed some plugins and Cloudflare. This was a brilliant win! Of course hosting is only part of the speed equation, the other part is the theme, plugins etc you have on the site.
Since moving, I’ve also stopped getting the ‘site offline’ notifications I had with TSO Host, so it’s proving to be a faster and more stable hosting service.
Customer Service
One of the sales points on the website is titled “Support that cares” and to date I would say that’s not marketing blah blah, it’s true!
I mentioned TSO Host customer service had become unhelpful, WP Buzz have been the polar opposite. I’ve had to contact them about a few different issues, and they’ve always replied quickly, courteously and have been very helpful in solving issues such as the WP Rocket problem.
With any issue I’ve had they’ve been proactive in monitoring the situation and providing me with updates, if there is something I’ve needed to do they’ve given me instructions or a link to instructions, and they’ve responded to me quickly, sometimes in a few minutes, always the same day.
There isn’t a live chat system in place at the time of review, they use a ticket system, but you are notified via email and via a notification icon in your control panel when you get a response.
WP Buzz Pricing
There are two tiers of standard monthly pricing:
Both plans feature unlimited SSD, bandwidth, email, SSL, stagin and a global CDN. That’s the standard offering, at the time of purchase they had a special launch offering which I took advantage of which offered each of these plans for a one off charge.
The plan I purchased has recently been replaced with a new special offer, which is still excellent value for money. Again there are two options, Buzz Life and Buzz Plus. As with the standard plans the difference is price and number of sites you can have.
For a single WordPress website you pay $99 for 5 years website hosting.
For up to 3 WordPress websites you pay $149 for 5 years hosting.
When you consider the standard plan for a single website is $95 it’s a very simple decision to opt for the 5 year deal for just $4 more.
Note that all the plans are paid in full at the point of sale. I can understand how this would put off those looking for a good host but who would rather split the cost over many months, however I can also understand that as a new company WP Buzz needs to get cash in ASAP.
WP Buzz Saves You Money
There is an additional upside to using WP Buzz, the platform has a lot of fantastic features baked in at the server level meaning you can get rid of a number of plugins, many of which can cost money.
For example, I was asked to remove WP Rocket ($49 – $249 a year depending on the number of sites), Shortpixel (free to $1000 a month depending on number of images) and Really Simple SSL (free to $159 a year depending on number of sites).
Moving hosts came at the perfect time as WP Rocket was up for renewal, cancelling that immediatly saved me money.
Remember they also give access to security tools such as country blocking so you may find you can get rid of even more plugins.
Is WP Buzz a Good Platform for Adding WhatsApp-Like Ticks to Gmail?
WP Buzz elevates email communication by seamlessly integrating whatsappstyle ticks in Gmail, providing users with familiar read receipt indicators. This service enhances the Gmail experience with a touch of WhatsApp’s intuitive feedback, offering transparency and peace of mind in knowing when messages are delivered and read.
Is Fixier a Better Option Than WP Buzz for Editing Videos in the Cloud?
When it comes to editing videos in the cloud, Fixier video editing cloud offers a more streamlined and efficient option compared to WP Buzz. With its user-friendly interface and advanced features, Fixier provides a better solution for professionals and enthusiasts looking to enhance their videos with ease.
Are WP Host Anygood?
I’ve been a customer for a couple of months now and so far I’ve been very impressed. The offer a great hosting platform for WordPress uses, I’ve seen an increase in site speed from switching over and I’ve saved money on not renewing plugins.
The customer service has proven to be very helpful and quick to respond and even without the current special offer I think the you’re getting a fantastic deal for the price, especially considering email is included with the offer.
