Hi all, hope you enjoyed reading our previous blog post on the reasons why you need to avoid free web hosting. Today we’ll take a look at which web hosting is better in this HostGator.in vs HostGator.com (HostGator India vs HostGator) comparison guide. Let’s get started!
HostGator has two different websites – one for its U.S. (United States) users another for its Indian users. HostGator India was primarily launched to provide Indians with a localized payment option. Even though in terms of prices and hosting services, the Indian counterpart is similar to the U.S. version, the big question is, whether the functionality and tech support will match the international standards?
The HostGator.com vs HostGator.in has been a hot topic for debate among Indian bloggers and webmasters for quite a while now. Thus, to address the above question, we will scrutinize the essential features of both hosting provider.
Contents
General Overview
For the uninitiated, it is very easy to get confused between HostGator.com and HostGator India. The parent company, HostGator was launched in 2002, whereas the Indian version was functional from the year 2011. Just recently, HostGator Global has been bought by the EIG.
HostGator is a popular choice among mainly entry-level webmasters for its budget hosting packages. Both branches of the company offer various types of web hosting services e.g. Reseller hosting, VPS hosting, Shared and dedicated hosting, Cloud Server hosting and more.
Since the dawn of HostGator India, it has steadily improved its tech support and the overall quality of hosting. If your website is targeted at Indian audiences only, then HostGator.in is better for you.
According to the SEO rules, if the server of your web hosting company is located in India, the website will get Google search priority in India. Another perk of hosting with HostGator.in is its fast page loading time. Loading time depends on the distance between the server and the website visitor (client). Stats have shown that 40% of your visitors can leave your site in just 3 seconds due to delay in loading time.
Latency is the main culprit behind the slow website and as such, hosting your websites in India dramatically reduces latency. It is because when you host an Indian site from India, the connection request reaches the Indian servers faster than it could reach the U.S. servers. Faster page loading speed amounts to an immense boost in conversion rates as well as revenues.
I. A Brief History of HostGator.com
HostGator.com, apart from its affordable web hosting plans, is also known for features like unlimited bandwidth, excellent hardware configuration, and the use the latest cPanel. The cPanel brings all the necessary web management tools at your fingertips and is incredibly simple to operate for both novice and seasoned webmasters.
The headquarters of HostGator is located in Houston, Texas, United States. It was founded by Brent Oxley in 2002 and by 2006, it had over 200,000 registered domains. The other primary features offered by HostGator are;
- VPS and Dedicated hosting.
- Webite Builder
- cPanel.
- One-click WordPress installation.
- Unlimited number of domains.
- Unlimited storage and bandwidth.
- Unlimited email addresses.
- 99% uptime.
- Unlimited FTP account
- Unlimited MYSQL database.
- Free and easy website migration.
- Zencart and Fantastico.
- 24×7 available tech support.
The Shared hosting packages of HostGator are divided into 3 sub-categories – Hatching plan, Baby plan, and Business plan. The pricing starts from $3.95/mo. Their pricing is their biggest USP for beginners who cannot afford to spend much on hosting alone. However, you can easily upgrade to costlier package as your business keeps growing with time.
Both HostGator U.S and HostGator India have a 45-day refund policy. Hosting WordPress sites is a breeze with HostGator. You will have all the necessary tools required for setting up your first WordPress site.
You don’t have to possess a sound knowledge of coding to get started. With the proper optimization of your site with CloudFlare and cache plugins, you get up to 20K page views per day with the basic plan. The Business Plan offers a dedicated IP which is ideal for both small companies and giant corporate companies.
II. A Brief History of HostGator India
HostGator.in is the official branch of the HostGator Global for the Indian subcontinent. Its data centres are located in Maharashtra, Telangana, and Kerala. It has another centre in Singapore as well. The branch was launched to enhance the experience for Asian webmasters, especially Indians. Although HostGator U.S provides the similar features as HostGator India, the quality of service of the latter is significantly better for Indians not living in the U.S.
The servers, being located in various states of India, reduce latency and drive up the response time of the websites. Slow loading time can trigger 7% drop in the conversion rates for e-commerce websites. So, that would no longer be an issue if you use an India-based server.
Secondly, you will have an Indian IP address which can drastically improve your search engine ranking. The server uptime is 99% for the Indian version as well, a vital feature if you want to attract Indian audiences only to your blog or website.
Last but not the least, the Shared hosting packages on HostGator.in are divided into 3 sub-categories – Hatching plan, Baby plan, and Business plan. The pricing starts at ₹222/mo and you can avail further discount through the use of HostGator hosting coupons.
The first plan comprise of a single domain, while the other 2 plans provide you with unlimited Domains. In addition, you get unlimited disk space, transfer and emails with each hosting plan and a Free dedicated IP and SSL Certificate with the Business plan.
