Tuesday, August 3, 2010

HostGator vs. BlueHost, a Web Hosting Comparison

Now that we have had a chance to take a deeper look into the features offered with HostGator web hosting, we will compare them to the features of another top web hosting provider: BlueHost. In this HostGator vs. BlueHost web hosting comparison, we will look at the similarities and differences in the two web hosts and help you determine which is the better deal for you. It is always a good idea to review a web host before you purchase anything from them. Some things to look for include: disk space, bandwidth, design tools, content management systems, online advertising, and web hosting customer support. Of course the type of site you are creating will also effect what you need to look for. A simple review site such as: best digital camera reviews or a site to show how you are making dreams come true on a real budget, probably won't need a lot of eCommerce tools or the ability to accept credit cards. But if you are creating a business website and hope to make money online, eCommerce features will be a key element in your search. Let's take a look at the features of each host.

HostGator web hosting features (Hatchling Plan):
  • Unlimited disk space
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • 1 domain
  • Free site builder
  • Unlimited FTP Accounts
  • Unlimited MySQL Databases
  • Unlimited POP3 accounts
  • Webmail
  • IMAP support
  • Spam Assassin
  • Latest cPanel
  • Fantastico
  • Soholaunch
  • Shared SSL
  • Shopping cart options
BlueHost web hosting includes:
  • Unlimited disk space
  • Unlimited domain
  • Free Drag and drop site builder
  • Free Domain name
  • Unlimited POP3 and IMAP support
  • Unlimited GB site transfer
  • cPanel control panel
  • 1,000 FTP accounts
  • Spam assassin
  • 100 MySQL Databases
  • SSL Secure Server
  • Shopping cart options
We could almost just say ditto to either one and have it covered. Both of these web hosts offer a ton of features and have all the most popular add-ons available. Both offer 24/7 support, online backups, 1 click installs of the most popular scripts, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. BlueHost offers an anytime money back guarantee where HostGator's is only 45 days. But HostGator offers $100 in Google Search Ad credits where BlueHost only offers $50 in Yahoo and Google Credits. HostGator also offers unlimited MySQL and email accounts where BlueHost does have a limit. Overall, it appears that HostGator may have just a little better deal, but again, it depends on the needs of your site.
Use our special links below for the best deals on both HostGator and BlueHost. And don't forget to check out some of the website hosting reviews and web host rankings to see how their customers review their experience with each host.

Monday, August 2, 2010

New Stats for Domain Registration at HostGator

HostGator has been kicking some butt lately, and this week is no exception. In our review last week, they had added more than 8,000 domains in a week and the numbers this week are even bigger. HostGator has a very visible presence. They do a lot of online advertising as well as other forms of advertising including: magazine, billboards, even tattoo advertising. While we don't know exactly how people are finding out about HostGator, we do know that word of mouth advertising is very powerful. HostGator continues to offer some of the best features at the lowest price, but they also make sure that they provide the very best customer support. Happy customers tend to refer more people. Let's look at the current domain registration numbers:

New domains: 1,176
Transferred in domains: 1,318
Transferred out domains: 1,562
Deleted domains: 82
Net increase: 850
Total HostGator domains: 1,194,155

These numbers are impressive, especially considering this is activity for just one day! When we compare the total number of domains for today with the number from last week, 1,184,876; we see a difference of 9,279 in just one week! HostGator is very actively involved with their customers. Every time we check their Facebook or Twitter page we see almost immediate replies to any feedback concerning issues or problems from their customers. We have also found that any posts on their forums are always addressed quickly, with offers of assistance to make sure all issues are resolved to the customers satisfaction. It is inevitable that there will be some problems with any web host, it is just the nature of an online business, but the support that you will find with HostGator is always top rated.

Don't forget to use our HostGator coupon codes to get the best deals available. Our current coupon code: GREEN will save you 20% on your HostGator purchase. Sign-up now to get this special offer on HostGator web hosting.

Friday, July 30, 2010

HostGator Web Hosting Includes FTP Hosting

As one of the best web hosting providers in the industry, HostGator offers all the best products and features that you will need to create a great business or personal website. One of the first things you have to do to create a website is to upload all your files to your account. You may not think much about it before hand, but you have to have some way to get all your pictures and files from your computer to your website directory, that is exactly what FTP does for you.

