HostGator Reviews Complaints
HostGator Reviews and Complaints. There are many reviews and complaints about HostGator on the net. We seek out the truth for you and explain about HostGator.
HostGator is a web hosting company which also allows a drag and drop element to help you build a website fast. Review their hosting options and there is nothing to complain about. The cover pretty much everything anyone could want in hosting.
Product Name: HostGator
Website : https://www.HostGator.com
Price : Depends on requirements See below for prices, from $2.75 / month.
Owner : HostGator
Ranking : 80/100
HostGator Overview
HostGator, when reviewed, offers a range of website services:
- Hosting
- Domains
- Services
- Support
- Affiliate contracts
They claim to have over 500 employees and over 100,000 customers.
The company was founded in 2002.
They now offer their own managed WordPress hosting.
WordPress is probably the most commonly used Website building system.
It lends itself nicely to beginners and professionals alike with its “off the peg” themes which can be easily adapted to the individual’s needs.
Many of these themes are free and so very suitable for a first-time website builder.
What is HostGator about?
HostGator provides a one-stop-shop for building a website and refining it to your needs.
They also provide a range of hosting which can encompass high security, reliability and speed.
Their plans range from a 1 website hosted up to multiple websites (domains) with e-commerce and support for applications if you need it.
What Does HostGator Do?
To get a Website with your chosen name, you will need to “buy” the name through an authorised agent. This avoids duplication because only one name with a specific extension can exist.
We call this a domain name.
You can start by registering your domain name through HostGator or transferring an existing domain into HostGator.
Managing the domain with
- Individual settings,
- Security or
can all be done from within your account.
Hosting with HostGator
Once you have bought a domain name you have to put it on the internet, just like placing a shop on the high street.
This is called “hosting.”
HostGator provide a range of Hosting Services.
As I said, WordPress is definitely the Website designer’s means to a quick, efficient website these days. HostGator specialise in WordPress.
Often with an internet business, there is a need for more than one website. HostGator offer a range of contracts which can also include several domains.
One of the alternatives, they offer, is V.P.S. hosting. This means that the operating system, as well as the website can be run. This can allow for a much more complicated business which needs more interaction with the clients using it.
Virtual Private Server = VPS.
All websites on the internet are placed on a server. A server is a high performance hard drive which is
- never switched off
- is backed up
- is serviced and taken care of frequently.
A company like Hostgator will have many of these around the world, run remotely. Different websites (domains,) share these hard drives.
If you have a VPS, you have a dedicated part of a server that is only for your use. It can have an operating system on it so that you can run the software, just like having your own PC at home but a VPS is always on and always backed up, (or SHOULD be.)
It also means that almost any software can be installed on the VPS as well.
Cloud Hosting is very similar and it is usually about accessibility.
HostGator Review
HostGator has a solid background in the business of hosting and building websites.
There is a lot of information on their website, covering, the services they offer and the prices.
There is information about the
- support they offer,
- tutorials,
- forums and live chat.
They also offer affiliate relationships which means you can market their products for a commission and earn some money. They also support you with visuals, click through banners etc.
You would need a website with visitors already coming to it to take advantage of the affiliate relationship.
Cloud Hosting can improve your website functioning when accessed by mobiles, (“cell phones” to cousins.)
Applications can run in the background, such as databases with stored information for customers to look up.
Altogether, HostGator is a professional all-round hosting service which is of a high quality.
The Good in HostGator
Professionalism and experience will always show up in any business and HostGator has this in spades.
They have entry level hosting and web-building and can also cater for the advanced professional with a large busy website.
The HostGator website offers a wealth of information about the company and what they offer.
The Bad in HostGator
HostGator suffer a little from being a large company and responses are not very personal. If you are a slightly nervous beginner, that can put you off.
They are also a part of a larger company EIG which owns several other companies including a security one.
There are a lot of recent complaints about the customer service and infected website claims. It is difficult to understand why a large successful company should lower their standards and so lose customers. It does seem to be happening, though.
Who is HostGator for?
Anyone who wants professional hosting, beginners and experienced internet business people alike.
You can grow as much as you like, HostGator will cope.
Who is HostGator Not for?
If you have no idea what you are going to build a website for, no real purpose and if you feel you would like to get something started, I think you may be better suited with a company like Wealthy Affiliate.
If you are not tech savvy and have only limited all round internet knowledge, stay away.
Tools and Training in HostGator
Good quality video tutorials. They cover most of the things you will need to know. If you are a beginner, though, and maybe struggling with technology or buzz words, perhaps a thorough grounding in all aspects of the business would suit you better. Wealthy Affiliate can provide this and it is genuinely free to join and dip your toes in the exciting waters of internet business and websites.
HostGator Support
24/7 support and live chat is available. You do not have to be signed up to access the support and query things you may need before making a buy decision.
If you are a beginner, the free Weebly Website Builder will enable the most tech allergic to get a good looking website up and running quite quickly.
For the more advanced there is support for
PHP 5
Python
Perl
Fast CGI
Cron.
They claim an unlimited bandwidth available so there should be no trouble with large, very busy sites. There have been complaints recently about extra charges for increased bandwidth.
