Current Rating of HostGator based on experiences as detailed below.
| Pricing: |
5 out of 5 |
| Support: |
N/A (haven't had to use yet) |
| Reliability/Uptime: |
5 out of 5 |
| Billing & Accounts |
5 out of 5 |
HostGator Comparisons Update - 16 December 2009
I have just added a few more comparisons of HostGator and other hosts. It's good to see that HostGator's Winter coupon of 20% off is still available. I probably won't be making another update till after Christmas, so I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
HostGator 20% Off Coupon - 4 December 2009
I was just browsing through HostGator's website and noticed that they have introduced a 20% off winter coupon which expires on January 1st. To get the 20% off, all you have to do is go to their website and while checking out, put in the coupon code "SNOWMAN". This is a great saving if you're looking to sign up with HostGator.
Also I have received some e-mails from people saying thanks for this website and the information about HostGator. I know it's hard to find a good host and even harder to find reliable reviews of hosting companies. I hope I provide that and I greatly value any comments or suggestions that you may have to make this HostGator review more useful.
HostGator Review Update - 3 December 2009
First of all I would like to apologize for the delay in updating this review. The best thing is that I haven't updated this review because I haven't had any problems with HostGator. My philosophy of a good hosting company is that a host is good if you never have to think about them. It should be a granted that your site will always be online (or at least 99.9% of the time). That is what HostGator has done for me. I now have 12 websites hosted on HostGator, including some client websites and I have yet to experience any problem with them.
New HostGator Coupon Code & Plans - 5 March 2009
It's been a couple of months since I updated this review of HostGator. HostGator now has a coupon code which they have titled St. Patrick's Special. To get the 20% discount you just need to type in "LUCKY" in the coupon code box when you go to sign in. I also just noticed that hostGaor has recently improved their plans. All shared hosting plans now come with unlimited bandwidth and diskspace, it seems HostGator has followed the trend in recent months for web hosts to offer unlimited space and bandwidth. With the leaps in bandwidth availability and storage systems this has now become a reality. Even HostGator's "hatchling plan" for only $4.95/mo comes with unlimited disk space and bandwidth. Check it out
HostGator's Winter Sale - 2 January 2009
HostGator has extended their "Green" sale and converted it into a "Winter" sale. You get the same 20% off. It seems HostGator is following the industry trend of dicscounting hosting packages in these harder economic times. Everything else has been going well with my hosting experiences with Hostgator and I will continue to keep this review updated into 2009.
HostGator Goes Green & Celebrates with 20% off - 18 November 2008
As is the trend with many of the leading hosts these days, Hostgator has "gone green". HostGator's servers are now 130% wind powered, this basically means they have purchases renewable Energy Credits which represent 130% of the electricty used to power and cool their servers. This is a great initiative they are taking and hopefully other web hosting companies will follow suit. It certainly makes me feel good that hosting my site is not contributing to climate change. For new customers, HostGator is celebrating with a 20% off coupon. When signing up, you just have to use the coupon code "Green" to get 20% off. Makes me jealous, but with 20% off and HostGator's great reliability, speed and support and now a environmentally responsible company. HostGator is well positioned to take a leading position in the hosting market. For more details on HostGator's green policy see the "Gone Green" section on HostGator.com .
HostGator Review Update After a while - 14 October 2008
Well it's been a while since I last updated this review, but I guess that's a good thing. Everything is perfect with HostGator and I haven't had any issues with their service. All in all, it's exactly what I want from a host. If I'm not thinking about my host, it's certainly a good thing.
HostGator Reliability, Rankings, Uptime & Experiences - 24 July 2008
In an effort to makes this HostGator review as informative as possible I have added some new pages which talk about HostGator's reliability, rankings, uptime and other people's experience with HostGator. Hopefully you'll find these interesting. My hosting experience with HostGator is going very well and just 2 days ago I decided to use HostGator's template database for a new website design. I must say I was certainly spoiled for choice, the categories of HostGator's designs are very very detailed.
New Info Pages Added - 8 May 2008
I have added a few more informational pages about HostGator and the plans they offer. Hopefully the extra information will make this HostGator review more complete. But so far everything has been going great with HostGator. One thing that I only recently discovered was the that HostGator offers free templates to hosting customers. These aren't just any crappy templates, they are extremely professional templates and HostGator has about 4,500 of them which they are offering to customers. These tempates and teh range is as good as many of the paid template sites. This is certainly a huge positive about hosting with HostGator as you can potentially save $100's on a design. Hmmmm! maybe I should use on of those templates for this site.
HostGator Review Update - 18 April 2008
Well it's been nearly 4 months now since I signed up for a plan with HostGator and have been updating this review. So far things have been going great. I haven't had any problem with the hosting and haven't had any downtime. I was just looking at their website, it seems they have a 20% off deal. It's their Spring Special. All you have to do is use the coupon "SPRING" on their order page. This is a great incentive to join HostGator, even at normal price they were great, now with the discount I'm convined that you won't find better value in a hosting company.
I have also added some pages to this hostgator review, namely I have added the Bandwidth, Domains and Plan pages. Hopefully that should give you some more important details about HostGator before you signup with them.
HostGator Datacenter & Support
I've added some details about Hostgator's datacenter located in Dallas. Also have made a summary of the Support options that HostGator offers. Hostgator has a reputation for having excellent and knowledgeable support staff. Their live chat feature is also very useful. Otherwise everything is going well with Hostgator.
HostGator Signup Process
Well it's time to signup for my hosting account for this domain. I've decided to go for the Hatchling package which will give me 350GB Diskspace and 3,000GB Bandwidth all for $4.95/month. This is excellent value for money. Most other hosts have similar packages for at least $7.95/mo. In the first step of HostGator's signup process you have an option to either register a new domain or use your existing domain. As I have already registered my domain I opt to use HostGator's transfer option which means I just have to change my nameservers to point to HostGator's once my hosting account is completed. After pressing enter HostGator takes me to a page where I'm asked to fill in the normal billing details and also choose my username and password.
Near the bottom of the page is the payment option. HostGator is one of the few large hosts who still take payment via paypal. I find paypal a very convenient way to pay. HostGator also gives you 6 days to pay your hosting fees, unlike most hosts who demand payment straight away. Once you pay the invoice, a message appears saying you will be e-mailed your account details. And true enough, about 5 mins of sending payment via paypal I received the account details in my inbox. Now I'm ready to upload this site.
So all in all a pretty easy signup procedure and very effecient. Activation is instant on payment. A great feature when you need to setup a site quickly.
Welcome to My HostGator Review - 22 December
Well firstly welcome to my HostGator review. A simple search on google reveals many sites with reviews of HostGator, however my site is unique. The reason for this is that most other review sites do not actually hold an account with HostGator. Unlike these sites that "claim" to have a review of HostGator, my site is actually hosted on HostGator servers and every issue, problem, good or bad experience I go through with hostGator in regards to this website will be posted for all to see. I hope to make this the most complete and most informative review of HostGator on the web. Choosing a web host is not easy and is an essential part of setting up a successful website. I know all too well the problems associated with using a crappy host. A bad host results in lost visitors, lost sales, lost loyalty and less profits. So make sure when you're creating your website, you make selecting a host your top priority. In the next post I will detail HostGator's signup process.
HostGator Site Screenshot (http://www.hostgator.com)
