HostGator Review: Best Web Hosting for You?

 

If you want to start a blog or build your own website, the first choice you'll have to make is which web hosting service to use.

What is the best web hosting service?

What is the most affordable web hosting?

Is it possible to get both quality and value for your money?

These could be some of your concerns if you are new to the worlds of blogging and web design.

As we examine HostGator, you will gain a better understanding of this web host, allowing you to decide if it is a good fit for you.

HostGator Review

In my HostGator review, I'll explain everything you need to know about this reliable hosting service.

Let's begin by learning some basic facts about the business.

*** Affiliate Disclosure: If you click on the links and buy a product, I can receive a commission (payment). The price you pay is unaffected by my earnings. *****

About HostGator

HostGator

• One-click WordPress Installation
• Unlimited storage
• Unlimited bandwidth
• Free SSL certificate
• Free domain
• Price: Starts at $2.75 per month

Brent Oxley, the founder of HostGator, founded the company in his Florida dorm room in 2002.

The company rapidly established itself as a leading provider of VPS, pooled, reseller, and dedicated website hosting. Endurance International Group is the parent company today (EIG).

Houston is the company's headquarters, and it also has a presence in Austin, Texas, as well as other international locations.

The most critical factors to consider when reading my HostGator review are those that lead to the success of a website, such as:

• Uptime
• Site speed
• Customer service
• The hosting plan that fits your needs

HostGator Provides Solid Uptime

HostGator regularly boasts a 99.99 percent uptime, which puts it on par with some of the other top hosting services on the market.

Unlike several other hosting companies, this one offers a unique uptime guarantee. If your uptime falls below 99.90 percent, the guarantee gives you an additional month of credit.

Of course, you must keep track of this. If your site's uptime falls below the mark, HostGator requests that you submit a support ticket within 30 days. Hacking problems and scheduled maintenance do not qualify.

Although several other companies would not provide such a guarantee, it is becoming more common as a few other hosting companies have begun to provide similar uptime guarantees. This is a positive thing, though, because it sets the bar for the whole industry and ensures that your company is protected in the event that your website goes down.

Site Speed

If you go with a HostGator package, you'll get a competitive site pace. They've configured their server options to ensure that your visitors have a positive experience in this area. Here are some things you can do to ensure that you don't do something that slows down your site's pages:

• External media: Check to see if any embedded YouTube videos, for example, are too big.
• Resize any photos on your website so that they don't bog down any of the sites.
• Ads: Having too many ads on your site will slow things down.
• Layout: Choose a theme that is free of bloated coding.
• Widgets: Some widgets contain excessive amounts of javascript, slowing down page loading times.
• Use caution when using CSS or HTML code that slows down your website.

Quality HostGator Customer Support

A HostGator account comes with live chat, phone, and email support. One of the fastest ways to get support is through their live chat option. After requesting a live chat session, it's not unusual to receive a response from a customer service representative within 15 seconds. Regardless of which choice you select, knowledgeable representatives can answer your questions. You can get help with a variety of issues using the phone or live chat options, including:

• Control panel
• FTP
• Email
• Billing
• Sales

If a live chat or phone representative is unable to provide you with an immediate response, they will encourage you to send a help ticket so that the appropriate individual will provide you with the best solution. You may also use HostGator's knowledge base to look up answers to questions in a do-it-yourself way. The knowledge base is extensive, covering topics such as:

• Billing
• Optimization
• Security
• Files
• DNS
• Hosting
• Domains
• cPanel
• Databases

Hosting Plans

You won't have any trouble finding the best hosting service for your specific business requirements. The following areas are covered by HostGator's hosting plans:

• Shared hosting
• Cloud hosting
• WordPress hosting
• Reseller hosting
• VPS hosting
• Dedicated hosting

Here are some details to help you decide what kind of hosting you'll need. When you're creating a simple website for a small business and don't expect a lot of traffic for a while, shared hosting is a good option. When building out an eCommerce company, cloud hosting is beneficial because your website can experience traffic peaks and valleys. When creating a site on the WordPress website, go with WordPress hosting.

If you're starting your own hosting company, reseller hosting is a good option. When you're creating a simple website and don't want to deal with the limitations of shared hosting, VPS hosting is a good option. When your website becomes very large and you need additional protection and customization, you can purchase dedicated hosting.

