Hostgator Vs Siteground: why I left Hostgator and why you should too

Before you read this hostgator vs siteground comparison, you need to understand that this isn’t just a comparison post. It’s really a story about hostgator’s fall from grace and how EIG ruined that company and similar companies like it

You’ll also learn how siteground kicks-the-ass out of every other hosting service out there…

Hostgator USED TO BE the industry standard…

I got my very first website back in 2009. It was an ugly thing I put together with some crappy html templates I found online. I decided to host my ugly website on hostgator because everybody said “hostgator has excellent customer service”.

And you know what? Those people were right! First thing I did on hostgator is get on their live chat. I was amazed on how friendly and useful their customer service was. They recommended I use wordpress and they provided several easy to follow tutorials on how to setup a wordpress site.

In a matter of a hours, my ugly ass website turned into a gem of a website because of hostgator and their amazing service.

My website had the occasional hiccup now and then but I could always rely on hostgator’s customer service to see my website through. I just needed to tell them the problem and they went in and made it all better.

Years went on and my site grew in size and in traffic. I outgrew my shared hosting and I moved my wordpress websites to Hostgator’s VPS package back in April 2016, on the recommendation of a hostgator sales rep.

Hostgator Vs Siteground: The beginning of the end…

Again, things were great until out of nowhere my wordpress sites became extremely sluggish and sometimes they were offline completely. I contacted Hostgator for their usual amazing customer service only to get bitten by the gator!

First the hostgator customer service rep (HG REP) recommended I use a cache plugin but I explained I already use a cache plugin….

Ike: my sites have been super slow every since i moved them to my VPS. Plus, jetpack wordpress has reported to me that they have been down a couple of times
HG REP: Have you optimized your site?
Ike: same as always
HG REP: Have you installed a caching plugin?
Ike: i’ve installed a cache plugin, cloudflare, it was working fine.
Ike: then i moved it to the VPS last week

Then the hostgator rep went on in circles on how he couldn’t help and how he didn’t have clearance to help me.

HG REP: Well you need to install a caching plugin and properly configure it
Ike: I did, comet cache worked great until my site moved to my new VPS
HG REP: Well, check the settings for it and make sure it is still enabled
Ike: I did. what happened when my site moved that made it so slow
HG REP: Things change during migrations so it can be that
HG REP: and as it is on a VPS and not a shared server it requires a bit more configuration
Ike: please help
HG REP: There is not much I can do.
Ike: what do u mean there’s not much u can do? this is happening because of the move
HG REP: I can only really troubleshoot certain things such as server errors.
HG REP: I can only assist so much in these circumstances
Ike: this isn’t good enough, hostgator provides VPS and no VPS support? that doesn’t make any sense!
HG REP: I can still look into it but I won’t be able to fix as much because I cannot go into your server
Ike: Why not, you guys did before?
HG REP: I cannot log into your server because I do not have the access level to do that yet
HG REP: I can only assist to a certain extent as stated
Ike: ok then, please move me to someone who can.

Then things went from bad to worse as the HG REP refused to move me to someone who could go into my server. Mind you, I’ve used hostgator hosting for years…

HG REP: well they will tell you the same thing, you need to optimize your site.
Ike: my site was fine before the move.  Anyways, transfer this!
HG REP: I’m doing what I can. They will tell you the same thing
HG REP: Your javascript is loading slow, your css is loading slow, and you have a bunch of external scripts that are trying to load
Ike: you can’t access my server. move me to someone who can!
HG REP: This isn’t a server issue
HG REP: This is an issue with you needing to optimize your site like I stated above
Ike: transfer me
HG REP: Fine I will try again
HG REP: But they will tell you the same thing
Ike: great, now you’re repeating yourself.. and you’re creating a bad user experience
Ike: please transfer me
HG REP: One moment, I’m transferring you now
Ike: thank you

Now it goes from worse to TERRIBLE when the NEW HG REP tried to upsell me to a different VPS package…

Ike: ok my site is all wonky and slow, how do i fix this?
New HG REP: That is a design issue which I won’t be able to assist unfortunately. You’ll want to contact a developer or I can have our web team further assist you with it. As for speed the VPS you have is the 1000. You have the OS, cpanel, whm as well as all websites using the same CPU/RAM. You may want to upgrade to at least a 4000 for better performance. The 1000 purely offers user isolation.
Ike: how much is that?
New HG REP: The 4000 per month is $119.95
Ike: so shared is faster than a VPS of 1000?
New HG REP: Yes.

