Hostgator WordPress Hosting Reviews – What to Look For
Hostgator is a U.S.-based web host that was founded in 1999 and is currently valued at around $11 billion.
It is best known for its cheap web hosting plans, which start at just $2.95 per month. But this price includes features such as free backups, free domain registration, and free domain privacy. Additionally, the company also offers its own branded products, such as “WordPress” and “DreamHost,” which it sells directly to consumers.
Features
The main attraction of Hostgator for potential customers is its cheap and cheerful web hosting plans, which start at just $2.95 per month. This rate includes features such as free backups, free domain registration, and free domain privacy. If you sign up for a two-year term, you also get a free dedicated IP address from Verizon which you can use to create websites or to launch an online store.
But this is not necessarily the case, as Hostgator’s “Basic” plan does not include these features. This plan starts at $5.45 per month and does not include a free domain, free backups, or free domain privacy. Additionally, the “Basic” plan does not come with features that are comparable to those of the “Standard” plan. Therefore, if you are looking for a free domain, free backups, or free domain privacy, you should consider going for a more expensive plan.
Support
Unfortunately, not all web hosts are created equal, and Hostgator falls into this category. When it comes to customer support, the review site Score: 99 out of 100 says that Hostgator “doesn’t go above and beyond to provide excellent customer experience,” citing slow response time and unhelpful employees as reasons why they give the hosting company an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars.
And you’ll undoubtedly get an earful from unhappy customers if you click on the link to “Live Chat,” as you will be immediately greeted with a spinning wheel of doom. The only place where you can get some help is in the form of email, and even then it can be somewhat hit and miss: sometimes you get a helpful response, and other times you essentially have to keep checking your email to see if you have received any replies at all.
Security
The safety and security of your site is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a web host. For this reason, you will often find reviews that check out the security of the service, looking for holes and vulnerabilities in the code to assess the level of risk.
Unfortunately, Hostgator is a bit of a security nightmare, as it is extremely vulnerable to the “Heartbleed” bug. This is a serious vulnerability that allows hackers to steal your private keys and access your account. You could also become the target of a “Phishing” attack, where an impostor website lures you into providing your personal information, such as login details, social security numbers, credit card numbers, and other private details.
When it comes to the safety of your personal information, you should really think about some of the other hosts that you can compare Hostgator to. The cheaper the host, the more exposed it is to these types of hacks. An ideal host for security and privacy should be at least $5 per month, preferably more.
However, if you are looking for a host that is close to the bone and doesn’t want to spend a penny, then Hostgator is the ideal choice. This is because, as mentioned above, it costs barely anything to sign up with Hostgator. The downside is that, as it is a very low cost option, there are very few features that it offers. When it comes to the safety of your personal information, this is not the best option at all.
Reliability
Another important factor that you need to consider when choosing a web host is its reliability. After all, you will be spending a good portion of your life (or at least the next several years) on a website that you create, so you want to be sure that it is going to be there when you need it.
Unfortunately, this is where the review platform becomes a little fishy. One of the reasons why Hostgator is so cheap and easy to set up is that it relies on “shared hosting,” which essentially means that the company provides the hardware and software to run your website, and you pay for what you use. This is a cheaper model for the web host industry, and it allows Hostgator to keep its pricing low. But, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.
The downside is that shared hosting can be a little unreliable, especially if you are used to the reliability and stability of a dedicated server. If you are looking for a host that is always online and available, then try out one of the more expensive options, such as Bluehost, or a comparable option that is not as cheap.
Bandwidth
The amount of data (“bandwidth”) that you need to transfer to and from your site is one of the biggest factors which determine the price that you will have to pay. The more data you need, the more you will have to pay.
So, for example, if you have a standard plan which is costing you $5 per month and you want to increase your storage by 50GB, then you will have to pay an additional $75 per month. And it gets worse: if you make another purchase within the next 12 months, you will have to pay an additional $150 per month. So, if you are looking for a cheap and cheerful option, then Hostgator is the perfect choice as you will not have to worry about your bandwidth costs.
However, if you are looking for a host that has a large amount of available bandwidth, as much as 100GB or more, then you should consider moving to a premium option, such as Bluehost or a comparable host that is not as cheap.
Overall Review
Taking everything into consideration, it is apparent that Hostgator is the perfect choice for people who are on a tight budget. This is because, as we’ve established above, everything else costs less. For example, the price of a domain name is only a couple of dollars, and you can get a quality one from many different platforms for that price. Additionally, you will not have to pay for hosting, backups, or security, as these are all included in the plan which you choose. And last but not least, there is the price of a VPS (Virtual Private Server), which you can rent from a reputable company for around $5 per month, or you can get a fully loaded server from a reputable company for around $15 per month. This is a much more reliable and secure option that you can use to create a website or an online store.
If you want to read more about Hostgator, then check out our in-depth review of the hosting company. Or, if you’d like to try out Hostgator, then click on the button below to go to their official website and sign up for free.