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One of the most well-known brands in the website and hosting industry is HostGator. In comparison to other brands like GoDaddy, HostGator is particularly well-known for its shared hosting, having built a reputation for low prices, fast servers, and excellent customer service.
I've long used HostGator for website hosting, but I've just recently tried out their website builder app, Gator Website Builder.
But first, let's take a look at some website solutions before I get into the pros and cons of my Gator website builder analysis.
When it comes to selecting the right website builder, there are so many factors to consider — and there are a thousand ways to get what you want in terms of functionality, convenience, pricing, and so on.
The important thing to note is that the way you design your website has a lot of implications, whether you're designing a simple personal website or running a company.
It has an effect on your versatility, functionality, and, of course, your brand in the long run. It can definitely add/remove a lot of headaches in the short term. There is no such thing as an absolute "best" or "top" option, just as there is no such thing as an absolute "best" or "top" choice when it comes to choosing a physical house or office. Only the best option for your goals, experience, and circumstances exists.
What Is Gator Website Builder?
The Gator Website Builder is a hosted website builder provided by HostGator. Traditionally, HostGator has only offered domain names and hosting for other website software (like installing WordPress). Gator is their foray into offering a single subscription that includes domain, hosting, and applications.
So, of the many website building solutions available, Gator Website Builder is the only one that is hosted, all-inclusive, and includes everything you'll need to get started and expand your website. It differs from solutions that require you to purchase, install, and maintain all of your website's "parts" separately (ie, buying your domain name, hosting & installing software).
Using HostGator's Gator Website Builder is akin to renting and customizing an apartment in a high-end development rather than purchasing and owning a home. You keep care of the furniture, cleaning, and other aspects of living, but the property owner is in charge of the construction, plumbing, protection, and infrastructure.
That point is crucial because ease and power are normally mutually exclusive. More information about what a website builder is and how it differs from web hosting can be found here.
With a website builder like HostGator, everything may work together perfectly, but that may or may not be what you're looking for.
HostGator competes directly with all-in-one website builders such as Weebly, Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy's GoCentral, and WordPress.com in terms of competition.
In comparison to their direct competitors, they place a premium on pace and convenience, providing all you need to get your website up and running in minutes. Here, HostGator targets the non-developer audience (think DIY-ers who need to create a website without having tons of website experience or time to maintain self-hosted software).
Pros of Using Gator Website Builder
Here are some of the advantages I discovered while using HostGator's Gator Website Builder, not only in contrast to direct rivals but as a complete website solution.
Easy Onboarding Process
The onboarding phase (also known as the process of getting up and running with Gator's website software) is one of Gator's best features. During the onboarding process, you can find yourself thinking, “Okay... what do I do now?”
Onboarding with Gator is short, simple, and straightforward. You'll have chosen your strategy, registered your domain name, and chosen a theme for your website in just a few steps, all without having to ask, "Where the heck do I go now?"
Furthermore, Gator incorporates education not only through an email drip series but also through a quick, step-by-step tutorial that explains how to customize your theme and add content to your website.
All-in-One Solution
Again, HostGator's Gator Website Builder is an all-in-one solution, so all you need is included in the platform, from hosting to a domain registration to integrations (more on that later).
That means you won't have to worry about whether or not an app or extension is compatible or would break your site. There are no additional troubleshooting or service requirements beyond what they currently have. Even analytics are integrated into the platform.
You will spend more time on things that matter, like content, design, and promoting your web if you spend less time on research and troubleshooting.
Furthermore, since Gator is affiliated with HostGator — a well-known, reputable hosting service — the platform has the flexibility and resources to provide features such as unlimited storage, DNS & domains support (a.k.a. purchasing and mapping your domain name to your website), and migration support to a self-hosted product if and when it makes sense.
Template Design
When you create a website with Gator, you must first select a template from which to begin your design. Pre-built templates are one of the benefits of HostGator's website builder. They offer hundreds of choices, all of which can be edited and personalized using their drag-and-drop website builder.
