Alexandra Ramirez
FatCow is an all around great hosting company with plenty of features. They score high marks across the board and have great business and customer ratings.
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History of FatCow Hosting
FatCow was created in 1998 with a focus and dedication to old fashioned service and value. From the very beginning FatCow was designed to be a very different alternative in Web hosting. While doing research and seeing that customer satisfaction and support was being replaced with a lot of confusing pricing plans and even more techno babble that customers weren’t understanding, they decided to come up with an alternative that was simpler and much more customer friendly.
They have grown the company along with a dedicated group of staff members that all hold the same belief system that customer service and value are what makes a business great. They make sure that the small business user gets the best value and customer service experience in Web hosting and ensures that their services are easy to use, provide exceptional business value and are easy town too.
With around the clock phone and online support they can give you a satisfactory resolution to any problem that may come up. Their can-do attitude is what makes them so valuable when it comes to customer satisfaction. They want to encourage their customers to strive for their passions and goals and they want to help them get there with hosting and features that give them more than just mediocre service.
They have a long list of features that come with every hosting plan to ensure that customers have access to the tools they need to create something they can be proud of and that matches what and who they are as small business owners. They want to help you reach your vision and the quality of what they offer does just that.
Their all-in-one hosting gives you everything you need to get your business or even your personal site up and running on the internet and to manage it for years to come. With site builders, installation wizards, shopping cart tools and more, you are covered no matter what kind of business you have.
Another important factor of FatCow is their endeavor to help the environment. Their offices and data centers are all powered 100% by wind energy. Customers who use FatCow can rest assured that not only are they getting excellent customer service and excellent tools to build and maintain an incredible site; they are supporting a site that wants to improve the world we live in. By using FatCow hosting for your sites, you are contributing to that effort.
This hosting company isn’t simply about getting customers and publishing sites. They go the extra mile to give site owners the tools they need to make sure those sites are successful. With things like advertising credits, user guides and the means to climb the search engine rankings, sites are doing more than taking up webspace, they are flourishing.
They offer hosting for the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and Europe. Regular prices vary from country to country but they often run introductory specials for customers that are new. The introductory prices are good for just the initial term only which is why it pays to get the longest introductory term you can so you can save some money the first 1-3 years. Even if at some point you decide to leave, although they will do their best to deliver value and service that keeps you there, you can take your domain with you for a $15 non refundable fee.
In addition to regular hosting plans, FatCow also offers shared and dedicated servers to businesses that may want to take their businesses to the next level. These types of server options are great if:
- Your site is growing with dynamic content or commerce capabilities
- Companies wanting to avoid surprise usage fees if the servers become overloaded
For a site that is growing at a fast rate, you may want to consider these options, but if you’re not sure, a knowledgeable staff member will definitely help you.
Signing up with FatCow Hosting
Signing up with FatCow is simple. Click on the get started button on the home page and you’ll be taken to a page that asks if you are registering a new domain of it you’ll be using a domain you already own. After you click on that and continue, you’ll come to the registration page where you will need to fill out some information. Included in the information you will need to fill out is:
- Full name
- Full mailing address
- Country
- Email address
- Telephone Number
You’ll also input your credit card information here that you will use for billing to pay for your hosting plan. Be sure to use an active credit card so there are no processing problems. The next thing you will be asked to choose is the payment terms you want. FatCow gives you 4 different payment terms to choose from:
- Monthly
- 12 months (billed at the special rate per month for 12 months – lump sum payment)
- 24 months (billed at the special rate per month for 24 months – lump sum payment)
- 36 months (billed at the special rate per month for 36 months – lump sum payment)
Once you decide on the payment terms, choose if you want domain privacy which protects your personal information from being displayed on the internet. When you register a domain, your full name and address are posted on the internet associated with that domain. If you don’t want this information public, getting domain privacy will protect it and you from identity theft, spam, stalkers and fraud. It’s definitely something to consider. Included in your hosting plan is FREE set up, FREE domain registration and FREE instant activation.
Next come the extras that you can choose to add to your hosting package. These include the following choices which are all billed separately from the hosting. Some are billed on a monthly basis and others are billed 12 months at a time. These extras are completely optional and don’t affect that quality of the hosting plan you are purchasing. The will give you some extra boosts though that every small business owner will benefit from.
- Google Apps for Work (billed monthly)
- Advanced Site Protection and Performance Accelerator (billed 12 months at a time)
- Using WordPress? Optimize your site with WP Essential (billed 12 months at a time)
- Strongly Recommended! Protect Your Site. (billed 12 months at a time)
- Get Listed in Top Directories (billed 12 months at a time)
- Make Your Website Look Great on Mobile Phones. (billed 12 months at a time)
These extras that are listed above can cost anywhere from $1.00 to $5.00 per month. Most are charged in a lump sum that can vary anywhere from $12.95 to $36.00. They are all priced to be economical for the business owner, so if you want to try them, sign up is a good time to try. If you find that you’re not using them or that you don’t like them, you can cancel them according to the individual extras guidelines.
