How to Order Hosting with HostGator
HostGator is one of the best web hosts in the States. They are based in Texas and were founded in 2002. One of the best features outside of the high quality, well maintained servers is that the excellent customer service is also based in Texas, rather than in an offshore office thousands of kilometers away in another country.
This web host offers shared hosting, VPS hosting and dedicated web hosting.
Ordering Shared Hosting with HostGator
From the HostGator home page, you are presented with the choice to “View Hosting Plans,” or lower down on the page is the option to “View VPS Plans” or “View Dedicated Plans”.
Most people will want to purchase a Shared Hosting plan because it covers 95% of web sites' needs very well. Ordering Shared Hosting is explained below.
Order Shared Hosting
Click the “View Hosting Plans” in the center of the home page.
From this next page, you have to option for three different hosting plans under the shared hosting.
The Hatchling Plan will only host a single site, so it offers little room for expansion.
The Baby Plan is the recommended option because multiple sites can be hosted and there are many features provided within this plan.
The Business Plan has the benefit of a static IP address for the hosting, a free private SSL encryption certificate for secure e-commerce transactions, and a toll free (US only) contact number for support calls. A shared SSL certificate can be used or a private one can be purchased later, so we recommend the Baby Plan.
Order Shared Hosting - Baby Plan
Click the drop-down combo box to decide how long you wish to host with HostGator. You will be charged in advance for the full cost for periods of one month to 3 years, but significant discounts apply for longer registrations.
It is worth mentioning that unlike other hosts, it is usually not possible to obtain hosting discounts later once signed up, so this is the best way to secure discounted hosting.
Once the billing period has been selected, click “Order Now”.
HostGator Order Wizard
You will be given the chance to register a new domain or use an existing domain that you own as the master domain associated with your account.
Below this, the shared hosting plan information with be shown, along with the payment plan. If you wish to change either, you can do so at this stage without needing to go back.
Next, you must choose a unique username and a security PIN. These help you login and also identify you for customer support requests.
After this, you must enter the billing information that matches the details for your debit card, credit card or PayPal account.
There are four hosting add-ons to choose between. The best one is the SiteLock which provides extra protection for your site.
If you know of a good discount coupon, you can get up to a 20% discount on yearly hosting packages. This would be entered in the coupon section. You may use coupon "hostgatoroff25" to get 25% off discount.
Once everything is completed, a breakdown of the full charge is shown at the bottom. If this is correct, you can click the check-box to confirm that you have read the terms & conditions, and then click the “Create an Account” button to begin your hosting with HostGator.