6StepNicheSites - The Blog

HostGator for 1 CENT!

PotPieGirl on June 27th, 2008

I have a very special announcement for all my 6StepNicheSites.com readers… You can get HostGator Hosting for only ONE CENT for your first month! I couldn’t believe it so I had to try it out myself (it was time for an additional hosting account anyway ).

HostGator Hosting for ONE CENT?!?!

It works! My first payment to Hostgator was for a whopping one cent. Awesome! Each following month you will be billed $9.95. Remember, Hostgator does NOT require a contract or require you to pay and certain quantity of months in advance. I’ve researched a lot of the ‘cheap hosting’ companies, and while you can get your hosting for about $5 a month, you will need to pay for a year in advance.

I’ve also found that other hosting companies that do offer a month-to-month service will charge something called a ’set up fee’ and it will cost you, on average, and additional $30 (yuck!).

Funny thing is - none of these other ‘cheap hosting’ companies offer as much bandwidth as HostGator or they are missing things that they will end up charging extra for (things that come standard with Hostgator).

I know I brag about Hostgator a lot, but their customer service is SO good. I had a couple sites go down one night and I was completely unaware of it. Hostgator CALLED me AND emailed me…and then, they stuck with me while we fixed it and got my sites back online. For a non-techy person like me… well, it was just plain WONDERFUL to have that kind of support!

After you sign up for Hostgator, you will pay your first month. If you follow the exact directions I will give in a minute, your first payment to HostGator will be for .01 (one cent). Then your hosting account will be live. Each month, Hostgator will send you a bill and you go and pay it within their secure billing area. No worries about automatic deductions and you can choose how you pay each month (ie, one month with Paypal..maybe another with Visa…another back with PayPal, etc).

After your first payment, your hosting account is active. HostGator will send you all your account info. Within that info will be 2 name-server addresses that are unique to your hosting account. They will look like:

NS###.HOSTGATOR.COM

NS###.HOSTGATOR.COM

The ### part will be unique numbers that are sequential (ie NS123 and NS124). From that point on, whenever you buy a domain name for a niche site, regardless of where you buy your domain name, you simply point the new domain name to those DNS addresses that belong to you. Then you can go into your Hostgator cpanel, do the ‘addon domain’ thing, and then install WordPress. It’s really very simple.

If You DON’T Have A Domain Name Yet But Want to Get HostGator Hosting

When you sign up for a new Hostgator account, you are given an option to either a) use a domain name you, already own, or b) buy a new domain name from HostGator.

Here’s the thing - HostGator will charge you $15 for your first domain name, so be sure to get your domain name first somewhere else. I usually go here and get my .com domain names . Then head over to HostGator and sign up using choice ‘a’ (use an existing domain name). Follow the exact instructions below to get your first month for one cent. After your Hostgator hosting account is live, THEN go back to your where you bought your domain name and point the DNS (name servers) to YOUR Hostgator hosting account.

I am putting together a whole pdf (with pictures and diagrams) of the entire process from buying your domain name to getting WordPress on it (for both a new/first domain name and for ‘add on’ domains). I will link to it here as soon as it is done.

How To Get HostGator Hosting for ONE CENT

Ok, follow these instructions carefully. It’s not hard, and any link will open in a new window/tab so you don’t lose your place here in the 6StepNicheSites blog.

Just a note: Thoughout the entire process of signing up for HostGator hosting, you will NOT be asked to pay for anything. HostGator handles all their billing thru a separate and secure billing area. This process is just to set up your account.

Instructions:

(If you don’t already have a first domain name, go here and get one )

1. Go thru this link to HostGator

2. On the left, under “Our Most Popular Hosting Plan” choose “View All Plans”

3. In the middle column of the three plans, you will see the “Baby” package for $7.95 a month (you can get it for $7.95 a month if you pay months in advance. Month-to-month will be $9.95 after your first one cent payment).

4. Click the “order now’ button under the $7.95 Baby Package

5. Now you are on the “Order Wizard”. Choose - “I Will Use My Existing Domain and Update My Name Servers Only”.

6. Enter your new domain name in the Existing Domain box (no ‘www’ and make sure the .com or .net is in the last box)

7. Click ‘Next’

8. On the next screen, there will be a box for a coupon code. In this box, enter the word -

wordpress

This coupon code will make it so your first month of a $9.95 per month Baby HostGator hosting account will be billed to you for exactly one cent.

9. Finish thru the order wizard. You won’t be paying anything in this process. Your account will be set up, and shortly after completing your order, you will receive an email telling you where to go pay your penny. Even if you are afraid that this won’t work, or maybe you did it wrong, or you simply don’t believe me - you won’t be paying anything to find out =)

Awesome, Isn’t It?

Seriously, right now - TODAY - you can start creating and owning your first niche site that will end up being YOUR powerful niche site network over time. And you can start, right now - TODAY - for a grand total investment of $5.96.

Five dollars and ninety-six cents. Tell me a business you can start for that cheap!

Other Hosting Accounts I Looked In To:

For those that are wondering about the other cheap hosting accounts I reviewed, you can see that list here. I will add to it as I find more hosting players come into the market that are trying to become a ‘cheap hosting’ option for niche site owners.

Nexx Hosting - $7.95 a month if you pay for the first year up front

POWWeb Hosting - $5.77 a month with free domain name if you pay for first year up front. Any billing options for less than one year will also be charged a $30 set up fee. They also offer some sort of $3.88 per month option.

1xWeb Hosting - $5.95 a month with one year paid in advance. Comes with one free domain name. They also offer a $4.95 a month plan but I don’t remember this being suitable for many niche sites (will check back on that)

NetFirms - 2 years paid in advance gets $8.95 a month hosting and TWO free domain names.

Many hosting companies advertise super low rates, but as I checked them out, and compared ‘apples to apples’, these are the rates you are looking at. None of the above companies offer as much disk space or bandwidth as Hostgator does, either. Some either don’t allow you to host unlimited domains, or have rules on how many domains or where the domain names are purchased. Shop with caution and read the fine print =)

Tags: cheap hosting, hostgator, hostgator coupon code, niche sites, potpiegirl, web hosting