In 2002, HostGator debuted on the web hosting scene. Brent Oxley, a bright Florida Atlantic University student, created HostGator in his dorm room during his first year. The tagline of HostGator is "we chew up the competition." We believe this to be true, as they are arguably among the top three web hosting services in terms of brand image and the number of domains they host (over 9 million). HostGator also places a strong emphasis on VPS, dedicated, and reseller hosting plans, making it a great option for web designers and developers. However, they aren't as generous with their features as some of the other top brands, and you'll have to upgrade to get one or two of them. They do, however, eat up the competition by providing one of the best customer support services (nearly 100% customer satisfaction rate) as well as true reliability at an affordable price.
Features
It's not as if HostGator is lacking in functionality – it certainly isn't. However, features including a dedicated IP address and free private SSL are not included in their basic plan. Both major web hosting companies provide such features for free on their basic plans. Nonetheless, they provide exclusive functionality to their massive customer base. They have useful features such as free module installation, Image Magick, an IP Deny Manager, phpMyAdmin, and a number of ‘Instant' features such as Instant Blogs, Instant Portals, and Instant Forums since a large portion of their customers are designers and developers. They also have a plethora of website statistics and e-commerce features. The following are some of HostGator's most important features:
- Unlimited Disk Space
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Unlimited Sub Domains
- Unlimited FTP Accounts
- Unlimited Email Accounts (and unlimited POP3 accounts)
- Unlimited MySQL Databases
- 1 domain allowed (unlimited on an upgraded plan)
- Instant backups
- Web-based file manager
- Spam assassin
We'd also like to point out that, while their backup service is very useful, it only runs once a week and only keeps one week's worth of backups. Furthermore, any shared hosting account that consumes more than 20GB of space will be excluded from the weekly backup. As a result, if you choose HostGator, we strongly advise you to look into online backup services to better meet your backup needs.
Mr. Oxley has stated several times that all web hosting providers essentially sell the same bundle to potential clients and that the only way to differentiate yourself is through the customer support center. 365 days a year, HostGator provides live chat, internet, and e-mail support. The answer times differ depending on the channel. Our live chat response time was 25 minutes, but our phone wait time was just 5 minutes. Also, we got an e-mail response faster than we got a live chat response, which is probably the fastest e-mail response time ever. We have considered HostGator's customer service representatives to be among the most experienced and supportive in the industry. Furthermore, their gator mascot is with you at all times (and is even animated), which we must admit makes an otherwise unpleasant customer service experience enjoyable. HostGator already has a thriving user community, tutorials, and even a blog. If you're a social media whiz, you can always reach out to HostGator through Facebook or Twitter. Last but not least, HostGator has a 45-day money-back guarantee (except on dedicated servers). This does not seem to be as good as other providers that provide a money-back guarantee at any time, but you must consider that HostGator plans are available in one-month, six-month, one-year, two-year, or three-year increments, while almost all other hosting providers lock you into a one-year deal.
Ease of Use
HostGator, like JustHost, allows you to ‘test drive' the icon-based cPanel for best-in-class user-friendliness. HostGator has updated their cPanel control panel theme to accommodate all of their functionality. Getting around features like databases, domain management, and FTP accounts is a breeze, particularly since all icons are neatly organized by category. HostGator also makes use of the Fantastico script library, which streamlines the program installation process. Additionally, a useful function in the control panel is the display of how much bandwidth and space you are using, despite the fact that you are initially provided with unlimited bandwidth and space. On the dashboard, you can also see your website's traffic statistics, backup statistics, and account details. Although these are all features, they fall under the category of ease of use because you don't have to check the control panel for your details.
Website Building
The premium website builder from HostGator, dubbed "BaseKit SiteBuilder," is a dream to use. While this site builder has a few more features, making it a good option for experienced web developers, it is just as useful for beginners who have never built a website before. Many other hosting companies have a drag-and-drop site builder, which is a fantastic tool. However, it does not, in our view, have much versatility. They do, however, have over 4,500 free models, many more than any other hosting service. In just five simple steps, a novice user can have a super professional website up and running with HostGator's BaseKit SiteBuilder.
Reliability
When it comes to web hosting, HostGator knows that almost all webmasters are only concerned with two things: customer service and uptime. As a result, they, like other big hosting companies, guarantee 99.9% uptime. If you can show that your site's uptime was less than this, HostGator will give you a free month of web hosting. Regarding their servers, they employ over 8,000 servers and over 800 people solely to ensure superior reliability.
Summary
HostGator began as a small business and has grown into a massive service by focusing on three things: service, dependability, and affordability. These factors contributed significantly to their rapid growth, especially in terms of their VPS and dedicated hosting plans. HostGator is undeniably a renowned hosting destination for all kinds of webmasters, with over 9 million domains handled.
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