In this episode of Impressive Hosting, Jesse Friedman interviews Wes Tatters, Managing Director of Rapyd Cloud, about hosting WordPress sites that have become successful beyond traditional blogging. Wes explains how Rapyd Cloud emerged from solving BuddyBoss hosting challenges, focusing on sites that require high concurrency rather than high page views. These include membership platforms, e-learning sites, and community platforms where users remain active for hours, generating thousands of AJAX and REST requests through likes, comments, and course interactions.

The conversation explores why traditional WordPress hosting models built on page caching struggle with dynamic content. Wes describes how membership sites, learning management systems, and community platforms break the page cache model that works for 99% of small blogging sites. He explains the commercial viability of these successful sites, where even a thousand members paying monthly subscriptions creates real revenue and business-critical hosting needs.

Jesse and Wes discuss the growing importance of data privacy and ownership in driving WordPress-based community platforms. In 2025, especially in Europe, customers increasingly reject platforms like Facebook, Teachable, Circle, and Mighty Networks because they want to own their data and community relationships. Wes shares how Rapyd Cloud has achieved SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR certifications to serve these privacy-conscious customers.

The episode covers security as a foundational hosting element rather than an add-on. Wes explains using tools like PatchStack and Imunify to provide server-level protection, virtual patching for vulnerabilities, and proactive customer outreach when plugins fall behind on updates. They explore the challenge of balancing automatic updates with the complexity of sites running BuddyBoss, Elementor, and integrated apps where updates require careful staging and testing.

The discussion concludes with insights about keeping successful WordPress sites from migrating to closed platforms, the responsibility hosting companies have to WordPress ecosystem health, and why Rapyd Cloud uses customer success outreach as relationship building rather than treating security monitoring as purely automated infrastructure.

Links:

• Wes Tatters – Managing Director, Rapyd Cloud
• Rapyd Cloud
• BuddyBoss
• BuddyPress
• LearnDash
• MemberPress
• LifterLMS
• Tutor LMS
• Elementor
• Crocoblock
• PatchStack
• Imunify
• Object Cache Pro
• Relay
• WP Fusion
• WordCamp Europe
• Five for the Future

Chapters:

00:00 Teaser
00:27 Introduction
03:01 Why does concurrency matter more than page views?
09:17 What happens when WordPress sites outgrow traditional hosting?
12:35 How did BuddyBoss solve a WordPress challenge?
16:05 Why is data privacy driving people to WordPress?
21:23 Why should security be built in, not bolted on?
30:32 How do you keep sites secure without breaking them?
32:42 How can security monitoring become customer engagement?
34:36 Conclusion