You could customize a website on HostGator with your own software and themes (ie, WordPress + themes), but part of Gator's appeal is that they have a large range of well-designed models that you can tweak for your own needs by adding/removing parts and customizing the colors, photography, fonts, and content — all without having to think about learning curves or add-on costs.
Site Building Process
When it comes to architecture, You don't have to write HTML or CSS code for an all-inclusive website builder because you can simply drag and drop elements. The website would look just like what you see in the builder.
The drag-and-drop builder from HostGator is both comprehensive and quick. It gives you a lot of customization choices, such as adding new elements, changing colors and fonts, creating completely new pages from scratch, and so on. It is, however, incredibly simple to use (literally drag and drop). It makes it really easy for someone with no website experience to customize or even completely redesign their theme.
Overall Pricing
Though HostGator does not offer a free subdomain option (as Wix does), their overall pricing is competitive, not only when compared to other all-in-one website builders, but also when compared to purchasing your own hosting.
Take note of how everything is included and unrestricted. There are no limits on the number of pages or the amount of storage space available. Help (priority is "faster" support) and eCommerce features are the only differences between the plans.
Gator's pricing is very competitive as compared to building your own website on your host and particularly other website builders. Although price isn't everything, it is a consideration, particularly if you want to combine price and convenience.
Downside of Gator Website Builder
However, no Gator website builder analysis will be complete without a discussion of the disadvantages. There will be questions for any piece of software. Let's take a look at three unique drawbacks I discovered.
Though Gator's all-in-one platform is a strong pro, it also has a drawback in terms of support and the ability to integrate third-party applications, plugins, and advanced marketing tools.
Gator does have some applications and extensions, such as G Suite integration and priority support, but they're fairly small.
Although Gator allows you to edit the site's HTML and insert HTML when designing a website, there is no way to edit individual code sections. This, combined with the fact that you don't have complete control over your platform and server (i.e., FTP verification files), limits the marketing resources you can use on your site.
This tradeoff ensures that everything works (no WordPress white screen of death while using Google Tag Manager), but it comes at the expense of control and customization.
Pricing + Upsells
Pricing is, therefore, a disadvantage. Although Gator's pricing is highly favorable, it's important to note that the 50% off offer is only valid for the payment period. For example, if you sign up for the premium plan for two years, the price is only good for two years.
The fact that a free domain name is only included in the yearly billing is also not clear from the initial pricing details. During the checkout process, you will be given this detail.
The overall upsell, which includes the domain and marketing apps, is also a little confusing. When you sign out, it almost seems as though you have to buy a domain name if you don't already have one. In fact, you can use a subdomain while also purchasing a domain.
The domain add-on is one of a few upsells available during the checkout phase, which adds a little extra complexity to the onboarding process.
Blog Functionality
Although Gator has a blog integration that you can use on your website, it is not included in the theme. It's something of an "add-on," and you can customize the appearance of your blog.
While having the ability to customize the look and feel of your blog is fantastic, having to select a separate theme makes it feel disjointed and as if the blog is a side feature. If you want to create a website solely for the purpose of blogging, this may not be the best option for you*.
*If you're mainly a blogger who wants the all-in-one functionality of a website creator, check out WordPress.com – it's operated by WordPress but hosted and managed by WordPress.com, so the experience is superior to self-hosting WordPress.
Gator Website Builder Review Conclusion
Gator has many of the tradeoffs that all website builders have while still capitalizing on a website builder's potential strengths (ie, usability & support).
Although it lacks many advanced options and templates (especially when compared to Wix), Gator has better usability and pricing than most other proven website builder brands.
Gator is a great match for anyone looking for a simple, well-built website builder that doesn't need a lot of extra templates or advanced marketing features (ie, CRO and Schema plugins).
Not sure if Gator is right for you? Take my quiz to determine which website builder is right for you based on your preferences.
Working on a long-term project that needs more flexibility and you don't mind a learning curve? Check out my posts on experimenting with WordPress and self-hosting it.
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