When it comes to hosting, there are hundreds of options. This makes it difficult for a beginner or a non-techy person to choose a company that is best suited for their needs and the websites they host.
HostGator has been around for a long time. It was founded in 2002 and within 20 years has grown so much that they now serve over 10 million domains! They have data centers located around the globe which means your visitors from all over the world will get fast page load times no matter where they live.
What is HostGator:
It is a leading web hosting company that offers shared, reseller, VPS, and dedicated web hosting. They have grown so much because they’re affordable, reliable, and have great customer support.
When it comes to shared hosting they are one of the cheapest companies in this category. Their plans start as low as $2.75 a month for a basic plan which includes 1 website with 25 GB storage space and 1 TB bandwidth!
Is HostGator easy to use?
As HostGator is a larger and more reputable hosting company, they offer features that make it easier for beginners. They have clear and concise tutorials on how to use cPanel, their user-friendly control panel. When you log in to your cPanel you get an interface that looks like this:
For someone who has never used a web host before or has never run a website, the number of options here can be daunting. However, cPanel also comes with simple tutorials to help inexperienced users through any difficulties they may have.
Is HostGator reliable?
HostGator offers several server locations around the world so if one goes down others still remain up and running making them a very reliable option for beginners. HostGator also offers daily backups of your website. This means that if you ever need to revert back to a previous version of your site, you can do so with ease. If there is one thing HostGator prides itself on, it’s their customer support team which they say are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide help and advice regarding any issues you might encounter whilst use their services. For beginners looking for an easy-to-use hosting plan at reasonable prices, HostGator could be just what they’re looking for!
Is Hostgator good for small businesses?
HostGator offers several plans that professional business owners might find suitable, especially the Hatchling and Baby Plans which have unlimited disk space and bandwidth making them great value for money.
However, these plans don’t include a cPanel control panel which might put some people off who need advanced features such as being able to automatically add email accounts when they sign up to their website. If this is something you think you will require from your hosting company, then perhaps go with a more expensive option such as the Business Plan. This has everything included so all you need to do is type in your business name and you have a fully working website.
Is Hostgator good for WordPress sites?
Yes! HostGator offers several plans that professional WordPress users might find suitable, especially the Hatchling and Baby Plans which have unlimited disk space and bandwidth making them great value for money. These come with an easy-to-use control panel and simple tutorials on how to use the cPanel jump start site without any hassle. Plus they offer daily backups of your sites so if there are any problems you can easily revert back to previous versions.
Is HostGator good for e-commerce?
If you are looking for a very reliable hosting plan at reasonable prices HostGator could be just what your website needs! They offer several server locations around the world, unlimited disk space, and bandwidth, and an easy-to-use cPanel control panel with easy tutorials on how to use it, they also offer daily backups of your site. All this makes them ideal for beginners that need reliability and ease of use. Plus their customer support team is available 24 hours 7 days a week which ensures no matter what time of day or night you need help someone will be available
What are the HostGator Pros?
HostGator is very reliable, offers unlimited disk space and bandwidth to all plans, an easy-to-use control panel for beginners with tutorials on how to use it, they also offer daily backups of your sites so if there are any problems you can revert back to the previous versions.
What are the HostGator Cons?
The Hatchling and Baby plans do not come with a cPanel control panel so if you need advanced features such as being able to automatically add email accounts, this might not be ideal for your small business. The Business Plan does have a cPanel but it is more expensive than the other two plans.
Top HostGator Features:
Hosting types:
1. Shared Hosting:
There are some of the most affordable hosting plans on offer. HostGator offers this type of hosting with unlimited disk space and bandwidth.
2. VPS Hosting:
VPS stands for Virtual Private Server which basically means you are getting your very own virtual server that runs on a dedicated operating system. You can then install any software or apps that are compatible with the OS to use as you wish, it will be running under your own account so nobody else can see what you have installed apart from yourself. This provides more security than other hosting types because if someone attempts to hack into another user’s website, there won’t be any effect on yours should they succeed in hacking one first since they are different accounts.
