If you are looking for hosting programs to get you started, you may have seen that there are a couple different offers that are in force right now. Both are great deals, but choose wisely, young grasshopper, if you want to get the best deal for you!
I Need Help With WordPress has been hosted on HostGator and I have used them (and recommended them) for a couple years now. Several of my clients have used them and have been very pleased with them as a hosting company.
A few days ago, I wrote a post about how HostGator is giving $125 worth of adverting credits for using them (see the post here). Because I have a many active websites, I use a super heavy duty hosting company as well as HostGator. One of the thing I love about HostGator is that for under $10 a month, I can host unlimited domains, websites and blogs on my one account. UNLIMITED! How awesome is that! In comparison, I spend $44 a month on my other hosting company for unlimited service as well (there are some other advantages but the hosting is the same!)
Ok – so Hostgator is a great hosting company. Two Thumbs Up!
3 Great Plans – Choose Carefully!
HostGator has 3 plans that they offer – you can see them here:
Let me come out and say that the third option to the right (Business Plan) is probably too much for most people – The toll-free number is a nice feature if you wanted that. Otherwise, I would say stick with the Hatchling Plan or the Baby Plan. With that said, the Baby Plan offers UNLIMITED domains – so if you want to have more than 1, you are better off with this package! This is the one that I am using. Again, you can get this plan for under 10 bucks a month!
HostGator is having a promotion with a couple different Coupon Codes. Here are the two new coupon codes you can choose from:
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Use Coupon Code: OnlyForAPenny
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Use Coupon Code: Save25Perc
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Here is where the math is important to use 馃檪
If you use the coupon code “OnlyForAPenny” your FIRST MONTH of hosting will cost you 1 cent (and actually, it came up as $0.00 when I tested it!) Not a bad price! This is the “Start Your Website Hosting For Nothing” cost! But be warned… After that, your hosting costs will be charged $9.95 a month. This is the normal month-to-month charge. If you pre-pay for a year, 2 years, or 3 years, your cost will be a little lower.
If you use the coupon code “Save25Perc” your FIRST MONTH of hosting will cost you $7.46. After that, your hosting costs will still cost you $7.46 a month (if you pre-pay for 6 months or longer. The longer you sign up for, the less expensive per month it is).
IMPORTANT SAVINGS INFORMATION
By the way, when you go to HostGator to order, they automatically use the Coupon Code of SPRING to get you 20% off. It says that is the best discount available. This is not true! Why do they say that when it is not true? I dunno! Change the Coupon Code to “Save25Perc” and you save 25%!
Here is an example of the Penny offer and the Save 25% offer for a year of hosting:
| Month | OnlyForAPenny | Total Cost | Save25Perc | Total Cost | |
| 1 | $0.01 | $0.01 | $7.46 | $7.46 | |
| 2 | $9.95 | $9.96 | $7.46 | $14.92 | |
| 3 | $9.95 | $19.91 | $7.46 | $22.38 | |
| 4 | $9.95 | $29.86 | $7.46 | $29.84 | |
| 5 | $9.95 | $39.81 | $7.46 | $37.30 | |
| 6 | $9.95 | $49.76 | $7.46 | $44.76 | |
| 7 | $9.95 | $59.71 | $7.46 | $52.22 | |
| 8 | $9.95 | $69.66 | $7.46 | $59.68 | |
| 9 | $9.95 | $79.61 | $7.46 | $67.14 | |
| 10 | $9.95 | $89.56 | $7.46 | $74.60 | |
| 11 | $9.95 | $99.51 | $7.46 | $82.06 | |
| 12 | $9.95 | $109.46 | $7.46 | $89.52 |
If you plan on blogging for more than 4 months, you are better off with the Save25Perc coupon code. If you are going for a month to month option to ‘test things out’, go with the OnlyForAPenny coupon code.
You can play around with the other lengths of time and see how the plans work for you.
Thank you for the information, appreciate you for sharing !
Hello Paul– i LOVE your 28 day course, but i have my domain, and LOVE HostGator as well- have that all set up. now i am trying to figure out the ftp set-up, and am in a terrible hurry. i am using Brian’s tutorials and HG’s tutorials, but i keep getting certain error messages. i wonder if you could skip me to that point in your lessons? ( i guess your lessons are on an auto-responded, but if you could bump me up, i would be eternally grateful!) THANKS!
Just sent you everything, Julie!
Hello Paul; I like where your course is going but I already have a domain with ipage using WordPress I have been trying to work on this site for almost a year now but for the most part I have no clue what I am really doing. I hope by the time I am finish with your course my sit will be up and running. I am very grateful for this thank you!
Wonderful! Let me know if you have any questions!
