Today we’re pleased to introduce to our readers Robert Taylor, project manager for Hostgator, a leading provider for web hosting services. Take a look at the following interview to understand why we rely on this provider and we suggest to join the countless companies and privates who are already using it!
Today we’re pleased to introduce to our readers Robert Taylor, University Partners Program Director for Hostgator, a leading provider for web hosting services. Take a look at the following interview to understand why we rely on this provider and we suggest to join the countless companies and privates who are already using it!
Hello! Thank you for accepting this interview. Can you please introduce yourself?
My name is Robert Taylor, and I developed and currently run the University Partners program here at HostGator.com
Can you tell us a little bit more of what Hostgator does?
HostGator.com LLC is a world leading provider of shared, reseller, VPS and dedicated web hosting. We serve a wide variety of customers, from beginners just setting up their first website, to entire companies who work with HostGator to provide all of their web hosting needs. Since our beginning with just three servers in 2002, we have grown into a world leading and industry recognized hosting provider with more than 12,000 servers under management. The over eight million domains hosted by HostGator make up approximately 1% of the world’s Internet traffic.
How do you find your customers?
Our strongest form of advertising is word of mouth. We believe that if we provide the best service in the industry, our customers will gladly recommend us to their friends and colleagues, and this is exactly what happens. We also utilize a strategic Google adwords campaign, while simultaneously running a very robust affiliate program that is one of the highest paying in the industry. You can learn more about our affiliate program at affiliates .
What are the benefits from HostGator’s University Partners program??
Our University Partners program benefits both teachers and students. Teachers can incorporate our free hosting services into their curriculum, bringing to the coursework the resources and technology of a world class commercial web host. Students receive valuable hands on experience with a wide range of online technologies prevalent in industry today. Students can use these resources in context of their studies, as well as for personal projects. Courses that benefit include web design and development, programming, scripting, database management and digital media, as well as those in online business and e-commerce. Additionally, we are making this program available to students in any computer-related courses
Can you give us some advices of how to keep websites safe?
Really the best way to keep a website safe is to use secure and unique passwords for all logins and keep all installs of any third-party scripts, such as WordPress or Joomla, up to date. By far, the biggest contributor to compromised websites are insecure passwords and out of date script installs.
Are there any weird support requests from the customers?
It would be safe, at this point, to say that we’ve basically seen it all. Weird is a relative term, but something that comes to mind at the moment is the multiple occurrences where Customers will call us to help them troubleshoot problems with their home PCs, not their websites, but their actual computers… “I think my hard drive crashed, what can I do?” or “how can I configure my new router so i can connect back to the internet?” Things like that. We like to say that we “support everything,” but we do have to draw the line somewhere.
What are the steps you would recommend someone considering starting their own website?
The best piece of advice would be to provide original content. So much of the Internet is simply repeats of things elsewhere on the Internet. So, if you’re starting a personal website or a blog, be sure you are providing something that can’t necessarily be seen elsewhere. If you are taking a business online, then try to do something novel with your website to advertise your product or service. Especially for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes, original content really is king.
What are the benefits the students will get from hosting package?
The most valuable benefit would simply be experience. Experience with a professional, industry-standard hosting platform and control panel, experience in the myriad of tools available in today’s market for building websites and experience in simply building and publishing a website. There are many people that turn those experiences into profitable careers. Our hope is that, by providing these tools and this experience free of charge, that some of these students will grow from this and become web entrepreneurs in their own right.
Have you host any success story? Maybe a young student’s project that has become big.
We are not aware of any students who have participated in the University Partners program whose websites have reached a notable level of success yet, but then again, this program is only 1 year old, and many students participating are just getting their start in web design and site management. So we fully expect that some of tomorrow’s great internet success stories will have indeed used our hosting service on their pathway to success. That is in fact one of the reasons we have created the University Partners program: to help equip tomorrow’s technology leaders today.
Have you seen any tendency of what type of websites are being more successful nowadays?
As I mentioned earlier, original content is king. The individuals providing online content that enriches the Internet as a whole are generally the cream that will rise to the top. It does seem that some people have the golden touch when it comes to building successful sites, but there is always room for the underdog to come out of nowhere and create the next Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Whomever that person is, we’d love to host them!
With All of our Courses You get One Month Free Hosting!
The offer is valid just till October so, If you like the idea, do not hesitate to Contact Us!
