2008-09-05 
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Host Gator Coupons
Use these coupons to get some major discounts. If you are going with the Month to Month Plan, use coupon code HGC25. This will make your first monthly bill just $0.01
If you select yearly billing weather it is 1 year, 24 months, or 36 months, use the code GREEN This is a special promotion. Host Gator is celebrating the company’s recent convention to more greener technologies. This coupon code offers a huge 20% OFF Discount which is pretty big when it comes to all yearly plans.
Coupon Instructions
- Use this link to go to the official Host Gator site.
- If you decide to pay month by month use coupon code HGC25 and you only pay $0.01 for the first month.
- If you decide to pay for the whole year use coupon code GREEN and you will get 20% OFF on your order.
Today we are reviewing Host Gator, a reputable website hosting provider for many years and still more to come.If you are looking for a new web host or thinking switching from your current host, this review will will guide you in the right direction.
The review is broken into different sections to give more emphasis to each category.
- Who is Host Gator?
- Hosting Types
- Host Gator Hosting Plans
- Supported Features
- Performance, Reliability, And Customer Service
- Price Structure
- Conclusion. Final Thoughts
Who is Host Gator? Get To Know The Company First.
Host Gator started their business in 2002 hosting shared platforms. Over time the company grew up to be one of the most reputable and reliable web hosts out there.
The company keep winning many awards due to their honest nature of business, excellent customer service, and quality services for fair prices.
Most recently the Host Gator went green to support the environment. This makes them one of the, if not the only hosting corporation to go green for the first time in the industry.
According to the company website, - “Host Gator has purchased certified Renewable Energy Credits representing 130% of the electricity used to both power and cool their servers.”
Shared, Dedicated, And Reseller Hosting
Host Gator offers three different hosting types. 1. Shared Hosting, 2. Dedicated Server Hosting, 3. Reseller Options. Let me give you an idea of what each one means.
Shared Hosting is your basic hosting option. If you are starting up a website or don’t have too much website traffic coming your way, a shared plan is more than enough.
With a Dedicated Server, you get your own server simple as that. If you are at the stage where your website is reaching traffic levels excess of couple of Million Pages Views a month or week, then Dedicated Hosting is your only option.
More on Dedicated Hosting, a Shared Hosting Account will never be able to handle the stress and network traffic on such a site. Your website will simply crash due to overload of network bandwidth. Make sure to switch to a Dedicated Server before you lose your customers for high traffic sites.
Finally, Reseller option is for anyone interested in running their own web hosting company like Host Gator. Basically you rent servers from Host gator, and they provide you with customer and tech support. All you do is create new customer accounts. You can name your own prices and keep all the profits.
Host Gator Hosting Plans
Shared Hosting
Shared Hosting is THE Option if you are starting out or simply have low traffic. Host Gator has 3 Shared Plans.
The first one is called “Hatching” followed by “Baby” and lastly “Swamp” which is their advanced plan. See the image below for a comparison.
All Shared Plans are Linux only for the moment. Windows Shared accounts are on the way soon.
A Tip : “Baby” and “Hatching” offers unlimited domains. If you are going to host lot of domains under one user account to keep your costs down, chose either one of these packages.
Dedicated Hosting (Linux)
Dedicated Hosting (Windows)
Quick Note : PHP files run on Linux, and ASP run on Windows Servers.
As you can see in the pictures both Linux and Windows basic packages run on 2.4 P4s which is more than enough power for an entry level server. The rest run on Intel Dual and Quad Xeons for higher performances.
A Tip : If money is not an option and you have millions of Page Views or Absolute Visitors coming your way, go with either one of the last two servers, otherwise check your statistic and analytic logs to see how much traffic levels you get on average, then make a decision.
At Project Web Design, I check my site analytical data everyday, and you should too if you are serious about maintaining a healthy traffic flow.
Supported Features
- cPanel - All 3 account types, Shared, Dedicated, and Reseller features cPanel, The Best Control Panel on the planet. cPanel gives you easy access to all commands and functions you need. Here is a sample cPanel screen shot
- Fantastico Deluxe - Fantastico is a one click script installer. You will be able to install those sleek popular scripts and web applications like WordPress, Forums, Image Galleries, etc.