HostGator Shared Hosting Plans

Shared hosting is the most cost-effective alternative, and it's ideal for newcomers. Some websites share hosting services with yours. There are three choices available to you:

• The hatchling plan includes unlimited storage space and bandwidth, a single domain, a free SSL certificate, and backup.
• Anything in the Hatchling plan plus limitless domains in the Baby plan.
• Business plan: Includes everything in the Baby plan plus a free dedicated IP address.

It's important to get a free SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate because it protects confidential data sent between your website and its guests. It's also one of Google's rating criteria for SEO.

👉 Also, you can read: HostGator Expert Review

Cloud Hosting Plans

The cloud hosting plans (Hatchling, Baby, and Business) have very similar features to the shared hosting plans. However, since you'll have connections to several servers for better site efficiency, they'll cost a little more. When opposed to shared hosting plans, you also share server resources with cloud hosting, but you have more flexibility and management. The cloud storage options increase the number of CPU cores and memory available. When your site's traffic grows, more memory means better performance. The CPU is the central processing unit that keeps the website's server running smoothly. The number of CPU cores you pay for determines how much data your site can accommodate.

WordPress Hosting Plans From HostGator

If you're ready to start a serious blog or website and want to use WordPress to do so, these plans might be of interest to you.

• Unmetered disk space, 100,000 monthly visits, 1 web, free domain, free SSL, free backups, 1 GB backup storage, automatic malware removal, and automatic WordPress updates are all included in the starter package.
• Standard Package Includes everything in the Starter plan, plus 200,000 monthly visits, two pages, and two gigabytes of backup capacity.
• Business plan: Includes everything in the Starter plan plus 500,000 monthly visits, three pages, and three gigabytes of backup capacity.

If you need to migrate an existing WordPress site to HostGator, both of these plans include free website migration. Essentially, you must choose between these three plans based on the number of sites you need to host and the amount of traffic you receive.

Reseller Plans

It's doubtful that you'll need a reseller contract. You'll just need this if you're running your own website hosting company. Just in case, here are HostGator's options:

• Aluminum plan: 60GB disk space/600GB bandwidth
• Copper plan: 90GB disk space/900GB bandwidth.
• Silver plan: 140GB disk space/1400GB bandwidth

HostGator VPS Plans

The term VPS refers to a virtual private server. VPS hosting allows you to share your hosting space with a smaller number of websites. It's more dependable and quicker than traditional shared hosting. HostGator offers three VPS options:

• Snappy 2000 plan: 2 CPU cores, 2GB of RAM, 120GB disk space, 1.5TB bandwidth.
• Snappy 4000 plan: 2 CPU cores, 4GB of RAM, 165GB disk space, and 2TB bandwidth.
• Snappy 8000 plan: 4 CPU cores, 8GB of RAM, 240GB disk space, and 3TB bandwidth.

Each of the above VPS plans gives you:

• Unlimited domains
• Free SSL
• Free backups
• 2 dedicated IP addresses

Dedicated Hosting Plans From HostGator

This is the most expensive hosting choice since you have your own dedicated server. This is the site's highest level of security, speed, and functionality.

These three dedicated hosting options are available from HostGator:

• Value Server plan: 4 CPU cores and 8GB RAM
• Power Server plan: 8 CPU cores and 16GB RAM
• Enterprise Server plan: 8 CPU cores and 30GB RAM

Unmetered bandwidth, free SSL, and three (Value plan), four (Power plan), or five (Enterprise plan) dedicated IP addresses are included with each of these plans.

45-Day Money-Back Guarantee

HostGator offers a 15-day guarantee, which is 15 days longer than the industry norm.

This gives you an advantage because you can use their services for a month and then take your time to ensure you've chosen the best hosting option for your business.

The dedicated plans, installation costs, and administration fees are not covered by their 45-day money-back guarantee. These exclusions, on the other hand, are fairly popular across all website hosts.

You should be aware that HostGator reserves the right to process your refund up to 90 days after you submit your request. They also don't offer refunds if you pay with a money order, check, wire transfer, or Western Union. Make sure you pay with a credit card when you place your initial order.

You should also be aware that the guarantee is only valid for new accounts or plans. If you open an account later, you will not be able to put an order, request a refund, and then request a refund again.

Final Thoughts on HostGator Review

I hope you enjoyed my analysis of HostGator. The bottom line with HostGator is that you can't go wrong with a schedule that suits your needs and gets you up and running quickly.