HostGator.com Review

Our Rating:
^*9.4/10

User Rating:

HostGator is a relatively new web hosting provider that offers web hosting and web building with a simplicity that can't be matched by most other web hosts. HostGator offers webmasters the ease of use any new or experienced person the services they will need for their basic web hosting packages which means there are no extra charges for what is basically a standard service. HostGator's comprehensive cPanel control panel is suited for both experienced webmasters and novices alike and its reliable and friendly customer service is surprisingly refreshing. Make sure to check out the “Ease of Use” section for more on web building.

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Plans and Pricing

HostGator offers 3 web hosting plans; the "Hatchling" plan is a solid option for webmasters interested in launching one site, while the "Baby" and "Business" plans are suited for those who want to keep their options open and hope to expand their business or online presence. The primary differences between the Baby and Business plans is that the Business plan includes more features like a toll-free phone number, anonymous FTP, dedicated IP and private SSL. If interested in the toll-free phone number, webmasters should note that the number is linked to an existing phone line and will not provide any additional phone line for their businesses.

Note: HostGator offers new webmasters a thirty percent discount on their first month of hosting plan, before subsequent months commence at each specific plan's standard rates listed above.

Payment methods accepted at HostGator are Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and PayPal.

Money Back Guarantee

All HostGator plans come with a 45 day full money back guarantee. If webmasters request a refund within 45 days of registration they will receive all of their money back, with the exception of administrative (setup) fees if applicable, dedicated domain costs, installation fees for custom software and domain name purchase costs. After 45 days refunds will be prorated for the amount of time remaining on the contract.

Features

Content Management Systems

• Drupal
• Joomla
• PHP-Nuke
• phpWCMS
• phpWebsite
• Siteframe
• TYPO3

Customer Relationship Management

• Crafty Syntax Live Help
• osTicket
• PerlDesk

E-commerce

• OS Commerce
• Zen Cart
• Magento

Site Builders

• Soholaunch Pro Edition
• Templates Express

Other Supported Features

• FAQMasterFlex
• PHPlist
• TikiWiki
• WordPress
• Perl
• PHP 5
• Ruby on Rails
• Fast CGI
• SSH
• Python
• FrontPage Extensions
• Curl

Ease of Use (Web Building)

HostGator is a webmaster's delight. It offers webmasters, novice and experts alike, the ease of building sites with minimal effort and resulting in websites that would make any professional designer envious. The experience starts with cPanel – one of the easiest control panels to navigate and work with. Clients can find their way around without getting confused about which link does what. For those that require help, it is offered in the navigation area that shows useful information and includes a search feature. Other information regarding web traffic and an option to redeem $100 worth of Google AdWords (after registration is complete) are also on display.

The main section of the cPanel is both pleasing to the eyes and built with the intent of avoiding confusion. There is a "Special Offers Section", HostGator Links (for access to technical support) and other links to allow users to start working on their sites immediately.

Site building tools that come with HostGator include Soholaunch Pro Edition and Templates Express – two of the most popular and user-friendly tools available today. Once the site is up and running webmasters can manage their content using one (or a combination of) the most popular Content Management Systems (CMS) HostGator offers: Drupal, Joomla, PHP-Nuke, phpWCMS, phpWebsite, Siteframe and TYPO3.

For commercializing their sites, webmasters can choose from OS Commerce, Zen Cart or Magento.

And that's not all. Webmasters can further interact with their clients and customers using Crafty Syntax Live Help, osTicket or PerlDesk – some of the most easy-to-use and highly integrate-able solutions that are on the market today.

As example of ease of use, let us look at how to setup an email account. Locating the email setup is simple, as it is situated near the top of the cPanel. The email setup process is quite easy and involves just 2 simple steps.

Step 1: Click the email address icon on the cPanel

Step 2: Provide account name and password

And that's it; HostGator's email is up and running instantly.

Next is to set up a WordPress blog which is equally straightforward. HostGator offers several blogging platform integrations in its cPanel (located at the top of the Fantastico De Luxe section).

The blog appears instantly on the required domain.

Customer Support

HostGator offers 24/7 tech-support over the phone. Anytime they are contacted by phone their customer service center has been shown to never keep its customers on hold for more than 6 minutes.

Live chat support is also available 24/7. HostGator chat support is specifically useful for several reasons. Firstly, when clients initiate chat, HostGator tells them how many people are waiting on line ahead of them as well as how many members of their support staff are working to answer questions. Unlike some other help forums that time out, HostGator allows clients to wait as long as it takes to sufficiently answer their question. In a testing of 7 chat sessions, clients never waited more than 3 minutes for a response. HostGator's chat services are also notable because they provide the opportunity to request a chat transcript which will appear immediately in the clients' inbox. Clients are also requested to provide feedback to help them improve their chat service. Clients find that there is almost very little room for HostGator to improve their live chat service.

HostGator's email troubleshooting system stands out because unlike every other email systems, HostGator asks its clients verify themselves before responding to an inquiry. Although this step could potentially delay the troubleshooting process, it is understandable that by verifying inquiries HostGator can provide more timely responses to actual inquiries, and it is quite pleasing to see that clients do receive an extremely quick response.

A client who emails HostGator with a billing question, for example, will instantly received an auto-response requesting a confirmation, which when submitted, will result in a personal and helpful response 57 minutes later.

Finally, HostGator has a complete library of video tutorials and articles built directly into its cPanel so that any client can find answers to their questions about the cPanel without having to go back to the HostGator website. The company also offers forums and articles on its website. These resources can be searched with HostGator's convenient search features so that clients can find answers without having to skim through irrelevant information.

Summary

•   Top quality customer service
•   Reasonably priced
•   Easy-to-use interface
•   99.9% uptime guarantee