HostGator (review here) is a top notch host. They provide quality support and have a good reputation as a quality hosting provider. All of the pros, cons, and benefits can be overwhelming, though. Here are the five best things about HostGator in my opinion:

1. 24 / 7 Support

Getting true 24/7 support from hosts is difficult. Many hosts claim to offer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but are not available have the time. Sometimes their night shifts are understaffed and the support is basically useless after hours. HostGator, though, provides true 24/7 support is available over the phone, live chat, and email whenever you need them.

2. cPanel 11

cPanel is a very powerful, industry standard control panel that comes with all of HostGator’s account. cPanel lets you manage all virtually every aspect of your web site ranging from emails to databases. The control panel is fully supported by HostGator and works great to manage a web site of basically any size.

3. 4,500 Templates

HostGator accounts come with 4,500 free templates. They are professional, high quality web templates. The templates are divided into about 50 categories ranging from accountants to web design.

4. Solid Guarantees

HostGator provides two solid guarantees: an uptime and money back guarantee. The 99.9% uptime guarantee means that HostGator will pay for a month of hosting if your web site is down more than 45 minutes per month. The money back guarantee means that HostGator will cover the cost of your hosting for the first 45 days if you are unhappy with your service and decide to cancel. These two guarantees give you an extra peace of mind and some compensation if things go wrong.

5. Generous, Affordable Hosting Plans

Like many shared hosting companies (essentially any large company), HostGator provides a lot of space and bandwidth for an affordable price. If you decide to pay a year or two in advance, the cost of HostGator’s plans gets very low. All of HostGator’s plans offer more than enough space and bandwidth for just about any web site.

HostGator is a good host with a great reputation. Like with any web host, though, be sure to do your research before signing up. With HostGator, you should find mostly good things, but this web host still may not be right for you.