After admitting that the new more expensive VPS hosting I got isn’t as fast as the cheaper shared  hosting that I was on, he continued to upsell me to a different more expensive VPS package!

Ike: why is that? I moved because i was told that my VPS is faster than the shared hosting I was on
New HG REP: The 4000 would be faster. Also, what helps is site optimization.
Ike: no no no, I was told by a hostgator rep that my site would be faster if I moved it from my shared hosting to the VPS I now have
New HG REP: It can be if the design of the website has been optimized properly. If you want I can contact our web development team who can help you with that.
Ike: why are you trying to sell me on something i don’t need, if the last guy said it would be fast enough, and now you are telling me that shared is faster than a VPS 1000
New HG REP: What you have is fast enough, but how you website is designed right now it would probably be better on a shared. However, with proper optimization on the website the website will run faster on the VPS.
Ike: ok, please help me make it faster than
New HG REP: I can’t but did you want me to have our web team here look into that?
Ike: yes. please create a ticket for me with the information you have
New HG REP: One moment….

Like a dummy, I stayed with hostgator for months, thinking somehow it would resolve itself. During that time, my sites still performed badly. They would also occasionally be offline and I would lose sales!!! 

I was determined to find a better hosting service and find out what happened to my one-time beloved hostgator.

The Endurance International Group (EIG) Destroyed Hostgator

I learned that back in March 2016 the Endurance International Group (EIG) actually bought hostgator for a whopping $225 million!

Unfortunately, EIG has a reputation of making things more cost effective by creating more “optimized” cost structures.

EIG likes to quietly acquire established hosting brands and cut experienced support staff. EIG makes it no secret that they’re all about expanding and acquiring host companies.

Ask yourself, how can a company focus on quality if they’re all about expanding? Here is a list of sites acquired by EIG:

Sources: wikipedia, Research as a hobby, Review Hell

Siteground hosting to the rescue!

After my hostgator horror story, I found myself asking a question I haven’t asked since 2009. That was “what is the best hosting service?”

And again, the internet had an opinion. However, it was a different opinion than what it said back in 2009.

I looked at dozens of hosting review sites and read dozens of hosting recommendation forum posts. The name that repeatedly popped up was: siteground!

Trivia: wordpress.org is hosted on siteground. If wordpress trusts siteground with their site then why aren’t you?

I investigated siteground to see what they offered and I was astounded by all the added services they provided. These are the deciding factors for choosing siteground:

• Internal exclusive SG cache system
• Cloudflare CDN
• Free website transfer
• Free HTTPS
• Extremely fast customer support

The internal SG cache system and the cloudflare CDN ensure that your sites are up and fast! This is super important for two major reason:

• First, Google puts a lot of weight on site speed when determining search rankings.
• Second and more importantly, a faster website creates a better user experience.

The free website transfer is a no brainer for someone like me who already has multiple websites. Just give them your old login details and they move everything to your siteground account for free!

The free HTTPS give your website added security and it ensures that all information communicated between a browser and your website is encrypted.

The extra fast website, the free https and the free website transfer is all well and good but that best thing about siteground is their support! Remember this is why I left hostgator.

After I got my siteground account their support staff moved all my sites to a shared account and activated everything I needed to make my wordpress websites super fast.

They didn’t try to upsell me to a more expensive package and they never said “no, we can’t do that”.

I also cut my monthly costs and my sites are performing great again!

Hostgator Vs Siteground: No Contest!

Hostgator is not what it used to be. In my opinion, hostgator vanished the day the Endurance International Group (EIG) bought them out in March 2016.

Important Notice: Learn my method to profit daily online –

Hostgator vs Siteground, please…. There is no competition here. Siteground is where your website should be. They cost about the same as hostgator but the service they provide is heads and shoulders above the rest. Try them out today…