Maybe HostGator is one of the biggest and oldest web hosting companies, undoubtedly, its shared hosting plans are best. But they are posting a solid average uptime of 99.93% over the last year.
The basic shared hosting offers unlimited storage, bandwidth, a free domain for the first year, and a free SSL certificate. Their customer support is amazing, you can connect with them on live chat and they will answer you within a few seconds.
Read in detail below:
Pros of HostGator Shared
1. Stable Uptime of 99.93%
For the past 12 months, HostGator has posted an average of 99.93%. Though it is not the best time, on the other hand, it is not the worst as well.
The best part is that if they drop below 99.90%, they will give you one month of credit on your account as an uptime guarantee. For getting it you will have raised a ticket to receive this credit.
2. Decent Load Time 857 ms
Over the past year, HostGator’s services is keeping the site up. The average loading time is 857 ms over the last 12 months.
Undoubtedly, it is not the fastest speed, but it is properly better enough so it is in our pros. By the way, HostGator has improved a good deal of its page loading speed. Basically, it takes more than a second to load a site.
Having a fast page loading time is very important, but why?
Because if your page loads slow, it will directly have an extremely bad impact on your visitors, your visitors will lessen slowly. Hence your traffic will come down.
By the way, you can do some things to speed up your site without changing your host. But if your hosting is consistently slow, you must switch your host.
3. Good Support by HostGator
Actually, the best part of a company is its customer support. It is just like that of SiteGround and Dreamhost. You can contact their support team on the phone, by email, and live chat.
We asked some simple questions related to their hosting and they reply us faster. Even they clear all the doubts with their knowledgeable answers.
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4. 45-Day Money-Back Guarantee Given by HostGator
Earlier HostGator used to give a 30-day money-back guarantee. But the company is as confident as it has increased its money-back period to 45 days.
In other words, you can use this hosting for one and a half months and if you don’t like their service. You can raise a ticket and get your whole money back.
The money-back policy applies to all their plans, in other words, shared, reseller, and VPS hosting plans. But this does not come with its dedicated servers, administrative fees, install fees for custom software. By the way, these are common in the hosting industry.
But keep in mind, you have got a free domain with your hosting plan, they will deduct the standard fee of 15 dollars for the domain.
You are suggested to note that HostGator gives 90 days to issue a refund. They don’t refund money through a check, money back, Western Union Payments, or banks wire transfer, either.
Keep in mind, refunds are applied on new plans only. And at last, I would love to tell you that foreign currency is settled on the US dollar exchange rates.
5. Site Security Features Available in HostGator Hosting Plans
The shared hosting plans of HostGator are amazing. They give some extra security features as adding SiteLock monitoring to your site. The service runs on a daily basis and look out for any potential site branch or hack and inform you at once.
You are also offered Spam Assassin on their email plans, thus it helps to prevent spam from hitting your inbox in the first place.
But there is a drawback too. If you want to have a SiteLock facility, you will have to pay a little bit extra.
6. Free Site & cPanel Migrations
If your current hosting has given you more problems and you want to shift, you may choose HostGator. Because HostGator provides you with free Migrations.
After signing up, you have 30 days to be in touch. They will help you in moving any site files database, scripts, and even a domain name.
Even you will be able to transfer full cPanel. So if you have installed many sites; like other domains and subdomains. All are covered in the transfer.
HostGator’s shared hosting plans offer single site or cPanel migration. But there are different plans like resellers plan come with up to 30 migrations
7. Very User-Friendly for Beginners
HostGator provides a user-friendly interface for bloggers or webmasters. They provide great tutorials, walkthroughs, and more help navigating things.
They also provide extra features, especially for beginners. Even you can set up your site without hassle. Even you need not hire a designer to build your website.
HostGator provides many website builder tools, that are easy to use. What you have to do is just buy a single account for all of the necessities.
The templates are customizable and very modern. You begin and customize easily. Even you will get site analytics and a free SSL certificate for helping safeguard your visitors’ personal data.
HostGator also provides an eCommerce plan. Generally, you can easily set up an online store with full functions. Even you need not worry about payment gateways, plugins, and other technology.
Cons of Using HostGator Shared
There are two sides of a coin same as there are two sides of hosting so there are pros and cons of HostGator Hosting. I have discussed the pros of HostGator now I’ll tell you the cons of hosting.
1. Undoubtedly, a lot of Extra Fees for ‘True’ Backups, Gmail, and Malware
Undoubtedly, the plans of the shared hosting of HostGator are cheap. You can see that the introductory price starts at just $2.75 per month, this price applies only when you choose the plan for 36 months
HostGator’s cheapest plan (Hatchling) gives you a single domain name. Certainly, just you need just one click to install the most famous apps like WordPress, Joomla, and More. There is limitless bandwidth, unlimited storage, and a free SSL certificate. Basically, you will get all the core features you need for your complete website.
However, these are the features they provide basically. There is extra stuff like site backups, Gmail access, SiteLock Monitoring, and SEO tools. But they charge high for them.
Generally, you will get Gmail for $5 per month which is $60 per year. It is their normal pricing. If we talk about SiteLock you will have to pay $19.99 per year. Basically, you will be charged $23.95 per year for CodeGuard (to backup your sites)
So, initially, the plans look low cost but actually if your take all other services it will be a little bit expensive.
2. Industry-Standard Pricing ‘Tricks’
Though HostGator has extra fees, it pulls two pricing tricks, standard in the industry.
Though they advertise as low a price as $2.75 per month, it is only for those who pay for 3 months in one time for the first time. Else you will have to pay $10.95 per month which is the actual price for one month.
The low price works for beginners. When your plan expires, HostGator’s renewal price jumps drastically.
So if you buy their plan for 3 years, it is a great deal for you undoubtedly. The trouble starts after your plan expires and your trouble starts. For the same plan, you will pay around $6.95 per month extra which is $250.20 in total.
Author: Ritesh Gautam
Ritesh Gautam is the sole admin of inventivearticles.com.
