New web hosting providers and plans appear on a regular basis, and the larger companies seem to lose some of their personal touches as they grow. If you had asked us about this web host a while ago, we would not have given you a positive answer. Our HostGator WordPress hosting analysis indicates that they've turned things around after reviewing their new cloud hosting plans.
In this article, we'll look at what distinguishes this hosting package from the rest of HostGator's offerings, as well as how it performs when measured against a variety of parameters. Let's get this HostGator WordPress analysis started.
The difference between regular and cloud hosting plans on HostGator
Before we get into the meat of our HostGator WordPress hosting analysis, it's important to note that we'll be concentrating on the WordPress-specific cloud hosting plans. Your mileage can vary if you subscribe to a different type of plan.
It's also worth mentioning that HostGator didn't do very well in our recent WordPress hosting survey:
- It earned a 3.7 out of 5 overall rankings, putting it in third place out of nine hosts.
- Just 74% of those polled said they were interested in renewing their subscriptions.
- They received a 2.4 out of 5 for WordPress optimization, and a 3 out of 5 for CMS awareness from their help.
Let's see how they do when we just look at their WordPress cloud hosting.
HostGator WordPress hosting review – specific features
We expect a lot of WordPress-specific features to be included since this is controlled WordPress hosting. Here's what we discovered:
- With the purchase of any plan, you will receive a free WordPress migration service.
- The MOJO marketplace provides access to a number of WordPress themes.
- Optional auto-backup and one-click site restoration.
- Shared Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates are available for free.
Although HostGator does include a few freebies to entice potential customers, their WordPress-specific features are somewhat limited. However, HostGator is one of the most affordable controlled WordPress hosts available, which explains the lack of advanced features.
Support options
The next section of our HostGator WordPress hosting analysis is about to help. You can contact HostGator's team of experts via live chat, internet, direct mail, and even fax (though we're not sure if anyone has ever used that option).
Their customer service team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as we discovered when we approached them late on both a Thursday and a Saturday. We waited for about six minutes the first time, and ten minutes the second time. We considered their support staff to be a little hesitant with their responses when it came to WordPress both times, but they did point us in the right direction to solve our fictitious questions.
Performance
Thanks to low-density servers and custom Content Delivery Networks (CDN) solutions, HostGator reports that its WordPress cloud hosting can deliver up to 2.5x faster speeds than the competition. They also offer their users the ability to scale their cloud settings with a single click in order to cope with unforeseen traffic spikes.
Despite being one of the largest web hosting companies, HostGator only has two data centers:
- Houston is a city in Texas.
- Provo, Utah is a city in the state of Utah.
We're not going to take a web host's speed statements at face value without putting them to the test. So, let's get started.
Pingdom page speed test results
For this test, we used three separate Pingdom servers and a fresh WordPress installation with no frills. Here's what we discovered:
- 1.72 seconds in Melbourne.
- 0.75 seconds in New York.
- 1.39 seconds in Stockholm.
The test results show that load times vary greatly depending on the geographic location from which the site is accessed – something that may be due to HostGator's data center locations. Let's see if that theory can withstand a more rigorous examination.
👉 Also, you can read : The Best Web Hosting Services (In-Depth Review)
Basic load testing with Load Impact
Load Impact tests websites by simulating up to 25 or even 50 simultaneous connections over a five-minute span, allowing us to see how they perform under stress. We used the same simple site that we used for the Pingdom test for this test. Here's what we discovered:
- Ashburn, Virginia is the location of the load generator.
- Ashburn, Virginia is the location of the test server.
- 0.46 seconds is the minimum response time.
- 0.71 seconds is the maximum response time.
These are some of the fastest load times we've ever seen from any web host, and they came from a stress test (albeit a modest one). So, our hypothesis is right. The differences in load time are due to geography rather than poor server efficiency.
Pricing
As previously mentioned, HostGator is one of the most affordable controlled WordPress hosting solutions. There are three proposals on the schedule.
- Starter ($7.96 per month): This entry-level package allows you to host one website with up to 25,000 monthly visitors. It's ideal for personal blogs and small business websites.
- Normal ($9.56 a month): This package allows you to host one or two websites and receive up to 200,000 monthly visits. It should be sufficient for handling small service sites and e-commerce platforms.
- Company ($14.36 per month): This package is designed for well-established businesses and large e-commerce sites. It can host up to three websites at once and can accommodate up to 500,000 monthly visitors.
We mentioned earlier that HostGator is a little light on WordPress-specific functionality. Although this is still valid, this provider still provides outstanding value, which we believe compensates for the shortcoming. Finally, although these prices were accurate at the time of writing, HostGator may have changed them since then.
Overall pros and cons
We've gone over a lot of ground so far, so let's take a few minutes to review some important points.
Pros
- Despite not having extensive experience with WordPress, HostGator's support team is available around the clock and offers reasonable service.
- They have temporary scaling solutions, which are ideal for dealing with traffic fluctuations that occur from time to time without having to upgrade to a more costly plan.
- They will assist you with the migration of your WordPress account.
- Each plan includes a free SSL certificate and access to a global CDN.
- It's fast.
Cons
- The advanced WordPress-specific features in their controlled WordPress hosting plans are a little lacking.
Conclusion
For any website, picking the right web host is critical. Although this web host has previously been synonymous with poor support, our HostGator WordPress hosting analysis shows a significant improvement. If you're still on the fence about joining HostGator, check out some of our other hosting reviews to see if you can find a better fit:
- Alternatives to WP Engine That Are Less Expensive: My Top 3
- Is SiteGround Good Enough for WordPress Websites and Blogs?
- Is Bluehost Worth Your Time as a WordPress Host?
Find out what people had to say about HostGator in our latest huge hosting survey for WordPress, in case you skipped it. Excerpt from:
Do you agree with our HostGator WordPress hosting review's findings? In the comments section below, tell us why you think that is or why you don't think that is.
No comments:
Post a Comment