Hello, fellow gators and friends of gators! Are you ready for the yearly holiday shopping mania this weekend? It’s that wonderful time of year when we finally invest in that expensive item we’ve been drooling over (iPhone 7, anyone?), splurge on our favorite goodies, or buy gifts for our friends and loved ones. It’s also a time to take a step back and reflect on what we’re thankful for.  

What HostGator Is Thankful For

At HostGator, for instance, we have a lot to be thankful for this year: In January, we launched our cloud hosting, which includes lightning fast page load speeds (good for your SEO!), easy resource scaling, and an intuitive performance dashboard. In June, our employees rallied to donate resources and support to those affected by the floods in Houston. In September, we released our Website Builder, making it easier than ever for customers to design and build beautiful, professional-looking sites. Oh, and did we mention it comes free with all of our hosting plans? In October, our beloved blue alligator mascot Snappy turned 14 (and so did HostGator)! But most of all, we are thankful for YOU, our customers. Every one of you plays a role in making HostGator possible. Whether it’s helping you out in the middle of the night with your email configuration, answering your questions on social media, or seeing the final product of your brand new website… we’re humbled to be a part of your success. Thank you for trusting your website with us.  

Announcing The HostGator Holiday Weekend Giveaway!

To show our thanks, the HostGator team has been preparing some mega sales for this crazy holiday weekend ahead of us. From Friday through Tuesday, you can enjoy 65% off all hosting AND $5.99 domains! Plus, we’ll be hosting random flash sales where the savings are even greater! But that’s not all! We’re also giving away free HostGator goodies all weekend long! Whether it’s tweeting, commenting, or sharing - there will be plenty of opportunities for you to win a free Snappy stuffed animal, a HostGator shirt, exclusive free hosting deals or coupons, and even an Xbox or two! Just bookmark this blog post and check in throughout the weekend to be the first to know about our free giveaways. The legal stuff: You can read the HostGator Holiday Weekend Giveaway Official Rules here. From all of us at HostGator (and Snappy, too), Thank you!

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Holiday Weekend Giveaway #1

Win A Free HostGator Shirt!

THIS PROMO IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who participated!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Want to win a free HostGator shirt? Awesome! Just scroll down to comment on this blog post sharing what you're most thankful for this year.  Ten (10) winners will be randomly selected and contacted via email on or before Wednesday 11/30 to receive their free HostGator shirt! This promo ended on 11/24/16 at 11:59pm Central time. Congratulations to our winners Nathan, Nino, Partha, Raphael, Doug, James, Purushottam, Frank, Richard, and Rahul!

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Black Friday Giveaway #2

Follow our Snapchat for an Exclusive 70% Off Promo Code!

THIS PROMO IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who participated!

It's Black Friday!

Head over to Snapchat where you'll find Snappy sharing an exclusive 70% off promo code just for our Snapchat followers. It's valid on all new web hosting purchased TODAY ONLY. This promo ended on 11/25/16 at 11:59pm Central time.

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Black Friday Giveaway #3

Win A Free Snappy Plush!

THIS PROMO IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who participated!

It's Black Friday!

Have you always wanted a cuddly Snappy all your own? Today may be your lucky day... We're giving away 100 free Snappy stuffed animals! All you have to do is share a message on Facebook or Twitter to spread the word about our sale using the form below. But hurry - there are only 100 Snappys available. Once you share the message, you'll unlock a link to order your free Snappy. Don't forget to tweet or Facebook us a photo of you two hanging out once he arrives! This promo ended on 11/25/16.

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Black Friday Giveaway #4

Win A HostGator Xbox!

THIS PROMO IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who participated!

It's Black Friday!

Playing video games is a lot more fun when you've got Snappy rooting for you, which is why today we are giving away a custom HostGator Xbox! To enter for your chance to win, follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Then complete the form below to verify your entry. One (1) winner will be randomly selected and contacted via email on or before Wednesday 11/30 to receive their free HostGator Xbox! This promo ended on 11/25/16 at 11:59pm Central time. Congratulations to our winner Kristin!

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Small Business Saturday Giveaway #5

Win A Free Year of Business Hosting!

THIS PROMO IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who participated!

Happy Small Business Saturday!

Today is all about supporting small and local business. In that spirit, we're giving away a year of our shared business hosting (valued at $203.40) to five lucky Instagrammers. For your chance to win, tag @HostGator on Instagram with a photo of you supporting small business, whether you're the owner, an employee, or a customer. Use the hashtag #HostGatorSale. Five (5) winners will be randomly selected and contacted via email on or before Wednesday 11/30 to receive their free year of shared business hosting from HostGator! This promo ended on 11/26/16 at 11:59pm Central time. Congratulations to our winners Jerry and Tom!