They offer plugins and support for shopping carts and PayPal so setting up a professional eCommerce site should be straight forward.
HostGator Pricing and Upsells
A range of options starting at a low price of $2.75 per month. Please check the current prices because HostGator do slide them up and down and often have “offers.”
It is not difficult to shift plans later if you find you need more of anything.
If you are starting out, go for the “Hatchling Plan” and get your first website hosted and active.
If you are not sure what to do about launching your own business on the net, I can personally recommend the program I use.
The program I use include training, hosting and website building all in a package. The training will walk you through the whole process from registering your domain to figuring out how to decide what to market and how to get customers. A very large vibrant community offers a range of support and encouragement.
There are no upsells which will be pressed on you. You may well want to expand your horizons and grow your business later.
HostGator Balance Pros and Cons
This is a well-established company that knows what people need and supply it.
No company is perfect but HostGator has a lot more plusses than minuses and the complaints are usually minor ones, although recently things have begun to get worse.
They offer unlimited bandwidth and SSL security as standard. These are often charged at a premium by other suppliers. (Note that some recent complaints state that HostGator is charging extra for these now.)
Some of their account management is not so user-friendly as it could be, but compared with the value for money they offer, this is not a large consideration.
HostGator Complaints
In all big companies, things go wrong from time to time. HostGator have a really good contact set-up and you can contact them by email, live chat or phone.
They are easy to contact and quite good at solving problems.
The reviews I have found recently are not so good. They have moved the support centre abroad and are apparently using poorly trained staff. The support staff are struggling with technical terminology and not really being very helpful.
It is a pity if this is true because HostGator has been a really good company in the past.
Product Name: HostGator
Website : https://www.HostGator.com
Price : Depends on requirements See below for prices, from $2.75 / month.
Owner : HostGator
Ranking : 80/100
Verdict: HostGator Recommended or Not?
A definite “yes” here if you want a company with a lot of expertise and technical know-how. They can supply you with all aspects of hosting as well as registering and managing websites.
There is not much more HostGator could offer to fulfill your needs in the hosting and website building areas. They pretty well cover it all.
The complaints on the net are coming in thick and fast now and there is something not quite right going on. Sometimes this can be a concerted effort from a competitor to damage the reputation of a successful company. I am personally on the fence and watching.
I would say that it may be a good idea to wait and see with HostGator, for the time being.
If you are not sure about the business side of things and, perhaps, do not know what you want to build your business around, maybe Wealthy Affiliate would be a better place to start.
This review is my personal opinion based on some years of experience and a lot of really excellent training.
If you have experienced similar problems to the ones mentioned here, especially with the program reviewed here, please do comment. We welcome honest views of all kinds.
If you are very happy with the HostGator service, please do tell us.
If you are interested in a genuine free trial of an excellent training platform, click the button below. No obligation.
Thanks for the unbiased review on this company. Never heard of Host Gator before and it is good to see that they are a some good company to use, and if someone does not want or need to ask any web hosting questions, this may be a good fit.
From the sounds of it; when someone is new to building websites, they may need a little more help. How does your option compare to Host Gator up to getting answers from the support system?
Have a great day!
Chad
Thanks Chad.
You have asked such an important question.
I can say that, hand on heart, I have never had such fantastic tech support as Wealthy affiliate offers.
The nitty gritty is that when something technical goes wrong it is time consuming and frustrating to have to wait for the tech guys to sort things out.
In WA it is minutes and hours and even with something really challenging, they get stuck in and get it sorted.
My own experience of Host Gator was nowhere near so good. they have the support there but it will depend on their workload, I guess, as to when they come back to you.
My strengths are in research and writing so I do not pretend to be a tech expert and so I feel very dependant on that support.
Great information and great review. I was presented with Host Gator and Blue Host as well before I joined WA. It was tough trying to determine which options were best because they were pretty similar so of course I went to the reviews. BH seemed to have less negative reviews at the time I believe so I was leaning toward that one but a number of people continue to recommend Host Gator that I knew personally. I checked out their websites that they built using HG and they all seemed really cool for people with absolutely no technical knowledge so it guess it is working for them.
Great research and review!
Thank you Cris.
I have used host Gator myself before and had few problems. My tech knowledge is just the bare minimum so I appreciate Wealthy Affiliates, especially their hosting and security. I feel I can leave it up to them and just get on with research and marketing.
My only complaint about Host Gator was the incessant emails after I had left. That dried up after I blocked them.
Apart from that, they seem pretty solid.
I’ve heard of HostGator but the things I heard were not that great so I went with another company for my main business. I can’t recall all the details but I think it was a service complaint I heard. The VPS hosting looks great – that really is something that you need these days for your business. I see they also offer free SSL with the hosting packages – I have to pay every year for mine!
Thanks Lynne
Yes I think HostGator fell foul of their own success and downgraded the support. The result was a well of complaints. People publish complaints quickly on the net.
I have noticed a move towards using VPS for security reasons. A lot of the antivirus companies are introducing it. I guess most people are online pretty much all the time these days. Smart phones are overtaking PCs, tablets and laptops in internet access.
Thanks for your comment.