HostGator

hostgator.com

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An Introduction To HostGator

People who are looking for an easy to use service that has several useful plans for website owners and small businesses alike can find what they need at HostGator. Here, I review this service, giving details on whether it is the right product for people who are beginning webmasters, novice webmasters, and advanced webmasters.

The service provides a cost-efficient hosting package that brings a lot of value. Is it the top web hosting service for your needs? 

We are living in a time where businesses need to have websites to push their success to the next level. Many sites need to have a full e-commerce set up, though many people are looking for a simple blog to post on daily. Regardless, you will be looking for a web hosting package. The aspects that need to be considered include the features a site offers, the customer service, price, and more. Reliability is also essential when it comes to finding a service that is best for you. HostGator offers shared hosting packages that fit the needs of many different types of businesses.

Services Offered

For shared hosting, there are several options when it comes to services at HostGator. The company also offers virtual private servers and quality cloud options. There is no Windows-based VPS hosting offered, however.

When it comes to shared packages, the ones offered at HostGator rank highly, putting the company at the top of the subcategory. Shared hosting has multiple websites all utilizing a single server. With multiple websites sharing server resources, the prices are often lower. However, if there are massive traffic surges on one or more sites, the other sites can see their performance decline. Shared hosting is fantastic for people who are looking for an inexpensive place to host their website. Dedicated hosting and virtual private servers are also available for people looking to have web hosting that is specifically dedicated to their website. Both Linux-based and Windows-based shared hosting packages are offered at HostGator.

I like the flexibility this gives medium and small businesses to grow and expand. You can get unlimited disk space, monthly data transfers, databases, email addresses, and compatibility with many third-party applications starting with the lowest tiered plan. Unlimited domains are offered when you go one step up, and a third-tier, called the Business Plan is also offered. The business plan offers more specialized options. You can get, for example, a toll-free number for your business and the private SSL certificate at this level. Each of these levels has different pricing options to be aware of.

VPS web hosting, which refers to virtual private server web hosting, is available for people who are looking for more power than a shared hosting package will provide. While it also has multiple websites utilizing a server, there are significantly less on these servers overall. Due to this, VPS servers are more expensive. You do, however, get more power in return. This can be useful for many businesses. There are multiple VPS plans available here.

HostGator Pricing

HostGator offers multiple web hosting plans, including month-to-month plans. Plans designed for longer terms, which start at six months, will cost less per month on average. When you go to register, note that the default term is three years. People who are wanting to purchase less than three years of web hosting will need to adjust the options to select a shorter term, which will bring the price up a little bit.

The Hatchling Plan is the most modestly priced plan and offers the basics for small and medium businesses. The regular price for this plan is $10.95 per month. There is also a plan that comes in slightly above this plan, the Baby Plan, which starts at $11.95 per month. This is where you get unlimited domains. More specialized options come with the business plan, which has regular rates of $16.95 per month. If you are in need of a secure socket layer (SSL), a toll-free number, or other features designed for businesses, this is where you will find them.

VPS plans are more pricey than shared hosting plans, and also provide more power. VPS hosting that is Linux-based starts at $19.95 per month. People who are needing more power due to higher traffic volumes being expected may choose to get a VPS plan. Sometimes there are compliance requirements that prevent companies from using shared servers as well, something to consider. If you do not want to pay for a dedicated server, which is more expensive, a VPS could fulfill these requirements.

Also offered are dedicated server packages. Prices for these start at $119 per month. The dedicated servers at HostGator offer a plethora of features that include server customization. The offerings in terms of bandwidth at HostGator go above and beyond many other companies. There are both Windows-based and Linux-based dedicated servers, providing more flexibility than most places too. Linux-based servers tend to be the most common, and people looking for Windows-based servers will find that option here.

HostGator also offers cloud-based hosting. This service is available on Linux. Those who are looking for Windows operating system cloud hosting will not find it here. Plans for cloud-based hosting start at $12.95 per month. There are upgrades to this plan, and the plans in this category have similar names as the shared hosting packages, Hatchling Cloud, Baby Cloud, and Business Cloud. Each level provides additional features and also has an increased rate. WordPress Web Hosting is also available. Starting at $14.95 per month, there are three levels of packages available. These are Starter, Standard, and Business.

Reliability Of HostGator

Reliability is essential to your business. If people are not able to view your website, they will go to another website and spend their money there instead. Uptime is vital, and one of the most important factors to consider when looking at web hosting packages. HostGator ranks highly when it comes to reliability, something that provides peace of mind and gives it a leg up on less reliable sites. I want people to be able to read my web hosting reviews and click the links here to the websites that interest them the most, uptime is essential. Finding the best web hosting sites is beneficial to you and your business, and I am honored to be part of your process for finding the top hosting site for your needs.

 

The Features On HostGator

HostGator offers domain registration, free cPanel website transfers, free WordPress website transfers, unmetered bandwidth, and SSL certificates. Domains can be included with the purchase of web hosting, and packages are competitively priced. With many one-click installations available from the top applications on the web, there are tons of options. Unlimited pages and unlimited free email addresses are benefits to the service as well. Add in a flexible and easy to use control panel, and you are ready to quickly and easily get your website going. While not considered to be a feature in many cases, HostGator has award-winning support and automatic weekly off-site data backups. Support is available seven days a week, 24 hours a day, all year.

 

Support On HostGator

Web support is also essential. HostGator has both telephone support and live chat online. When testing both of these methods, the response was efficient, and the answers were satisfactory. The people servicing my calls and chats were very knowledgeable, and my questions were answered efficiently. Regardless of whether the question was basic or not, the customer service department here did a great job. Also, people who sign up for hosting packages have a 45-day guarantee backing them up. This is more than most websites in the industry, but not the longest available. Still, 45 days for a web hosting company to prove their worth and value is impressive.

 

Other Considerations

Some companies try to excel in an extremely wide range of categories. HostGator is dedicated to hosting, allowing it to take its strengths and make them even stronger over time. There are not many negatives to the site, with the most notable one being that there is no Windows-based VPS hosting available. This will not affect the vast majority of people who are looking for a package. There are tons of features that HostGator offers, and it is a good company for novice webmasters. Some more advanced webmasters may be looking for specific features that are not offered by HostGator. Most well-known for their excellent shared hosting offerings, HostGator provides well-priced packages that suit the needs of many.

 

My Final Conclusion

HostGator is a top-ranked website that gets a lot of attention and retains a lot of people using the service. There are programming and database benefits, great email features, award-winning support, and application hosting is also available. There is no Windows-based VPS hosting, but other types of hosting are available to suit customers' needs. You can register, transfer, and manage domains as well. HostGator has tons of positives, and with fantastic customer service is a website you should consider for your business. It is recommended to shop around from multiple companies to find the best service for you. TheHostingGuy has the top web hosting reviews to help you make the best decision for your needs, take advantage.


Review Pros

  • Many Services Offered
  • Fantastic Up-Time Reliability
  • 45 Day Trial Available

Review Cons

  • No Windows-Based VPS
  • Low Site Variety Options
  • Less Advanced Tools

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