What is FTP? FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. What does it do? Exactly what the name says, allows you to transfer your files. There are different types of FTP clients available. There are many open source FTP clients that give you the security you need, without paying extra. Other options include purchasing a cheap FTP program that will provide you with added features and security. Most of the paid FTP clients offer trial versions of their program so you can try it out and see if you will use the additional services. Something else you may have heard of is anonymous FTP. Essentially, this allows you to login to an FTP service as an anonymous user and just transfer your files. There is really no security or verification of any kind so if you are transferring any files with sensitive information, this may not be your best bet.

HostGator is well known for their excellent web hosting customer support. With everything from live chat and toll-free phone support to an incredible help forum and ticket support system. Another great feature you will find at HostGator is all the video tutorials they provide. They offer a number of tutorials on FTP service, as well, including: creating an FTP account, controlling FTP sessions, managing web users, and configuring FTP services. These are available for a bunch of different FTP clients including: FrontPage, FileZilla, Core FTP, Cute FTP, Smart FTP, and more.

Using a free FTP provider like FileZilla makes transferring files as easy as 1, 2, 3....
  1. Login to your FTP account - login info is found in your FTP manager.
  2. Select the files you want to transfer from your computer, listed in the left hand pane of the window.
  3. Drag them to the right hand pane, where your website directory is located.
You don't have to use FTP to transfer files to your website, but this is one simple free option that is available from most of the top web host providers. Visit HostGator today to see a complete list of all the web hosting products and features they offer. Use our coupon code: GREEN to save 20% today!

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Choose from 4,500 Free Website Templates from HostGator

For the non-technical website builders out there, HostGator offers 4,500 website templates for you to choose from. Using a website template is a great way to create a professional looking site in just a matter of minutes. HTML is no more a requirement for creating a website. Most of the best web host companies offer free website templates and free website builders. Simply login to your website builder and choose a design template. You can then use drag and drop features to add elements to your site or move parts of it around to make it look just the way you want. Type in your own text and add any additional features you want, then you are ready to publish.

At HostGator they have a huge variety of website templates to choose from. Designs covers all types of hobbies, business types, family sites, and everything in between. HostGator is always going a step above and beyond what the competition has to offer. Their free website templates are no exception. Most web hosting companies will offer a couple hundred templates for you to choose from and provide very little help with their installation. At HostGator you have more than 4,000 to choose from, all of them are arranged by category and give live previews, and they offer a complete video tutorial showing you exactly how to access and install them.

HostGator has all the products and features you will need for any type of web site whether you want to do some type of a review site like: best day spas, digital cameras, or even police equipment, or if you want to create a detailed ecommerce site to sell specialized products or services. HostGator offers shopping cart software, blogging software, and a ton of other gizmos that will make your site the very best. With HostGator you never have to worry about getting stuck and not being able to add the features you want or get them to work the way you want. HostGator provides hundreds of step-by-step video tutorials that will walk you through everything. If you do run into a problem you can't find the answer to, HostGator offers live chat support, email support and telephone support. There is always someone available to answer your questions and make sure all of your web hosting needs are being met.

Sign up for the best web hosting services available at: HostGator. Use our coupon code: GREEN at checkout to get the best deal around. With our special coupon code you will save 20% instantly.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Install phpBB Forum Software on Your HostGator Website

With HostGator web hosting your options are seemingly endless. Not only do you have three different web hosting plans you can choose from, but each plan is packed with the best products and features available. In this post we will focus on forum software installation. At HostGator you can install any forum software but our review will be on phpBB forum software. As an open source software, phpBB has become one of the best forum software packages available. It is simple to install, just login to your HostGator control panel. phpBB3 is the current version offered and includes a lot of features not available in the previous phpBB2 version.

Additional phpBB features offered in phpBB3:
  • UTF-8 Support
  • Search Engine Spider Handling
  • Temporary Bans
  • Paid Security Code Audit
  • Type Aware Parameter Handling
  • Anti-spam Suspensions, Warnings, Report Posts and Private Messages Report
  • Data Management for: Oracle, Firebird, SQLite
  • Many additional registration features
  • Custom BBCode Buttons
  • Quote Multiple Posts
  • Syntax Highlighting
  • Multiple attachments
  • Post Drafts
  • New Caching Features
These are just a few of the features added to phpBB3. Overall users of phpBB forum software now have more control over their account. With the ability to create sub forums, password protected areas, drafts and many other features, you will be able to crate the forum that is the best for your site. Because phpBB is so well known and used by such a large number of people you can be assured that customer support will be available and any problems or glitches that arise will most likely be fixed in a timely manner.

