Below is a comparison of HostGator (http://www.hostgator.com) and Yahoo Small Business Hosting (http://www.Yahoo.com)
Both boast big, well-known names and a loyal following. HostGator is primarily known for their web hosting services; while Yahoo is known for – well – just about everything having to do with the technological world. But how do they stack up against HostGator in their web hosting abilities? We will take a look at both of these companies and the packages they provide to help you choose the best web hosting service for your needs.
Features and Pricing
HostGator offers three different web hosting packages, depending on how much you want to spend and how many features you need. Prices range from $4.95 to $12.95 a month, and there are no contract requirements to get those subscription rates. On the other hand, Yahoo offers just one plan and a variety of prices based on the length of your contract. To get a comparable rate at $7.46 a month, you must sign a 12-month agreement. That's a pretty long time to stay with a web host you might decide you don't like, and it's still a lot higher than the basic package offered by HostGator.
The features with the Yahoo package are also fairly limited, with no listing of eCommerce options and limited email accounts. While HostGator offers the well known Site Builder for free, Yahoo provides "easy to use" design tools. They do not provide specifics about what those tools are.
Reliability
Both HostGator and Yahoo offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee, which is always a big plus in our book. HostGator also offers automatic backup, with off-site backup occurring weekly to ensure your systems are secure. We couldn't find specific information about Yahoo's backup procedures, although the company does claim to backup data to a variety of geographical locations.
Support
Yahoo offers 24-hour toll-free phone support and email assistance. The company does not mention anything about live chat, which is the preferred method of contact for the majority of business owners today. On the other hand, HostGator offers 24/7/365 support via phone, email and live chat. Their customer service is award winning and they boast one of the highest customer approval ratings in the industry.
General Aspects
Both companies offer a money back guarantee, with Yahoo's running 30 days and HostGator offering 45 days. We believe a money back guarantee says much about the confidence of the company in the products they offers. The longer the guarantee, the better, as a general rule. Both companies offer online coupons to help bring down the cost of the monthly service, at least for a period of time.
There is no doubt that Yahoo is the technological gurus offering many online services today, including web hosting. However, we prefer to work with a company that specializes in web hosting services, since we believe they will be more tuned into their customers' needs and better prepared to meet them. This is the primary reason we prefer HostGator to Yahoo, although we also believe HostGator provides higher quality service, more features and a better value all around.
Visit http://www.hostgator.com
Visit http://www.Yahoo.com
HostGator Site Screenshot (http://www.hostgator.com)