You also don’t have to deal with currency conversion or depend on PayPal, debit/credit card only for the payment. HostGator India accepts debit and credit card as well as net banking from all the major banks of India, both nationalized and private. To know more about HostGator.in, read this honest HostGator India review.
Moving forward, in order to clear your confusion, we will compare and contrast the features of HostGator.com vs HostGator India based on a couple of factors.
III. HostGator India vs HostGator U.S. - Factors To Consider
1. HostGator.in vs HostGator.com – Page Loading Speed
As we have already discussed in the previous section, the location of your website server has a major impact on your site speed. Based on SEO rules, Google considers the page loading speed as an important ranking factor. While the server locations of HostGator.in are India and Singapore, the servers of its U.S. counterpart are located in the U.S., your SEO ranking will be affected if a site mainly created for U.S. audiences has a .in domain name.
Even for mixed audiences, the domain name .com works the best. You can use HostGator.com’s CDN network to boost the loading speed of your website from anywhere in the world. However, if you have bought the .in domain name and your sites are targeted for Indian audiences, hosting them outside India will make ranking them difficult.
Additionally, for eCommerce websites based on Indian products, Google recommends using an Indian IP address to get priority in the Indian searches. So, choose your server based on the theme of your website to get a better organic ranking.
2. HostGator India vs HostGator U.S. – Payment Options
One of the essential factors to take into consideration while choosing between HostGator.com vs HostGator.in is the payment options. When it comes to payment methods, Indian webmasters using HostGator global often face a major problem.
One of the biggest perks of HostGator.in is the number of local payment options it provides. It supports payment via debit card and net banking of almost all the major banks in India. Other payment methods are NEFT, credit card, and RTGS. Whereas, for HostGator.com, the payment options are limited to PayPal and credit/debit card of only a few partner banks.
3. Money Back Guarantee
The hosting packages of the Indian version are cheaper than those of its U.S counterpart. However, the difference isn’t much, so this should be a deciding factor. HostGator.com lets you avail their hosting services for one cent only for the first month using a coupon code along with 45 days money back guarantee. If you wish to discontinue their services within 45 days of buying a package, you will get your money back.
The same offer is provided by the Indian branch as well. HostGator India also provides up to 30% off on their Reseller, Shared and VPS hosting along with 20% discount on Dedicated servers, provided you have the special HostGator Offers.
4. HostGator.com vs HostGator.in – Domain Name Registration
Again, for websites solely targeted at Indian audiences, you should opt for an Indian domain name registrar. HostGator India registers several TLDs (Top Level Domains), ccTLDS and ccSLDs (country code domains). On top of this, buying your domain and hosting with HostGator.in will make you eligible for lucrative discounts as well.
It is a known fact that many companies go with international domain name extensions just to maintain their brand image. While there are several advantages of registering a .com domain in India like the availability of HostGator domain coupons, the options available with this extension might not be too many due to its global demand.
5. Web Hosting Quality
All the shared web hosting plans of both U.S. and Indian branches of HostGator offer unlimited disk space and bandwidth. The best part is, the “unlimited” is truly unlimited. Even if you use a massive amount of storage space, chances are that you will never have to optimize your website to get more space.
Both versions use the latest cPanel which is widely regarded as the best web management tool in the world. You will find all the necessary tools such as script installs, WordPress installs to help you set up and manage your websites, seamlessly. So, in terms of service quality, HostGator.in doesn’t have any critical edge over the U.S. website or vice versa.
6. HostGator.in vs HostGator.com – Customer Support
HostGator is well-known for its excellent technical support. There isn’t any glaring difference between the customer care services of the global and Indian versions of HostGator. However, if you’re trying to reach the tech support team on phone, it’s easier to get them online.
Whereas, you will have to dial an ISD number to get in touch with customer care executive in their States head-quarter. And above all, for some Indians, the language barrier could be a major concern while speaking to an American. It could be easier to communicate your issues using your native language. After all, it is not mandatory to be fluent in English to become an SEO expert.
IV. When Should You Choose HostGator.com?
Opting for HostGator.com is your best option if you want traffic to your website from all over the world. In terms of hardware configuration and customer support, the Indian branch still has a lot of room for improvement. Despite a significant difference in the server architect, you shouldn’t face any major issue while hosting your websites with HostGator.com. Even if you do, the round the clock customer support is always there to fix the issues.
For those trying to set up a blog/website using WordPress, use WP Super Cache plugin to increase the loading speed of your website. You can also leverage the CDN services of HostGator to accelerate the response time for your websites targeted at International audiences.
Final Verdict
So, if your audiences are from India, then without a shadow of the doubt, HostGator.in is your best bet. Geo-targeted domains like .in will add a sense of authenticity to your website and also provide search results for target audiences.
To top it off, money transaction is easy with HostGator.in for webmasters operating from India. However, if server location or payment isn’t your concern, and you want traffic from multiple countries, you can blindly go for HostGator.com, your call.
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