HostGator Website Builder Review

HostGator is known for its web hosting services, however, they have recently decided to create their very own website builder, called, the Gator. 

Gator is created with an intention to allow people with very minimal knowledge to create a website on their own, without the need to hire experts and pay a bunch of money for their services. 

With HostGator website builder you choose a template and simply drag & drop blocks to their intended place. It also has a number of features but whether or not it's good, we’re about to find out in this HostGator website builder review.

HostGator Website Builder Review: What Awaits

Gator is a relatively new website builder, which offers amazing UX and great customer support, which will guide you along the website creation process. It offers every feature needed for a fully functioning website and you can create a fast and reliable site using this website builder. On the other side, it lacks modern templates and built-in marketing for bigger companies. 

HostGator Website Builder Review: Introduction

After website builders came into the market, our perception of the websites’ creation has completely changed. Now, even individuals with very minimal digital knowledge can find the website builder, which allows creating a website easily enough. 

Website builders have numerous benefits; here are some of them: 

• There’s no need to hire a website designer or graphic designer to create a modern and attractive site.
• You pay much less.
• You need much less time and efforts.
• It’s fun to build a website by dragging and dropping necessary segments.

I believe that you have heard Gator from the HostGator hosting services, which was found in 2002, already 17 years ago! Interesting fact. It turns out that HostGator was founded in the dorm room at Florida Atlantic University by Brent Oxley and has snowballed. 

Continue reading to see what HostGator website builder reviews say about this platform. 

HostGator Website Builder Review: Pros

I want to make sure to present you with every significant aspect of the Gator website builder before moving further. So, let’s begin with the HostGator website builder review pros. 

Usability - 10/10

Since you pick website builders for their usability in the first place, it’s important that they would fulfill this expectation of yours. Gator website builder definitely keeps up with it. 

You begin the journey of your website creation by signing up. After that, you choose the template/theme and move further. It’s quite simple to find a template that you like because they are divided into categories based on the industry (I will talk about it more in the further section). 

What is more, similar to other website builders, Gator is a drag-and-drop editor, which means that creating or building a website will be easy peasy. And, if at any point you feel lost, I recommend watching their tutorial, where you will find out everything about the HostGator website builder features and their utilization. 

Also, if you want to add, edit text, you can easily do that. Changing texts and resizing fonts is not a problem with HostGator.

I can also add that based on the HostGator website builder reviews, users found it very easy to use and were pleased with the overall experience. But now let’s move further to get other aspects clear. 

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Templates Based on Categories

Previously, in this HostGator website builder review, I’ve already mentioned that you can easily pick the right template by choosing the needed category, but what options do you have? 

You can choose from almost every existing industry. I believe that everyone can find the right option with HostGator, take a look into some of the categories here: 

• Architecture & Real Estate
• Beauty & Fashion
• Blog
• Business & Consultant
• Computers & Technology
• Construction & Trade
• Design& Creative
• Hotels & Travel
• Lifestyle
• Music & Entertainment
• And so on…

As you can see, these are just a part of given themes, but I believe you agree with me saying that there are many alternatives to consider. 

If you’re interested in templates’ design, you will find everything about them further into the HostGator website builder review. 

All Fundamental Features

Website builder design and usability are not the only aspects that matter, but I would say that website builder features play an even more significant role. After all, if your website is pretty but not functioning, then what’s the point? 

But don’t worry Gator website builder offers each of the fundamental features. Here they are:

• Unlimited Storage and Bandwith - no matter which plans you choose, you get unlimited pages, storage, and bandwidth. So, it’s excellent for those who need many visuals, for example, designers and architects. 
• SSL - a certificate, which makes sure that users can safely browse on your website. Knowing that security nowadays is super important, you should never miss out on SSL. 
• Analytics - it’s something one wouldn’t imagine their site without. Website analytics will help you to monitor your users. So, once you make minor or major changes, you can see how your users are responding and change your content or design based on that. This way, you will know what works uniquely for your business. 
• Domain - since HostGator is known for their hosting services, it’s no surprise that they provide you with an option to purchase a domain on their site. It’s excellent, as you don’t have to look for a domain elsewhere.
• Mobile-Friendly - no matter which of the templates you choose, they’re all mobile-friendly, it means that your site will not only have great usability on a computer but also on mobile. 
• Social Media Integration - if you think that social media will play a major role on your website, social media integration is necessary. HostGator website builder allows you to embed content from social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. 
• eCommerce - it’s more like a plan, not a feature; however, it is a must to mention it in this HostGator website builder review. If you choose the eCommerce plan, you can create your own store with features such as inventory management, shipping & tax calculator, and coupons. 

