Review: Hostgator

Host Gator has been known as a top webhosting provider since 2002, and their reputation for reliability remains with them today. Recently proclaimed the 21st fastest growing web hosting company in the country, Host Gator is about making web hosting easy, approachable and affordable. More than eight million domains call HostGator their home, which isn’t a small feat, and says a lot about their service and their credibility. With clients in over 200 countries across the globe, Host Gator offers hosting packages and products for personal and business needs alike.

PRICING CONCERNS

One of Host Gator’s main goals, outlined on their homepage, is to offer affordable hosting to the world. And, to be sure, they do a pretty good job. Their starter plan, what they refer to as their “Hatchling Plan”, gets you begun with a great shared hosting setup that includes unlimited space, bandwidth, subdomains and more. It starts at $3.96 per month, with frequent special offers! The next tier up, the “Baby Plan”, begins at $6.36 per month offering unlimited domain hosting, unlimited parked domains and access to dedicated IP options. Their most powerful Business Plan supplies free dedicated ISP and free SSL for $10.36 per month, and even throws in your own toll-free number.

RELIABILITY AND UPTIME

Host Gator’s data centers are seated in Houston Texas where the company is based. Their data centers boast state of the art security, 24/7 monitoring, top-of-the-line equipment and more. That is why the company can offer their 99.9% uptime guarantee. What’s more, Host Gator is one of many top hosting companies that begun thinking Green. They are now investing in alternative energy sources, which they use to supplement their regular power-usage. They also offer redundant power to make sure their systems stay up and working, even in the event of a power-outage, or unforeseen disaster.

CONTROL PANEL INFORMATION

Host Gator offers cPanel, the Control Panel which has become the industry standard solution. This means that if you’re not know much about cPanel, and need a bit of help, you’ll find a lot of people who are ready and willing to give you a hand. cPanel is known for facilitating direct control of all email, domain, website accounts and more. What’s more, it provides streamlined management capabilities, monitoring capabilities and statistics generators, as well. With Host Gator, Fantastico is bundled with cPanel, offering you an easy to use content management system for your site.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

In 2008, HostGator ran a survey among their customers to review satisfaction with their product. A jaw-dropping 90%(approx.) said that they were satisfied with their hosting and with Host Gator’s service. The fact is that, much of Host Gator’s name and reputation is based on their excellent support. Should you have an inquiry or concern, feel free to contact their representatives by telephone, Live Chat, fax, or e-mail/ticket system. We also admired their large database of video tutorials, a help section, a forumn, FAQ and other informational articles that will help you find what’ you’re looking for. Nevertheless, most clients agree that Host Gator is very responsive, that representatives are knowledgeable, and that they are capable of fixing your problem as quickly and efficiently.