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Small Business Saturday Giveaway #6

Win A Free HostGator Shirt!

THIS PROMO IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who participated!

Happy Small Business Saturday!

What's the best cure for Black Friday hangover? Supporting small business! For your chance to win a HostGator t-shirt, scroll down to leave a comment on this blog post to share which small business(es) you're supporting this year. Twenty (20) winners will be randomly selected and contacted via email on or before Wednesday 11/30 to receive their free HostGator shirt! This promo ended on 11/26/16 at 11:59pm Central time. Congratulations to our winners Sand, Jean, David, Jason, Atila, Jonas, Michelle, Md.Zehadul, Hansell, Kelly, Tony, Jessica, and Cat!

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Cyber Monday Giveaway #7

Win A HostGator Xbox!

THIS PROMO IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who participated!

It's Cyber Monday!

The weekend may be over, but the deals aren't! Today we are giving away a custom HostGator Xbox! To enter for your chance to win, share a message on Facebook or Twitter to spread the word about our sale using the form below. Once you share the message, the form will unlock an entry form where you'll need to enter a few details to verify your entry. One (1) winner will be randomly selected and contacted via email on or before Wednesday 11/30 to receive their free HostGator Xbox! This promo ended on 11/28/16 at 11:59pm Central time. Congratulations to our winner Vivan!

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Cyber Monday Giveaway #8

Win A Free Snappy Plush!

THIS PROMO IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who participated!

It's Cyber Monday!

Sure, you probably loaded up on all kinds of holiday gifts this weekend, but... What's that? You weren't able to find that stuffed blue alligator you had on your wish list? No problem, we're about to fix that! Today we're giving away 25 free Snappy stuffed animals! Just scroll down to comment on this blog post and share the best deal you scored this weekend.  Twenty-five (25) winners will be randomly selected and contacted via email on or before Wednesday 11/30 to receive their free Snappy plush! This promo ended on 11/28/16 at 11:59pm Central time. Congratulations to our winners Charchit, Kamran, Dennis, Malcolm, Hakan, Vivan, Stephen, Eduardo, Luke, Scott, Satwik, Patricia, Nina, Michelle, Pei, Tom, Debbie, and An!

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Cyber Tuesday Giveaway #9

Two Giveaways in One!

Enter To Win A Free Snappy PLUS Exclusive 70% Off Discount!

THIS PROMO IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who participated!

It's Cyber Monday Reloaded!

Cyber Monday may be over, but at HostGator we're still celebrating! Today we have an exclusive 70% off discount just for you. Thanks for reading our blog! We're also giving away fifty (50) free Snappy stuffed animals! Just share a message on Facebook or Twitter to spread the word about our sale using the form below.  Once you've shared the message, the 70% off code will be revealed and you can complete a short form for your chance to win a free Snappy! This promo ended on 11/29/16 at 11:59pm Central time. Congratulations to our winners Dennis, Jason, Luke, Samantha, Tom, Luka, Ray, Andy, Nat, Tom, Anthony, Megan, Eliza, Cindy, Calvin, Kamran, Cat, Ernesto, Rafael, Scott, Fernanda, Russell, Nat, Richard, Don, Steven, Aline, Linda, Debbie, Jeff, Kelly, Christian, Kristine, and Muhammed!

Introducing the all-new HostGator Marketplace! Snappy and his friends have been hard at work creating the perfect place to find what you need for your website. Whether you’re looking to give your new WordPress site a shiny new look with a professional WordPress theme, set up your email with Google for Work or you just need some extra security to ensure your website is locked down, the HostGator marketplace is the place for you. With the new HostGator Marketplace, you can...

• Shop the HostGator Marketplace right inside the control panel!
• Keep track of all your websites and purchases in one place!
• Purchase using your hosting account to make buying a snap!
• Shop WordPress themes, easy setup services, email, security, plugins and more!

In addition to the web hosting, domains, script installs and database tools you’re accustomed to, now you’ll be able to easily access a full suite of products to help you build, grow and even protect your websites. We’ve even included business productivity tools and news and how to articles from the HostGator Blog to help you with your day to day.  

Site Builders & CMS:

Build your website easily with our simple drag-and drop editor, or use WordPress, the world's most popular blogging platform.

