Why I Love Hostgator

Before reading the content below, I hope you have had time to read registering a domain and purchasing hosting. Both articles give you a good understanding of why you need BOTH a domain and hosting when learning how to make a website. If you have keep reading.

If not STOP HERE and GO BACK!

Hostgator is the best hosting provider, hands down! Of course everyone has their preference for web hosting, like GoDaddy, Site5, Dreamhost or even but honestly, Hostgator is the best.

I have been a customer of Hostgator for over two years now and have been hosting websites for over 10 years. I first started out with Website Source, then moved to Dreamhost and finally over to Hostgator.

So Why Did I Switch?

Well Website Source was — well just blah. The service was ok, but what I hated the most was the customer service. If your website was down it took them forever to respond and they weren’t really all that helpful. I mean how effective can your customer service be going back and forth via email? Now granted that was years ago, maybe it’s changed. Who knows.

Next up was Dreamhost. I actually loved Dreamhost’s service. I know people who have trouble with them in the past, but I must have been lucky enough to be located on a server with little to no downtime. So this move was a business decision. I already hosted several sites with my account, but I wanted to try my hand at reselling hosting, which Dreamhost doesn’t offer. So After doing a bit of research I found Hostgator. Hostgator had the best reviews online, there weren’t many sites that had negative comments to say about their service.

After they answered a few of my initial questions promptly via live chat,  I knew they were the hosting provider for me!

Why Do I Love Hostgator?

There are tons of reasons why I love Hostgator. But honestly it’s because offer a very comprehensive solution built especially for beginners with tons of freebies to help you along the way.

  • Free Setup - many hosting providers will charge you a fee to just create your account and Hostgator doesn’t!
  • Website Statistics – Site Analytics helps you gather, manipulate and report the make-or-break data crucial to your site’s success. Eliminate costly errors that might otherwise go undiscovered. Focus your offerings. And target new customers with a laser-like certainty.
  • 24/7 Customer Service – all of Hostgator’s hosting plans includes state-of-the-art hosting plans come complete with FREE 24/7 technical support (Premium Support via Phone, Live Chat, and Ticket System via Email). This was another reason I disliked Dreamhost. Your hosting plan determined your level of customer support and with plan I could only receive 3 phone calls a month for technical support, everything else was done via a ticket system.
  • 4,500 Free Website Templates – a quick and easy online website builder which helps you build a personal or professional looking site and it includes over 1,500 FREE templates, 8,000 free images and interactive Flash intros. All you do is select a design template and then add your text and pictures. No software or programming experience necessary.
  • $100 Google AdWords Credit - With Google AdWords, a web site can be advertised across the Google network to get real targeted traffic today. HostGator clients can get a $100 coupon for Google AdWords® for free.
  • Free SiteBuilder – Is great for beginners and will allow you to easily create a professional looking website within minutes.
  • 1-Click Installs with Fantastico – Over 50 already installed web applications like WordPress, Joomla, e-commerce, photo galleries, message boards/forums, project management, social networking, portals counters and much more!
  • Green Web Hosting – All of their shared and reseller server and now 130% wind powered. They’re not just neutralizing our environmental impact, they’re reversing it!

What about the Hosting Plans?

Of course! Even the cheapest hosting plan (the “Hatchling Plan” for $4.95 a month) is probably more than you will ever need. Plus if by chance you need more features you can always upgrade it later, with no charge!

Moving on …

All plans include:

  • Unlimited disk space and bandwidth
  • cPanel – which helps you manage your website and server. It’s felixible and easy to use.
  • NO CONTRACTS wit a 45 days Money Back Guarantee
  • Unlimited MySQL Databases with phpMyAdmin Access
  • Unlimited POP3 Email Accounts with SMTP, Autoresponders, Mail Forwards, Email Aliases, Mailing Lists
  • Web Based File Manager, Hotlink Protection, IP Deny Manager, Redirect URL
  • Programming Language: CGI, Fast CGI, PHP 5, Ruby on Rails, Perl, Python, SSI
  • Programming Modules: Curl, CPAN, GD Library, ImageMagick

Still Feeling Lost about Getting Started?

Almost all web hosting companies are famous for taking your order, setting up your account, sending you a welcome email then leaving you to figure out what to do next. At Hostgator that’s not going to happen. They Online offer a FREE support portal with over 500+ Video Tutorials and 680+ Help Articles. It’s perfect for newbies!

In addition to the tutorials and help articles, at anytime you can visit Hostgator and click the chat button at the top right of the site (see pic below) and ask them any question about how to get started. They are the most helpful customer service team around and I’ve never had to wait more than a few second for a chat operator to assist me.

Or if you have any questions about anything I have said regarding Hostgator you can contact me directly. I stand behind everything I have written. Hostgator ROCKS!

Do You Know of Any Hostgator Discount Coupon Codes?

Well sure I do! Sign up TODAY by using the ‘brandbuild‘ coupon and get a discount of $9.94 off the package price. With plans starting for as little as $4.95 a month, Hostgator is practically GIVING their hosting services away!

Ok, So How Do I Sign Up?

Well that’s the easy part. Please make sure you have your new domain handy, you will need to register a domain and purchase hosting at the same time.

Next go on over to Hostgator and click the big orange VIEW WEB HOSTING PLANS button.

Then, on the next page you will select your web hosting plan. Choose the first orange button on the left labeled “Order Now” to order the Hatchling Plan which starts at $4.95 a month.

Now is the time to enter your domain name. Be sure to enter the discount code ‘BrandBuild’ coupon code and get a discount of $9.94 off the package price.

Hit the CONTINUE TO STEP 2 button and continue to the next page where you will enter your billing info.

DONE! Now you will receive an email confirming your purchase and a notification that your account has been setup.

So I Received My Welcome Email, Now What?

Good Question! You can start by heading over to the Hostgator Tutorials section. They have tons of videos to get you started, but here are a few I think you should definitely take a look at.

Suggested Tutorials

Using Sitebuilder

Installing WordPress

Templates (link to free templates)