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HostGator continues to be a popular choice for webmasters looking for a fast, reliable and no non-sense webhosting provider. With over two and a half million domains calling their servers home, HostGator has become one of the 10 top webhosting services in the world.
Started in 2002, the privately owned company was started by Brent Oxley who is also currently its president and CEO. HostGator has since grown from a small webhosting company with 3 servers to one of the industry’s leaders with 7,000 servers maintained by 300 employees.
The company currently offers four major types of webhosting services; Dedicated, Shared, VPS and Reseller servers which are designed to meet the needs of both seasoned professionals and beginners.
At a Glance
- Unlimited Disk Space
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Free and Easy Domain Transfer
- Free SiteBuilder
- Easy Control Panel
- 1-Click Script Controls
- 4,500 Free Website Templates
- 99.9% Uptime Guarantee
- 45 Day Money Back Guarantee
- 24/7 365 Days Customer Support
- $50 Google AdWords Credit
- Flexible Plans
The Good
I was surprised to see that HostGator’s website didn’t feature any fancy flash presentations or the usual annoying pop ups of the other webhosting sites I’ve visited in the past. What I found out was a simple and easy to navigate website that seems to reflect the company’s principles.
- Reliability – Downtimes have become a major problem plaguing other webhosting services. Financial losses due to downtimes are simply unacceptable. With major businesses doing their marketing online a few minutes could translate to millions of lost revenues.
This is partly due to the fact that HostGator has its own data center and comes with a 45 day money back and 99.9 percent uptime guarantee. With years of experience in webhosting services and a solid technical backbone, the company is more than capable of delivering continuous services to its customers.
- Customer Service – A few calls to the 24/7 technical support lines gave me the impression of a company who really takes care of their customers. The line dividing companies in terms of technology is almost indiscernible and what separates a good company from an excellent one often boils down to how they take care of their clients.
The Bad
Quality comes with a price and a good company like HostGator is not an exception. Although their services start at a measly $4.95 dollars, getting premium services could cost a few more bucks compared to other webhosting providers.
Analysis
The first thing that struck me when I visited HostGator was its websites simplicity and ease of navigation. There were no cheap gimmickry or eye popping presentations which seem to be the norm with less reputable webhosting providers.
The bottom line is that HostGator is certainly one of the best webhosting companies in the business, bar none. A company who was able to grow from a mere 3 servers to a mindboggling 7,000 servers speaks mouthfuls in itself. HostGator is certainly included in my shortlist of quality webhosting providers that promises to deliver services 24/7 365 days a year.
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