About 12 years ago, I registered my first domain name, purchased a hosting account, and created a basic website showcasing my graphic design work. I used GoDaddy for the domain and hosting, and continued to use them for several sites for many years. Their ads were everywhere and everyone always thought of them as the go-to people for domains and hosting. I just thought they were the best out there and there was no point in looking elsewhere.
I took a new job at a small ad agency in the spring of 2009 doing design work and some web stuff. My first day, I was thrown into hosting issues and was instructed to move everything over to their main host HostGator. I had never heard of them and thought the name sounded childish.
Shortly after, I started having hosting problems on a forum I ran as well as another site I built. GoDaddy tech support was not helpful, but HostGator was. So I said, what’s the worst that can happen, and moved all my sites to HostGator hosting. I can honestly say I’m very pleased with everything! Their support has always been great and they even transferred all of my databases for me.
GoDaddy not only lost all of my hosting business, they also lost all of my domain name business. I had been hearing a lot of buzz from internet marketers about Namecheap, so I just went for it and transferred all my domains to them. Another success story! They are awesome and they give you free WhoisGuard Protection with every new domain purchase. And there is always a good coupon code (this code is good until the end of August: NCSUMMER for standard discounts on com/net/org/biz registrations/transfers).
Back to HostGator, I use their Baby hosting plan which gives me unlimited domains, disk space, and bandwidth for one low monthly price. Pretty epic! They have all sorts of hosting accounts, depending on your needs, here are just a few:
- WordPress Hosting – Host Your WordPress Blog with HostGator!
- Magento Hosting – Host Your E-commerce Store with Magento and HostGator!
- phpBB Hosting – Host Your Forum Community with phpBB and HostGator!
Their cPanel admin area is very simple to use and I just have one login to manage all of my sites, as well as one FTP login to manage all of my files. Very simple! So with all that said, if you are looking for your first web hosting company, or you’re tired of your current one (like I was), please give HostGator a chance. And you can get your first month for only $0.01. Yes, (1) penny! Click here for that deal now! Enjoy!
FYI: I am a HostGator affiliate and I receive a commission if you signup for a new account. In no way did I write this to become rich, and actually, I don’t care if I make $1. I just like to spread the word about great products, services, and companies that I have personally used. But if I can make a few bucks in the process, I’m ok with that. So, just in case you were wondering, there you go. Cheers!