Wait — Don't Let Your Website Keep You Up at Night
Your website shouldn't be a source of stress. Sleepy Cow SiteCare keeps your site updated, secure, and running smoothly every month—so you can focus on what really matters: growing your business.
The Thing Business Owners Never Think About (Until It's Too Late)
Here's what usually happens: You're running a business in Dubuque—or Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Iowa City, anywhere across Iowa—and someone builds you a website. It looks great. It works. Then one day it doesn't.
Maybe it's loading like you're still on dial-up. Maybe a plugin broke and your contact form hasn't worked in three weeks (and you had no idea). Maybe your $4.99/month hosting plan just went down for the third time this month because you're sharing a server with 847 other websites, two of which are actively being hacked.
Website hosting is the thing business owners take for granted—until it becomes a very expensive problem.
Cheap hosting seems fine when your developer first sets things up. But as your site grows, as traffic increases, as your business depends more on that website actually working when customers try to reach you? Those budget hosts start showing cracks. Slow load times hurt your Google rankings. Downtime costs you customers. Security vulnerabilities put your data (and your customers' data) at risk.
Not all hosting is created equal. And depending on your project—whether you're running a simple brochure site or a full ecommerce store processing transactions—choosing the wrong host can quietly sabotage everything you've invested in your online presence.
Why I Use SiteGround (And Why You Should Care)
I've tried a lot of hosting providers over the years. SiteGround isn't the cheapest at $25/month, but it's the best value for my clients—and here's exactly why.
First, speed. SiteGround runs on Google Cloud infrastructure with NVMe SSDs—storage that's six times faster than standard SSDs. They use NGINX web servers with Ultrafast PHP, HTTP/2 protocol, and their own SuperCacher technology. In plain English? Your website loads in under 2 seconds instead of 5-8 seconds. That matters because Google ranks faster sites higher, and real people abandon slow websites before they even see your homepage.
Second, security. They include free SSL certificates (that little padlock in the browser that says your site is secure), proactive server monitoring, and custom firewall rules. They patch security vulnerabilities immediately—sometimes before WordPress even announces them. If you're taking credit cards, collecting customer data, or just don't want to wake up to a hacked website, this stuff isn't optional.
Third, backups. SiteGround takes daily automatic backups and keeps them for 30 days. Site breaks because you accidentally deleted something? We restore from yesterday's backup. Hosting provider gets hit by a meteor? Your site still exists. It's cheap insurance for something you built your business on.
Fourth, and this is the big one: reliability. They guarantee 99.9% uptime. I've been hosting client sites there for years and downtime is so rare I can't remember the last time it happened. When your customer in Cedar Falls tries to contact you at 11 PM on a Sunday, your site just works. Every time.
Can you pay less elsewhere? Absolutely. Will you get the same performance, security, and uptime? Not even close. SiteGround is what I use for my own business, and it's what I recommend for every client serious about their website working correctly 24/7.
SiteGround Hosting
$25/month
Professional hosting without the enterprise price tag
What You Get
- 20 GB web space (plenty for most business sites)
- ~100,000 monthly visits (that's real traffic capacity)
- Unmetered bandwidth (no surprise overage fees)
- Free SSL certificate (HTTPS security included)
- Free CDN (Cloudflare Enterprise integration)
- Free email accounts for your domain
- Daily automated backups (30-day retention)
- Out-of-the-box caching (SuperCacher technology)
- Enhanced security with proactive monitoring
- 100% renewable energy match (good for the planet)
Optional Add-On: Professional SiteGround hosting for just $25/month
Combined with SiteCare: $175 + $25 = $200/month total for complete hosting + maintenance.
When Your Project Needs More Than WordPress
SiteGround is perfect for WordPress sites, traditional websites, and most business applications. But when we're building something custom—a Next.js app, a React-based web application, something with serverless functions or advanced API integrations—I use Vercel.
Vercel is built specifically for modern JavaScript frameworks. It's not trying to do everything for everyone. It does one thing exceptionally well: hosting Next.js, React, and other modern web apps with zero configuration and instant global deployment.
Here's the difference: SiteGround is a traditional web host. You upload files, configure servers, manage databases. Vercel is a deployment platform. You push code to GitHub, and Vercel automatically builds, deploys, and hosts your app on a global edge network. No server configuration. No SSH access. No manual updates. It just works.
When I Reach for Vercel
Custom Next.js Applications
Vercel literally built Next.js. It's their framework. When your project needs server-side rendering, static site generation, API routes, or any advanced Next.js features—Vercel is the obvious choice. Zero configuration. Deploy in 30 seconds.
React Single-Page Applications
Complex web apps built with React, Vue, or other modern frameworks. Think dashboards, SaaS tools, client portals—anything that needs fast, interactive interfaces with real-time data. Vercel's edge network means your app loads instantly anywhere in the world.
Serverless Functions & APIs
Need backend functionality without managing a server? Vercel's serverless functions let you write API endpoints that scale automatically. Pay only for what you use. No server maintenance. No worrying about traffic spikes breaking your backend.
