HostGator Web Hosting Blog | Gator Crossing

Twittering All The Way

I’ve known about Twitter for a relatively long time, but could never see myself using the service. I just couldn’t grasp the idea of saying something meaningful in 140 characters or less, but as I started working at HostGator and our social media outreach programs, I found myself thrown right into the Twittersphere (if that isn’t a word already, I just made it up).

A couple of months later, though, I’m happily Twittering from the web and from my ever trusty BlackBerry. A majority of our presence on Twitter is aimed at addressing customer concerns and feedback in what is essentially real time, but our presence on Twitter is also about reaching out to customers through a different medium and in a unique way. We already reach out to those who blog or post about us, so Twitter seemed like the next logical step.

So far, it’s been incredibly successful. We have over 275 followers on Twitter (the number increases daily) and I have personally reached out to and helped a lot of existing and potential customers through Twitter. We’ve also gotten some great ideas and some excellent feedback that we’ve taken seriously.

To get an idea for yourself, check out our favorites and see what people have been saying. Some excerpts:

LOVE LOVE HostGator! Have hosted at many places. Couldn’t dynamite me out of HG! – WordPressWizard

Thanks for awesome customer service, that’s how it’s done. Will remember when someone is asking for a hosting company. – KatjaPresnal

Your help today convinced me to sign up for 2 years of hosting. Thanks again! I’m uploading now at ~1400kbps. Amazing! – steelopus

I REALLY appreciate that you care about your customers, even on twitter though. Impressive! – BenTremblay

I appreciate your presence on Twitter. It’s more convenient for me to read your tweets than it is to go to your site. – keithgoode

Well, Madame or Sir HostGator, you sure know how to solidify a customer with service that spoils. Major thanks! – Rich_Arnold

Of course, our own Twitter stream can serve as another example. You’ll mostly see me reaching out to and responding to customers, but you’ll also see some other personal tidbits and web hosting related thoughts as well.

Here are some other things you can look forward to seeing on HostGator’s Twitter stream in the near future:

• Survivor: HostGator Manager Editor. I am going camping for the first time with a group of my friends very soon and if my BlackBerry still works (which I am really hoping it will), I will be providing updates over Twitter.
• More quotes and interesting thoughts. I tweeted that it was time for our Twitter followers to see my inner-nerd (because I obviously conceal my inner-nerd well by working for a web hosting company) and I think interesting quotes and thoughts from some equally interesting people is a good way to show it.
• Web hosting tips. I’m going to begin posting some tips (technical and not) about how to get the most out of your web hosting account right on our Twitter account.

Check out our Twitter stream and if you like what you see, consider following us. And of course, if you have any suggestions for what we should do with our presence on Twitter, don’t hesitate to let us know.

Free Wordpress Theme

At HostGator, one of the most popular web sites created on our servers these days are blogs. People use blogs not just as a diary, but as a quick way to publish information and articles. The most popular blogging software is Wordpress, which happens to be the platform of choice for Gator Crossing (this blog) and can be installed with a couple clicks directly from the HostGator Control Panel.

We had a custom HostGator inspired Wordpress theme drawn up recently and would like to make it available for free to our customers and non-customers alike. Below you can view and download the theme made available in four different color schemes:

View Free Theme 1	View Free Theme 2
Download Theme	Download Theme
View Free Theme 3	View Free Theme 4
Download Theme	Download Theme

You can see our Gator Crossing blog viewed in the different themes by the theme switcher plugin on the upper right side of the blog. Enjoy!