FatCow Hosting Package Choices and Features
When a customer signs up for a FatCow hosting account there are tons of features that come along with that hosting to ensure that they have all the tools they need to create a site they will love or enhance a site they already have. These features cover everything from setting up a website to promoting it to having excellent server uptime to ensure that your site is never down or as close to never as we can possibly keep it. All of the features that FatCow offers its hosting customers will help them build and maintain an excellent website as well as promote it. These features include:
- 30 day money back guarantee
- Free domain for one year then renewed at regular rate
- Free set up fees
- Website builder
- Website analytics
- FTP Access
- Google Adwords – $100 dollar bonus when you spend $25
- $50 Yahoo/Bing Search Marketing Credit
- $50 Facebook Advertising Credit
- Free Yellowpages.com listing
- Free TollFree Number (in the US only) no monthly fees, $100 free minutes monthly
- Hubspots Website grader
- Unlimited POP Mailboxes
- Webmail Client
- Spam Filtering
- Newsletter Manager Tool
- PHP 4 & 5 Support
- CGI Directory
- Unlimited MySQL Databases
- Python
- Script Library
- Powered By 100% Wind Energy
- Load-Balanced Platform
- Multi-GB Connections
- Daily Server Backups
- Backup Generator System
- 24×7 Facility Monitoring
- Disk Space
- Bandwidth
- Unlimited Domains Per Account
- Unlimited Email Accounts
- ShopSite Online Store
- Accept Credit Cards
- PayPal Shopping Cart Integration
- PowerPay
- Shared SSL
- Unlimited Domain Pointing
- Automated Domain Renewal
- Registrar Transfer
- Subdomains
- WordPress
- Gallery2
- phpBB
- GBook
- Joomla
- Poll, Survey, Counter Tools
- 24×7 Support
- Satisfaction Pledge
- Customizable Control Panel
- FAQ Library
- Step-By-Step Tutorials
- Green site badges that you can display on your site
FatCow is all about giving customers value for their money and service that is far above the rest. If there is ever a problem, they’re a phone call or live chat away and they will resolve your problem in the fastest way possible, ensuring a positive outcome. The features on the above list will all help make your site the best you can possibly make it and if you don’t know how to do something, there are step by step tutorials that can help you as well. You’ll be happy with what you get from them.
Another service that FatCow offers is WP hosting. They have two programs that you can choose from for all of your WordPress needs. These can be added in addition to the regular hosting plan. The WP plans are perfect for any business that wants to use WordPress on their sites. Each plan is outlined below:
WP Starter
- Core Hosting Plan
- Customized control panel
- Pre-installed themes and plug-ins
- Standard Support
WP Essential
- Core Hosting Plan
- Customized control panel
- Pre-installed themes and plug-ins
- Super Speed
- Enhanced Security
- WP Expert Support
Ease of Use for FatCow Hosting Customers
The FatCow website is very easy to navigate and they have several step-by-step tutorials that help you walk through doing things from managing your domain to setting up a website. An easy to navigate site is very important to have. A bunch of great features don’t mean anything if the customers aren’t able to find their way around or use those great features. FatCow wants their customers to enjoy being on the site and if there are things they want to do, like build a website, they want the customers to be able to understand the directions and tutorials so they can accomplish their website goals. This is why they have these step by step instructional videos for the topics below. The tutorials include:
- Understanding Web hosting
- Managing your domain name
- Configuring your email
- Designing your website
- Selling Online
- Managing your account
- Finding help on the site
Each of the above topics has in depth videos and information that walk you through what you need to do. If you still have trouble or if the tutorials don’t answer your questions you can contact one of the knowledgeable staff members to help you solve whatever problem you’re having. They are trained to solve problems and they are there to help, so don’t hesitate to use them if the tutorials don’t help.
Help & Support Tickets
Customer service and satisfaction is the foundation upon which FatCow was created. When the founders looked around at what was available, what they found lacking was customer satisfaction and value. There are 18 different categories in the knowledge base with answers to some of the more commonly asked things as well as How tos for certain functions.
If you can’t find the answers you’re looking for there, don’t worry, you can contact the support staff 7 days a week, 24 hours a day though live chat, email and telephone. All of the staff has been trained to be able to help customers with whatever problems they are having and they will do their best to find a solution as quickly as possible. Whichever was your means of contacting them is how they will handle your problem. What this means is that if you email them, they will provide help through email, and so on.
One thing you don’t have to worry about is not being able to contact the support staff or reaching a staff member that is rude or unhelpful. With customer satisfaction their number one goal, you can always expect an excellent customer experience every time you call, email or chat with the staff.
Contacting FatCow Hosting and Finding them on Social Media
You have many ways that you will be able to contact someone at FatCow. They are not the kind of company that ignores its customers or is suddenly never able to be reached. You can choose to contact them through email, live chat and telephone. There is an online embedded form where you can submit questions pertaining to your site or account.
Customer service and being able to contact the company that holds your website in its hands is extremely important and the staff at FatCow know this and take it seriously. Your problems and concerns will never be just swept under the rug which is why they lead the industry in customer satisfaction.
Website: www.fatcow.com
Email: Embedded form on the website, must be logged in to use
Live Chat: available from the website. Just click on “live chat” and fill in your name, email, username or domain, and the answer to your security question and you will be connected to the next available live chat representative.
Telephone: Sales: 1-866.544.9343
Support: 1-888.278.9780
If you ever had a need to report someone for violating FatCow’s terms of service (and they hope you don’t) you can email them at [email protected] and/or fill out the Report Members Violations.
If you want to follow them on their social media pages, they’d be happy to have you. Just follow the links below.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FatCow
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fatcow
Blog: http://blog.fatcow.com/
Google + – https://plus.google.com/+FatCow/posts
When FatCow came onto the web hosting scene they saw a need and filled it in a big way. With attention to the things that they found lacking such as value for the customer’s dollar and customer satisfaction, they provide a web hosting solution with tons of extras that can help small business owners create sites they are proud of and that do more than just look good, they produce results.
With all of the tutorials, great introductory prices, excellent payment terms and special features, FatCow is truly a hosting company that gives you more than a working website, they give you an actual online presence that visitors will take notice of.
Resources
- FatCow Hosting – http://www.fatcow.com/