Hi Paul! I have a few registered domain names with GoDaddy and also several blogs on WordPress.com. Is your course going to use WordPress.org mechanisms? Will it take less time to transfer a WP blog or to build another website using one of my domain names? I appreciate your help! –Kebba
Kebba – yes – we use the software available at WordPress.org to enable you to have a self hosted site that is NOT on WordPress.com.
If you have a blog on WordPress.com, you can copy all the contents from there onto your own domain if you want. That would certainly be faster than building a site from scratch. There are considerations to loading it all at once vs. dripping out content on a daily basis. It all depends on what you want/need to do.
Hi Paul,
Looking forward to this 28 days and your webinar tomorrow.
I have a site for one business that a web designer (ugggg) did for me with the promise I would be able to maintain it on my own…NOT HAPPENING right now. BUT at the same time I’m starting another blog/business and have a domain purchased. (Pier39designs.com) Now can I use host gator for the second one? Cause It says I already have one? I thought I was on the plan that allowed me to have multiple sites? Can I still use your code for this new blog?
So GLAD (yes I’m yelling this) I FOUND YOU!
Karyn Lisk
Thanks, Karyn – I hope you enjoyed the webinar. I like to do those every once in a while 馃檪
If your HostGator account allows you to host more than 1 domain (website) you should be ok. If your plan only permits one website, you can either upgrade to the unlimited account (for only a few dollars more a month) or create another account. Each has pros and cons to it.
Everything that is taught in the 28 Day course can be used on a new (or existing) site!
Let me know if you have any questions.
Be Well.
Paul.
Does HostGator also offer email addresses such as me@mysite.com?
They do – all hosting accounts should give you the opportunity to do this. If not, find a different hosting company. By the way, I need to update this page – but I am tending towards a different hosting company these days.
Hi Paul! I’m looking forward to the next 26 days! I have a domain name from Go Daddy. They of course want me to use them for hosting stating it will be easier for trouble shooting down the road (having all services with them, they can see everything). Any truth to that? In a reply from April you say you may start recommending another service, any update on that? So, it’s ok to use a different company for domain & hosting. Thank you! Excited to get moving on this!
Hi Julie – Yes – I will be recommending another company in the near future – More news on that later. You can still get good results with HostGator. Their support seems to be a bit sluggish more recently.
Regardless of what company you use, I will ALWAYS recommend using a different company for your hosting and your domain name registration.
hi Paul, I am in the process of signing up for HostGator. As I am checking out they offer several addons (Domain Privacy, Site Lock, Code Guard) totaling about $40. Do I needs these? Is it worth the $$? I think you talk about site security in the next lesson (I am on day 4), but don’t want to get behind. Thanks!
Julie
No need to go for all the upsells, Julie. Just stick with the hosting for now.
By the way, no need to feel like you are ever falling behind! You can go at your own pace!
I changed from godaddy to hostgator and now they are as bad as godaddy in terms of having the server be slow. Other have suggested a dedicated server. When I have more time, I’ll look into this. Apparently hostgator got bought out and now . . .
I am a reseller w/eBay, Amazon & 2 Dropshippers. I want to create one website which will allow me to sell from each of these stores but separately so that I can tell which order came from which store. My ultimate goal is to then have it automated from eCommHub. I have no idea what I am doing but looking at the themes, I’m not sure it’s possible. Any help is appreciated as I want to be sure I start off on the right foot. Thanks.
Have you signed up for the 28 Day ecourse? That can get you stated, Adelena!
Hi Paul,
I am really excited about your course. I do need guidance in how to handle my current website. I have it up and active on my chosen domain and it is hosted with GoDaddy. My problem is that I only have one domain, it is built with a website builder which I just used for a foundation and changed it to fit my style. Since it is with a website builder, I can not ftp files and I am restricted to only 5 pages. The hosting was a special deal, so I could purchase another hosting package, but not sure how to handle that. I have the domain name that I want to use so would I have to cancel that hosting to host with another company or is it better to upgrade to another package. I am concerned that in learning WordPress and any other techniques that I am going to be unable to use them since I can not ftp and restricted in pages and domains. Please help.
Hi Dal –
Thanks for sharing! There is a lot to be said about starter websites like what you have. On one hand, they can be good to promote a business or a service. On the other hand, you have to ask yourself if what is provided reflects the image that you want people to ‘get’ when they see your website.
Limited hosting such as you have (5 pages maximum, limited access to files, minimum design options, etc.) box you in to limited selections.
Moving on to a very open platform that gives you more control is generally beneficial for most businesses and each one is different. Because you are asking leads me to think it is time for you to move ahead with a more flexible solution.