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Get Your Website Running

 

Whether you are starting fresh with a new site or have an existing website and are transferring it over, we have guides specific to your needs. First, you'll need to know how to access your account before your domain is configured:

Then you will want specific steps for how to get your website onto your server based on the type of website you want and the experience you have:

Accessing your account

To access certain parts of your account before configuring your domain and during the propagation of domain configuration changes, you will need to use a different URL that does not utilize the domain name. The URLs listed below use the server's IP.

Website URL

http://server-hostname.temp.domains/~user/

cPanel URL

http://site-ip/cpanel

Webmail URL

http://site-ip/webmail

Please note that the server-hostname, site-ip, and user portions of the URLs above need to be replaced with the proper values. The server hostname (this will be the Your Control Panel information without the:2083 at the end of it, site IP (Server IP), and user (Username) can be located in the Welcome email you received from HostGator after purchasing hosting. For more information, please see What is a Temporary URL & How to Use One?

Get your website online

You have several different options for getting your site online, depending on what your experience is and whether or not you have a website, you want to transfer over to our services.

HostGator Web Design Services

Having a good website that meets the needs of your visitors takes time, effort, and knowledge. Your time is valuable; if you want to get online with a professional site without all the guides and effort, HostGator offers design services to do all of this for you.

We'll build a site for you that's easy to maintain and takes care of all the details for getting started. HostGator Web Design Services ensures that your business is shown in the best possible light and takes your business to the next level.

Transfer an existing site

If you've built a website before, you may wish to transfer it to your new hosting package. If you'd like us to do this for you, we offer one free transfer with your new hosting package. This one free transfer may be either a manual transfer of a single site or a full cPanel transfer.

For more detailed information, read our complete primer on website transfers here:

If you have an existing WordPress site and want to move it to HostGator, you can check out this guide that dives into the process of getting your WordPress site migrated.

Our web transfer form is available here. You will want to be logged into your Customer Portal to access this form:

For specialized instructions on how to use the website transfer form, check out our help article below:

Intermediate Users: Softaculous Script Installer

If you have spent time building websites before, you're probably familiar with the benefits of using CMS software such as WordPress for developing your site. You may even be migrating from wordpress.com to have more control over your hosting environment.

Installing WordPress or other CMS software is easy and fast using our Softaculous tool. With 190 various script applications available for installation on your hosting account, you can find a solution geared to fit your website needs.

Use the link below to get started with Softaculous:

Advanced Users: Server Specifications

If all you need to get started is the specifications for what software is installed and how to access your files and databases, here's where you can find exactly what you're looking for:

Shared Hosting Startup Guide