 

Themes & Design:

Do you want a beautiful website, but you're not a designer? No problem. Choose from thousands of themes available in Mojo marketplace, or have one of our experts design your site for you. You can also request one-off graphic design projects.

 

Productivity Tools:

Take your business to the next level with our productivity and growth tools. With Google Apps, you can collaborate seamlessly with your growing team and share documents with clients. goMobi makes your website responsive, so your site still looks good and is easy to use whether someone visits from a desktop computer or mobile phone. Supercharge your social media with Facebook advertising.

 

Security & Backups:

If you have an online business, it's essential that you secure your website, both for yourself and customers. Protect your site from hackers with SiteLock and save copies with CodeGuard. eCommerce site owners can keep customer data private with a SSL certificate.

 

Email & Online Marketing:

Grow your blog subscriber list or notify customers of new promotions with email marketing from Constant Contact. Our SEO services will help you get found online.

 

Plugins:

Whether you want to incorporate Google AdSense, add a contact form, or personalize the shopping cart experience, you can customize your ultimate website with plugins from WordPress, Magento, and other software.

 

Professional Website Services:

Looking for an out-of-this-world web designer? Need help boosting your local search results? Transferring from another host? Whatever it is, our team is here to help with all your website needs.

  We hope you enjoy the new HostGator Marketplace and find it convenient and useful. Have feedback, requests or suggestions? Let us know in the comments or contact our support team. 

Get Started With HostGator!

 

We are very excited to announce the launch of the new HostGator Paper Lantern cPanel theme.    The goal of this redesigned cPanel theme is to provide a better user experience to our valued customers.   This new theme will be rolling out to our customers over the next few days. So if you don’t see it immediately, please know that it is coming soon. Some of the key features that come with this release are:  

Search Bar to Find What You Need Quickly

A full page window that allows you to type in any word and it will pull up the relevant cPanel sections or functions.  

Search Support Articles Without Leaving cPanel

A window that allows you to type in a word or phrase and a list of matching articles in our support documentation will be listed for quick reference. Here’s an example:  

Push Notifications So You Don't Miss Anything Important

Get notified instantly of upcoming changes or exciting news or relevant information about your account.  

Access Key Areas Through The Left Sidebar Navigation Menu

We’ve also introduced a navigation on the left side so that you can easily access key areas quickly, such as:  

Website

This is the traditional cPanel Index page with 10 different sub-categories for faster access to the section you are looking for.  Another great feature is that if you choose to move the sections up and down to better suit your needs, the left navigation bar updates right along with it.  Just move them around to the order that you want, refresh the page, and the navigation bar will be in sync with their new order you have created.  

Popular Links

This is a new section that we’ve added and we hope that customers find it as useful as we intended it to be. Popular Links is where we put our most popular links across both cPanel and the Marketplace for quick access.  If for some reason, you decide that Popular Links section is in the way, you can easily get rid of it by clicking the X in the right hand corner.  

Server Stats

Stats at your fingertips! The stats section allows customers and support agents alike to get a quick look at the status of their account, including when the latest backup was run or how much data you’re using on the server.  We will continue to refine this page and add more information so please let us know what other data would be valuable in this section.    

Domains

Currently this links to the HostGator Domains page. There aren’t any changes to this page with this release, but be on the lookout for some changes coming soon to improve the overall experience of registering new domain names.    

MarketPlace

The MarketPlace is our new and improved QuickInstall page. It gives you easy access to things like the HostGator Website Builder, WordPress Themes, or one-click installs of many of the most popular applications.  It also provides links to add-ons like CodeGuard and Sitelock that help you protect your website and its critical data.  

Help

When you need help with an issue, the last thing you want to do is try to dig through pages to find it.   With the Help page, you have direct links to the support portal or one-click access to our chat system. There are links to many of HostGator’s custom self-help tools for troubleshooting performance or application problems. We know that this is a completely different experience for many cPanel users. However, we believe that it is designed in a way that everyone will be able to use it easily and effectively. If for some reason you don’t love the new theme and want to switch back to the X3 version, no worries - you can do that easily. In the upper right corner, simply select Change Style option under the user profile menu and select the X3 HG theme. This can also be found under the preferences section. Fair warning for those that wish to switch back, though - cPanel is transitioning to this new theme style and the X3 theme will no longer be supported in the near future. Ready to switch to Paper Lantern? Simply click on the Snappy icon in your preferences section and the new theme will be applied, or you can watch our Facebook Live video below where we walk you through the process. (After pressing play, it takes about 10 seconds or so for the video to start.)  