- Other Features - 24×7 Support, Instant Backups, 45 Day Money Back Guarantee, Free / Instant Setup, MySQL Databases, CGI , PHP 5, Ruby On Rails, SSH, Perl, Python, Cron, GD, Image Magick, Streaming Audio/Video, Free Module Installation, Unlimited POP3 Accounts, E-mail Alias, Auto Responders, and much much more. See a full list of features on Host Gator’s main website.
Performance, Reliability, And Customer Service
Host Gator Data Centers are located at Dallas, Texas on Planet Servers. All Data Centers are highly equipped with the latest technologies and uses the highest security standards so you know your data is safe. The Data Centers are connected to 10 backbones service providers for an optimum reliability.
Host Gator offers 24/7 365 days a year toll free support. In addition there is a Knowledge Base, a Forum where you can ask questions from members, Plenty of Tutorials and How-To s, and a really Fast Support Ticketing system.
The Customer support is amazing. If you are going to use customer service, you will soon realize this is one of the friendliest support teams you ever talked with. They will work with you all the way to solve the problem.
Price Structure
With shared plans starting as low as $4.95 to $12.95 and all the features you get with each package, you can’t beat that deal. Let me explain to you how Host Gator price structure works.
For example, if you are going to pay month to month, the start-up plan “Hatching” will cost you $8.95 (which is your monthly fee) and a one time setup fee of just $5. If you calculate the total payment, that is $107.04 for a year.
The same plan - if you select 1 year of hosting option, you will be only paying $6.95 a month and there is no setup fee. The total now be reduced to $83.04
Select 24 Months of hosting, and it will be just $5.95 a month, again no setup fee. Total is $142.08 for whole 2 years.
Lastly there is a 36 Month option. Which means if you pay for 36 months of hosting, your monthly amount will be just $4.95. The total you are paying for the whole 36 months is just $178.20
A Tip : As you can see there are 4 options to chose from. You can select any payment structure you like. Remember for the lowest hosting price, 36 month is well worth it.
Conclusion. Final Thoughts
From day one, the hosting was rock steady. When they say 99.9 up-time, they really mean it. All our sites are constantly monitor through third party services, and never once we had a problem with a site being down for longer periods.
We tried other hosting firms before the switch. Host Gator offers the best features and services for what you are paying with an unbelievable up-time and armed with a friendly and knowledgeable technical support team.
We have many sites hosted with Host Gator for more than four years now, and we couldn’t be more happier.
If you are serious about your web host, you can never go wrong with Host Gator. Be sure to use the coupon codes provided here while they last.
Click here to go to Host Gator’s Website.
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November 18th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Nice blog I really like your writing style,it is really interesting to read your articles.
September 20th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
What a wonderful web host. You can not beat the price, specially the annual plans. I had down times with previous hosts for time to time, but with Hostgator it is 100% uptime since I joined them. Simply the best web host on the market. If you are looking for a host, this is it.
September 18th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Started to host with host gator 5 months ago. So far so good. I went with an annual payment plan which saved me a lot of money. I gave host gator 5 out of 5 for reliability, customer support, and for features you can not find anywhere else for the price point they offer. I highly recommend them to any newbies such as myself. Fantastico scripts are awesome. Thank you.
September 15th, 2008 at 2:00 am
After 4 years with Host Gator all I can say is WOW. Everything works. The support is unbelievable. Every possible feature you can imaginable they got it. I’m at a stage where my traffic is reaching close to 20,000 a month. Thinking switching to a Host Gator Dedicated server. If you are looking for a cheap reliable host, look no further.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:20 am
I love the fact that Host Gator has Fantastico Deluxe. I installed my WordPress site in les than 15 minutes. I have them for 8 years now. Love Host Gator. Keep it up!
September 10th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
My 5th year with Host Gator and The Best hosting decision I’ve ever made. Not a single hiccup since I started. Support is awesome. I tried WestHost and 1and1 before, but both are slow when loading pages. Host Gator is The BEST. Highly recommended.