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You may think your shared server or public cloud hosting solution has it all. You may be wrong.

Shared or cloud solutions may be great for smaller businesses, and might offer apparent pricing advantages. But if you’re looking to expand your site for maximum capability – and stay secure and up to speed – you should look into dedicated, managed web hosting ASAP. Here are 5 reasons why.

#1: Dedicated, managed servers are faster.

When you share a server with other tenants, you’re forced to compete with those other sites for hosting space and resources. (This problem gets exponentially worse with popular shared hosting sites like GoDaddy and HostGator, which cram hundreds of sites onto a single server.) With a shared server, there are no guarantees – at any given time, you may not have enough CPU cycles or memory to complete necessary tasks. And that’s bad.

When you have your own dedicated server, it’s like having your own house. You can use all the space for YOUR stuff – no sharing, no renting, no waiting. And that means you can accommodate all your site traffic at peak times. Imagine the speed and the freedom.

#2: Better management equals better security.

Hackers and cyber-criminals get smarter every year – and online business owners get more paranoid. (Just look at the mass panic caused by the recent Heartbleed bug.) In order to avoid data breaches, you need cutting-edge security, coupled with constant monitoring and management. Guess what? You won’t find that type of protection with most shared and cloud servers.

Shared servers often provide minimal security, if any. Often, you have to install your own software, perform your own checkups and do your own backups – and if you don’t, you’re immediately vulnerable. In contrast, a fully-managed server includes continuous surveillance from network security experts and system administrators, complete with multiple firewalls and data backups. (Ideally, your hosting company will have IT staff monitoring their servers 24/7). See the difference?

#3: Custom infrastructure beats cookie-cutter hosting.

Looking for one-size-fits-all? Go for a low-end shared or cloud hosting solution. Would you prefer an infrastructure specifically designed to meet your company’s needs? Then you’ll want to work with a high-end managed hosting provider.

#4: Waste less time, make more money.

If you’re spending lots of extra time managing your own site and server, monitoring security, doing backups and troubleshooting, you have that much less time to focus on your business. Let the pros handle your hosting, and you can spend your time on the important things: your business, your products and services, your ROI.

#5: Get consistent support from the pros.

Performance is key – especially for newer or startup businesses. A few slow page loads or technical issues can hurt your overall site traffic and negatively impact your bottom line. Lower-end shared hosting companies don’t provide the constant support and dedicated staff that you need to handle issues in real time. While you’re waiting for them, or trying to fix the problem yourself, your business may be hemorrhaging site visitors and money. A dedicated managed hosting company will monitor your server 24/7 and solve most problems before you’re even aware there was an issue – and they should offer round-the-clock technical support. Now that’s more like it.

For an overview of managed hosting and shared hosting, read our articles here.