Visit the HostGator site today to see all the features and benefits of hosting your personal website or business website with them. Use our coupon code: GREEN at checkout to save 20% on your order. Using a reliable host like HostGator, who is known for providing the best customer service, is the best way to go. You may pay a little more to start out but if you can avoid the hassle of switching hosts and transferring domains, it is definitely worth the price. Visit HostGator today!!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

cPanel Hosting Included in HostGator Web Hosting Plan

HostGator offers a ton of great web hosting features that make building a website easy and that give you the ability to make a professional site without a lot of technical knowledge and skills. One of these tools is the cPanel control panel. cPanel is a Linux based control panel that has become one of the best control panels available. Your web hosting control panel is very important in creating and managing the content of your website. Let's take a look at some of the things you can do with the cPanel control panel.
  • Upload new web pages and content
  • Edit web pages
  • Transfer files
  • Back up your data
  • Create and manages your email accounts
  • Protect your web pages from misuse
  • Learn about web traffic and web page errors on your site
  • Add additional applications like blogs or eCommerce functions
cPanel provides a setup wizard and online tutorials that will walk you through the initial setup and help you get started and familiar with all the items on your control panel. HostGator also offers a live demo of the cPanel control panel on their site. When you click on the cPanel demo, you will see a live preview of what your cPanel will look like. This is a great opportunity to browse through all the icons and navigation to see what all is available and get more information if there is anything you have a question about. The cPanel includes everything from a billing system, to keep track of your HostGator account, to web site builder tools, website templates, and other account addons. Use the support portal to get answers to any questions you may have.
Other helpful tools that you can find within cPanel include website traffic, telling you how many visitors you had to your site the day before, so far this month, and total last month. It also provides you with other real time stats including CPU usage, memory usage, how many email accounts, FTP accounts, and SQL databases you are using as well as how many are still available. In cPanel you will have all the vital information for your website. Visit HostGator and preview the cPanel control panel today. Be sure and use our coupon code: GREEN, when you sign up, to save 20% on some of the best web hosting!

Monday, July 26, 2010

New Stats for HostGator vs Competitors July 26, 2010

In this weeks status update we will be doing a little web hosting comparison. It is fun to watch and see how HostGator numbers continue to grow, but it is also fun to compare them with some of their top web hosting competitors. Today we will compare HostGator with both BlueHost and HostMonster. All three companies have been in the web hosting business for a number of years and are some of the best web hosting companies in the business.

Our HostGator review of stats:

New domains: 1,212
Transferred in domains: 1,513
Transferred out domains: 1,546
Deleted domains: 44
Net increase: 1,135
Total HostGator domains: 1,184,876

Compare to our BlueHost review of stats:

New domains: 758
Transferred in domains: 403
Transferred out domains: 510
Deleted domains: 428
Net increase: 223
Total BlueHost domains: 1,102,247

Compare with our HostMonster review of stats:

New domains: 462
Transferred in domains: 226
Transferred out domains: 381
Deleted domains: 299
Net increase: 8
Total HostMonster domains: 709,278

In comparing the HostGator numbers to our review last week, we can see that HostGator has added an incredible 8,012 domains in just one week! That is a huge increase. Because we don't know the totals of the other two host from a week ago, we will just look at the one day changes for these two compared to the one day increase for HostGator. HostGator's one day domain registration increase was 1,135. Looking at BlueHost their increase was significant at 223 but HostMonster stayed nearly the same, adding only 8 new domains to their servers. This doesn't mean that BlueHost and Host Monster are not doing a good business, however, it does make us wonder what HostGator is doing to be SO far ahead of the competition.

In our previous posts we have taken the time to review a lot of the features and services offered by HostGator. As we have continued to watch this host for several weeks, we have found that they are really involved with their customers. Whether you are looking at their Facebook page, Twitter page, or forum's on their site, HostGator is constantly working to make sure that their customer's are happy and that their needs are being met. Excellent customer support is an absolute must in this industry. Check back often to see what is new with HostGator.