As you can see, Gator makes sure you can create a fully functional website with each of the necessary features. 

Good Speed and Uptime 

If I had to pick out which of the website measures seems the most important to me, I would say that it’s the speed and uptime. Even though many reviews do not include these measure, I believe that they are necessary and will help you to understand if you can create a fully-functioning site using this platform. 

Without further ado, here are the results that I’ve got after testing a website created with Gator: 

• TTFB - from 67.8ms in New York to 376.2ms in San Francisco. This measure shows how long it takes for a server to respond.
• Load Time - 1.63s. It shows how long it takes for your website to load up fully. The tested website is very minimal, so if you put many images, your site speed will be not as good. 
• Uptime - 99.98% - results are similar to the majority of other website builders. It means that your website will be down for 0.02% of the time. 

As you can see, the results are pretty great. So, you can really rely on the HostGator to provide you with quality services. 

24/7 Live Support

HostGator support will be there for you 24/7, you can contact them via phone, chat, or email. And, you can always get help in their Help Center, but you will only get answers to very general questions. 

Even if you rarely contact customer service, when you’re creating or managing a website on your own, you might think of specific questions or face difficulties that are impossible to deal on your own, that’s when the HostGator support will be needed. 

Only the Starter plan doesn’t cover the priority support, however, if you choose Premium or eCommerce plan, you will get help even faster than normal. 

Therefore, one thing is clear - if you get into trouble, HostGator support will be there to save you. 

HostGator Website Builder Review: Cons

The first part of the HostGator website builder review is clear, but now the time has come to look into the Gator’s flaws. We all have them, right? 

Not the Most Modern Templates

We already talked about templates previously in this HostGator website builder review. So, you already know that Gator provides you with templates based on categories, which make it easy to find the right option. 

However, not everything is that great. According to the HostGator website builder reviews, some users find their themes very basic and plain. Compared to other website builders, they do lack more modern-looking templates along with the customization. 

So, even if they have more than 200 themes to choose from, the number stays just a number. Therefore, HostGator may not be the perfect option for those who need modern and sleek looking websites. However, they should be great for simple sites, such as blogs. 

No Built-in Email Marketing

Email marketing is the most powerful tool to reach your audience, but what about the HostGator?

HostGator website builder doesn’t provide you with built-in email marketing, which is the primary reason why it’s not great for more prominent companies. Just imagine sending a message to thousands of people without the ability to send them all at once. 

What is HostGator Website Builder Pricing?

Now that everything is clear, you probably want to find out how much the HostGator website builder costs? That’s what I thought. 

First of all, take a look into the three different plans that HostGator offers: 

• Starter - starting at $3.84 USD per month
• Premium - starting at $5.99 USD per month 
• eCommerce - starting at $9.22 USD per month

Note that these prices are the starting ones, they apply only for those who subscribe Gator website builder for two years. Plans are slightly more expensive if you take them for one year and one month.  

Now as this is the HostGator website builder review, we should take a look into each of the plans closely. 

With each of the plans, you get unlimited pages, storage, and bandwidth. Also, it provides you with free domain name registration for 12 months and $200 USD ad vouchers. However, other features differ in each of the plans.

If you choose a Premium plan, you will get additional priority support; if eCommerce plan, then you get features, which are necessary to create and manage your online shop: inventory management, shipping & tax calculator, coupons. 

Comparing to other website builders, such as Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify, Gator website builder is the least expensive. But it’s quite reasonable knowing that Gator is not as modern and offer less extensive tools than other website builders. 

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Conclusions

Therefore, HostGator provides an easy-to-use website builder, which gives you each of the necessary tools. It offers a variety of templates, rapid websites speed, excellent uptime, and the ability to integrate social media. 

On the other hand, Gator designs are not as modern as you would expect in 2023, and it’s not the best option for bigger companies because of the absence of built-in email marketing. 

Do I recommend Gator website builder? 

Both yes and no. I agree that Gator has each of the necessary features and low pricing, but for those of you who want to have a modern-looking website and expand your business, it may not be enough.

Therefore, you should decide whether or not it’s good based on your wants and needs.