**CONTEST HAS EXPIRED** Follow us on twitter @hostgator for future contests.

HostGator has teamed up with one of our customers, BlogertizeWorld.com, to give away 30 free iPhone 3GS’s in the form of a Twitter contest.

The rules are simple and this contest is open to everyone. Click here to re-tweet the details with the hashtag #HGBW, and get entered for a chance to win. There’s no limit on the number of tweets you can submit with this hashtag, so the more submissions, the better your odds.

Don’t forget to follow @hostgator on Twitter! …

HostGator has partnered with RankSense SEO Tools to give away a free 30-day trial for RankSense and a recurring 20% OFF discount, all with a 90-day money back guarantee. Use coupon code: hostgator and sign up now for the special offer. This offer is valid for all HostGator Web Hosting customers and blog readers.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is all the rage these days. There’s a whole market that has developed around SEO services and tools and a lot of hype and fluff that tends to confuse and complicate things for the average web site owner.

Simply put, SEO is the process of ranking higher in the search engines (Google, MSN Live, Yahoo) to increase traffic. For most websites, increased traffic translates into higher sales, so there is no disputing the importance of practicing good SEO techniques.

Since search engines have secret algorithms that determine where a website ranks in their search results, there are tons of myths and piles of misinformation out there on the ‘net. Time after time, I’ve spoken with customers who are angry and feel misled because an SEO firm or consulting company promised that the customer’s site would rank on page one in Google. Unfortunately, most of the time, this is just not possible, and the majority of these offers and promises should be quickly dismissed.

Even with all of the myths and wrong information out there, there are still some generally accepted rules and tips on how to best optimize your website to rank well. On our SEO Blog, you’ll find many articles discussing some of these proven techniques.

Not everyone can afford a reputable SEO consultant, especially for smaller websites, so most web site owners resort to the DIY methods. …

12/27/2010 Update: The Google AdWords Coupon code for HostGator Shared clients is now $100!

10/12/2009 Update: The Google AdWords Coupon code for HostGator Shared clients is now $50 (used to be $25)! Reseller coupons coming soon.

Ever run a Google search and notice the “sponsored listings” around the search results? Ever click one of those sponsored links? It’s likely that you have already visited a link that was advertised through the Google AdWords program and now HostGator is giving its shared web hosting customers the opportunity get started with Google AdWords by giving them $25 $50 $100 in free marketing credits*.

HostGator has partnered up with the Google AdWords pay-per-click (PPC) advertising program and is now offering an AdWords Coupon voucher good for $25 $50 $100 in credit with all Hatchling, Baby, and Business shared web hosting plans.

What is Google AdWords?

Google AdWords is a pay-per-click advertising program by Google. With AdWords, advertisers can promote their website’s products and services on Google.com’s search results in the “sponsored links” section. Quality ad text and relevant keyword buys will give you an edge over your competitors. And with AdWords, you can set your own budget and change your campaigns at any time – there are no commitments or spending requirements of any kind.

We at HostGator currently use Google AdWords for our own internal marketing efforts, and we truly believe that most businesses can benefit from the highly targeted traffic that this program can yield.

Great, how do I sign up? …

HostGator has a history and tradition of giving back. In the last year, we’ve donated over $125,000 to charity, actively worked towards offsetting and reversing our environmental impact, and given free or
discounted web hosting to a countless number of web sites.

Today, we’re moving forward with our commitment to the communities and the people we serve with the launch of the HostGator Technology Grant.

Recipients of the HostGator Technology Grant will receive one year of completely free web hosting with our Swamp Plan, which offers 1,000 GB of space and unlimited bandwidth. If the Swamp plan does not fit the needs of the particular recipient, they can opt to take the grant as a $180 service credit to any other HostGator product or service. After the one year of free service, grant recipients can re-apply and if accepted again, continue to use HostGator web hosting completely free.

The HostGator Technology Grant’s goal is simple and straightforward: provide free web hosting to organizations and projects that serve the greater good.

Obtaining legitimately free web hosting for nonprofits can be an arduous process. Organizations should be spending their time doing what they believe in and what they set out to do, not hunting for
affordable and quality web hosting. …

We are happy to announce that we are having a sale on a batch of servers that we had leftover. Some of you may remember these servers being our former Pro Dedicated offering. For those who are not familiar with these former Pro Dedicated specifications:

Processor: Intel Xeon Conroe 3060 server @ 2.4Ghz

Memory: 4GB DDR2

Hard Disk: 4 x 500GB SATA under RAID-10 configuration.

Monthly Bandwidth: 2,500GB @ 10mbps

IP Addresses: 10

OS: CentOS 4.6

Control Panel: cPanel/WHM 11 with Fantastico included.

Pricing: $350 per Month.

This is a great solution for those needing a high performance server with large data storage with redundancy. Under the RAID-10 configuration, risk of data loss would be minimized as the information is mirrored throughout all 4 hard drives. In case a hard drive fails, copies of your data should be stored on the remaining 3 hard drives. At the price of $350 per month, this server definitely provides the most bang for your buck.

This was a very popular dedicated solution when it debuted as our Pro Dedicated package, and we are very excited to be able to offer these servers to you once again. Please keep in mind that stock is limited and once we sell out, this offer will not be available for quite some time.

If you are interested in this offer, please email us at sales@hostgator.com and put it in attention to our Dedicated Sales Department.

…

Ok folks, I know you have been waiting for a while, and I have had a lot of you ask me when the new Windows hosting will be available? Well I am happy to let you know that now you can purchase a Windows dedicated server. First I want to say this is just the beginning of what we will be offering for Windows hosting, so stay tuned for further announcements.So what does having your own Dedicated Windows Server offer you? You will receive the latest Plesk 8 interface for setting up your website, email etc… The Windows environment will allow you to use ASP. You can choose which version will best fit your needs along with your choice of MSSQL, MYSQL, and Access database connections which will be available at all times for you to create and take advantage of simultaneously.

Do you need a server fast? Your Windows server will be provisioned, secured and delivered within 24 hours of purchase, and we will provide you with monthly server management at no additional cost.

So I have given you the scoop, and now I am offering the first 5 people that purchase a Windows dedicated server from reading this blog a $100 dollar discount on your first month purchase. In order to receive this dicount you must email me at jgarcia(at)hostgator.com.

This is a first come first serve deal and this discount may NOT be combined with other offers, so if you want to get your first month at a reduced price you better act quick before its over. I will give anyone who emails me for this deal a 24 hour window to complete the purchase, then I will offer it to the next person in line. …

Our data center gave us a great deal on a batch of servers and we have some leftovers. While supplies last, I’m offering these servers to our blog readers only. Below are the spec’s:

Processor: Intel Pentium D 3.40GHz
RAM: 2 GB
Hard Disk: 250 GB
Bandwidth: 1,500 GB (10mbps)
OS: CentOS 4.5 (linux)
Control Panel: cPanel/WHM with Fantastico

We’ll be selling these for just $174/mth with basic management. If you have a look at our dedicated server page, you’ll see that our normal $174/mth server is the Basic Dedicated server. For the same price you’ll get all the same features, plus better hardware. Basically this means 2x the RAM, and 3x the Hard Disk space with a much faster processor.

This is a blog only special. The stock is available on a first come, first serve basis. Offer valid for new and existing clients that do not already have a dedicated server with HostGator. After these are sold, we won’t be able to get this server again at this price.

If you’ve been interested in upgrading to a dedicated server, please email me chad (@) hostgator.com. …