Headless CMS Integrations
Building a site with content managed in Contentful, Sanity, or another headless CMS? Vercel connects seamlessly. Content updates trigger automatic rebuilds. Your site stays fast and static while your content stays manageable.
High-Performance Landing Pages
When page speed is critical—like paid ad campaigns where every millisecond affects conversion rates—Vercel's edge network and automatic optimization deliver sub-second load times globally. Google loves it. Your customers notice it.
Why Vercel for Custom Projects
- Global Edge Network
Your app deploys to 40+ regions worldwide. Users in Dubuque and Dublin get the same instant load times.
- Automatic HTTPS & SSL
SSL certificates provision and renew automatically. Security is built-in, not an add-on.
- Instant Rollbacks
Every deployment is versioned. Something breaks? Roll back to the previous version in one click. No downtime.
- Preview Deployments
Every code change gets a unique URL you can test before going live. See changes in production environment before customers do.
- Automatic Optimization
Images, fonts, code—everything gets optimized automatically. Lighthouse scores in the 90s without manual tweaking.
- Built-in Analytics
Real-time performance metrics, Core Web Vitals monitoring, and user insights—no third-party tools needed.
The Practical Reality
Most businesses need SiteGround. If you're running WordPress, managing a traditional website, or don't have custom development needs, SiteGround's $25/month hosting is perfect. It's reliable, fast, and I can maintain it easily.
Some projects demand Vercel. If we're building you a custom Next.js app, a complex React dashboard, or anything that requires modern JavaScript infrastructure—Vercel isn't just better, it's often the only sensible choice. The developer experience is smoother, deployments are faster, and the performance is measurably better.
Vercel's pricing scales with usage. Small projects often stay within their generous free tier. Larger apps might run $20-100/month depending on traffic and features. But you're not paying for unused server capacity—you're paying for what you actually use.
SiteCare stays the same: $175/month for updates, monitoring, fixes, SEO reporting, content posting, and direct support. Whether your site lives on SiteGround or Vercel, you still get me handling everything technical. That part doesn't change.
I'll recommend the hosting platform that makes sense for your specific project. Not every business needs cutting-edge serverless deployment. Not every project should run on traditional WordPress hosting. I pick the right tool for your actual needs—not the tool that's easiest for me to set up.
Introducing Sleepy Cow SiteCare
$175/month — All-inclusive maintenance
No contracts • Cancel anytime • First month FREE
We'll handle the tech, the fixes, and the reporting—all for less than your phone bill. Your site gets ongoing care from someone who actually knows your project—not a random support agent reading from a script.
Security Updates & Backups
WordPress core, plugins, themes—everything stays current, secure, and backed up daily.
Monthly Maintenance & Fixes
Broken links, layout tweaks, error fixes—handled immediately before they become problems.
Small Visual & Design Updates
Button colors, hero images, phone numbers—quick changes included, not billed hourly.
SEO Reporting & Monitoring
Monthly performance reports, keyword tracking, and Google ranking insights.
Here's What That Actually Means
You're not paying for hours. You're paying for peace of mind. Your WordPress core needs updating at 3 AM? Done. A plugin breaks your checkout page? Fixed before you notice. You need to update your homepage hero image or change your phone number? Text me the file and it's live in 20 minutes.
You're not dealing with a help desk. No ticket numbers. No waiting 48 hours for someone in another country to tell you to "clear your cache." When you call or text, you get me—the person who built your site, knows how it works, and actually cares that it stays working.
Small design changes are included. Need to update a button color? Adjust the layout of your service page? Swap out photos? Those aren't $75/hour change requests—they're part of your SiteCare plan. Your site should evolve with your business, not stay frozen because "changes cost extra."
SEO reporting every month. You'll get clear reports showing how your site is performing in Google search—keyword rankings, traffic trends, and what's working (or what needs attention). No guessing about whether your site is actually being found online.
Content posting options. Need to publish a new blog post? Update your services page? Add a new team member? We can handle the content posting for you, so you focus on running your business instead of wrestling with WordPress.
24/7 monitoring and support. I'm not saying I'm awake at 4 AM waiting for your site to break. But I am saying I have alerts set up, your site is monitored constantly, and if something goes sideways at 2 AM, it gets fixed before your first customer tries to visit at 8 AM. You sleep better. I handle the tech. That's the deal.
First Month FREE
Join SiteCare today and prove the difference before you pay a dime. If we don't deliver real value in the first 30 days, walk away—no hard feelings, no invoice. That's how confident we are that you'll love having your website actually taken care of.
Serving Businesses Across Iowa
Based in Dubuque, but I work with businesses throughout Iowa—Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Iowa City, Cedar Falls, Davenport, and everywhere in between. Your website doesn't care where you're located, and neither do I. If you're in Iowa and need hosting and maintenance that actually works, let's talk.
Let's talk about SiteCare. No pressure, just honest answers about keeping your website running smoothly.