Calling all Scooby Doos and Nancy Drews... are you ready to solve a cyber mystery? This mystery is the first of its kind, and Snappy needs your help. Here's what we know. The scene of tHe crime is on a website. It invOlves a very Special producT, ...known for powerinG successful blogs, businesses, And applications online. Snappy the alligaTor is involved. YOu have until Friday at midnight to solve the mysteRy.     If you've guessed that it's our first-ever HostGator Mystery Sale, offering mega deals on web hosting all week long, you are a super sleuth! That's right! From today through Friday, September 23rd, we are hosting a mystery sale on all of our shared web hosting plans for terms of 12 months or more! Your mystery discount will be revealed at checkout. Enjoy up to 65% savings off your new website! Whether you're starting your first blog or need a professional website that will grow with your business, HostGator's shared web hosting plans make it easy to succeed online. Enjoy the following features and more:

• One-click installs of the most popular blogging and e-commerce platforms, including WordPress, Magento, Drupal, and Joomla
• Unlimited email addresses tied to your domain name
• Unmetered storage and bandwidth
• $100 Google AdWords credit and $100 Yahoo/Bing credit
• Free website builder
• 24/7/365 support

Unlock your mystery discount now!

Solve The Mystery!

 

Online lending is a great way for small business owners to get the capital they need to help their businesses grow.

But they’re not for just anything. Before taking the plunge on a five- or six-figure loan, you need to ask yourself a couple of things: How will you pay it back and — even more importantly — how will it pay you back?

Online lending makes getting access to necessary capital exceptionally easy — often just a few clicks on a website or mobile app. Projects perfect for an online loan are ones that have measurable ends and an obvious ROI (return on investment).

Here are examples of how an online loan can make a BIG difference in the life of your company.

 

1. To temporarily cover payroll as you take on new clients

Your business is on the upswing, but you’ve got so much demand for your services that you can’t keep up. You need to hire more people to take on all this potential new work. Until you get paid by all these new clients you want to take on, you can’t pay for the new employee(s)!

A small business loan could cover a new employee’s payroll for a month or two while you wait for those shiny new clients to pay their bills. Once you’ve been able to expand, thanks to that trusty new employee, the increased revenue should help you pay for their wages and repay the loan on time. Your new clients will tell their friends and colleagues about your good work, and your business will continue to grow.

 

2. To weather lulls in cash flow (and even take advantage of them)

Many Kabbage users are e-commerce sellers. How can a small business loan help your e-comm business? Well, you could use a Kabbage loan to stock up on inventory in the summer, when prices are low and sales are sluggish, and then hold onto that merchandise until the fall and winter, when demand picks up and prices increase. Without Kabbage, you wouldn’t have the money to make those purchases, since your own sales wouldn’t provide the necessary revenue during those slow summer months. By doing this, you’ll be prepared to cash in on the best pricing and the busiest shopping season while turbocharging your business’s growth.

Even with the fees tacked onto your loan, you’ll still come out ahead. An online loan or line of credit can give you the capital you need to exploit the sales cycle.

 

3. Upgrade your systems

Let’s say you’re a used and rare book shop owner, and you’ve been doing business on the Internet. Online sales are starting to pick up, and you’re building a reputation outside the small Midwestern city where you’re based. But your payment systems are slow and out of date. Potential customers are irritated, and you can tell from your analytics that many of them get frustrated and give up rather than deal with your creaky old checkout process. You know that upgrading to a sleeker new interface will solve all your problems, as well as improve your shop’s image to out-of-state customers.

But website redesigns and new e-commerce systems cost money, and it’d take a lot of signed first editions of A Tale of Two Cities to pay for it. A loan can help you upgrade ASAP and then use your increased sales and web presence to pay back the money over time.

 

HostGator’s Recommendation

There are lots of ways a small business loan can help you expand, but be sure you have a measurable goal in mind before you take the plunge. Once you do, check out our friends at Kabbage for fast, straightforward financing.

Bonus: For a limited time, HostGator is offering Kabbage qualifiers a $100 Amazon* gift card.

 

*Customer will receive a $100 Amazon gift card upon submitting a qualified application to Kabbage by 11:59pm EST October 11, 2016 through the link provided in this post. The gift card promotion is being run by Endurance International Group. Gift cards will be delivered to qualified customers electronically November 11, 2016. Amazon is a trademark of Amazon Technologies, Inc. Amazon is in no way affiliated with or a sponsor of this promotion.