3. Reseller Hosting:
This is ideal for people who want to start their own hosting company or website business by selling web hosting to customers at a much lower price than HostGator’s already low prices.
4. WordPress Hosting:
WordPress is the CMS (Content Management System) that makes it possible for you to create and manage your website without having any technical knowledge of building websites required! It is very user-friendly and even complete beginners can build an attractive professional-looking website in minutes with no previous experience.
5. Cloud Hosting:
Cloud hosting is where several servers are connected together via the internet which means they act like one large server, this allows more resources to be used efficiently compared to other types of hosting so if one part of the server goes down it won’t have much effect on the rest. You also get better performance as well as redundancy which means if there are any problems you can easily revert back to previous versions to fix them so your website doesn’t go offline, keeping your business running smoothly.
6. Dedicated Hosting:
This is similar to VPS hosting in that you are getting a dedicated server for yourself but with this type of hosting the entire server will be solely yours so nobody else will be using any resources or disk space etc apart from yourself. This type of hosting gives you complete freedom to install whatever software or apps are compatible with the operating system, however, you do need technical knowledge and experience of servers before signing up!
Server Uptime:
HostGator’s servers are located in many different cities around the world to ensure your website is always online and accessible from anywhere on the planet, making them ideal if you plan on expanding globally.
Backups:
All HostGator plans come with daily backups of your site for better security, they also offer a free domain name so you don’t have to pay anything extra when signing up for their services.
HostGator Pricing:
Shared Hosting Plans start from as little as $3.96 per month so they are extremely affordable for such high-quality service and provide everything you need for creating your own website, all their shared hosting plans come with unlimited disk space and bandwidth. The entry-level plan starts at just $6.96 per month which is more than enough to be getting started with and it’s one of the most affordable web hosting options available! VPS Hosting Plans start from as little as $19.94 per month which offers dedicated resources without the expense of buying your own server, this type of hosting is ideal if you want to run WordPress or other intensive apps without having any effect on your shared hosting plan.
This is ideal for beginners looking to get started quickly and easily within minutes. This particular package comes with everything you need to build a functional website including 1 free domain name, unlimited disk space and bandwidth plus private name servers which means you don’t have to pay every time you want to add a new domain name or SSL certificate among many other options that normally cost extra!
All their plans come with daily backups for better security without paying anything extra, there are also hundreds of tutorials available on cPanel, WordPress, etc all designed to make it simple enough for even complete beginners to get started building professional looking websites quickly. HostGator’s plans all come with 24/7 customer support via phone and live chat so no matter what time of day or night you need help someone will be there for you.
Money-Back Guarantee:
HostGator offers a very generous 45 days money-back guarantee so you don’t have to worry about losing any money if you change your mind within those first few weeks, however, if after the first month you decide it’s not working out they do charge a fee of $15 per month which is still more than reasonable and will only really affect the most expensive plans.
Security:
HostGator’s servers are located in many different locations around the world to ensure all your websites are always online and accessible from anywhere on the planet, making them an ideal option if you plan on expanding globally. Every hosting plan comes with a malware scanner which is a very useful tool for safeguarding against any viruses or other harmful scripts being uploaded to your site without your knowledge. All accounts also come with daily backups so even if something does happen to go wrong their excellent customer support team will be able to restore all data back to normal as quickly as possible!
Interface:
The cPanel control panel is extremely user-friendly and features a wealth of really useful tools such as file manager, FTP accounts, and much more. The free built-in site builder makes it simple to customize the design and layout of your website without any technical knowledge or special software which is ideal for beginners who want to get started quickly and easily.
Customer support:
24/7 customer support is available via phone and live chat which ensures no matter what time of day or night you need help someone will be there. There is also an extensive knowledge base that provides hundreds of tutorials on how to use cPanel, WordPress, etc plus many more! plus easy access to exclusive deals and discounts on hosting plans.
Final Thoughts:
HostGator is, without doubt, one of the top web hosting services available and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for an affordable, reliable, and comprehensive package that can be up and running within minutes.