In this review, I’ve done research on how suitable HostGator Hosting is for Canadian customers, and those with large amounts of visitors from Canada.
Including a guide on achieving fast Canada hosting with HostGator.
Useful links to begin with;
- HostGator server speed test for Canada
- Changing hosting language to French
- Hosting awards won by HostGator
HostGator Canada Review
HostGator is a famous hosting company, not just in the US. They are also a common choice amongst Canadian customers, or those looking for low-lantecy and good performance for websites with mostly visitors from Canada.
But even for local business, the web is a global place. And for those, interested in optimizing speeds, HostGator provides a TrueSpeed CDN solution.
Still most Canada focused websites, do fine with the basic HostGator plans. But for customers aware of the importance of making every millisecond count, hosting in a Canadian data center is no longer enough. One needs a CDN.
Short for Content Delivery Network, the CDN service consists of a network of data centers throughout the world, connected to each other. It automatically delivers website content from a location nearest to visitor. One of their servers is located in Toronto, Ontario for fast speeds throughout Canada.
And a high-tech data center like HostGator’s which is connected to multiple internet providers, making sure that your site stays up and connected at all times.
For HostGator Canada web hosting either;
- Use their globally central US data center for low-latency to Canada
- Utilize TrueSpeed CDN for optimal speed globally, including Canada
While HostGator is able to serve even the most demanding of customers, truth is that not everyone really benefits from a CDN. My suggestion is this;
Test Canada connection speeds with HostGator here.
If speeds are not satisfying your needs, and your business depends on it. Or you just like to have fast page loads on your WordPress blog. Please, continue reading.
CDN Optimizing Canada Speeds
HostGator provides CDN & web security packages together with SiteLock, their official partner. And while the security features are very limited on the basic package, which is either free or very cheap, it’s the TrueSpeed CDN network that’s included with all plans that we are having a look at today.
Most CDNs are intended for businesses with high-traffic websites, and therefore are very costly with high yearly, or monthly minimum fees. With HostGator you can utilize the power of a CDN free on WordPress Hosting or from $1.67/month.
Once enabled, if a visitor from Montreal, Quebec comes to your website, they connect to the nearest CDN data center in Toronto, Ontario. Which is a faster route than connecting to a data center in the US for example.
The same applies to a visitor from anywhere else, let’s say in the UK, they will be connected to London for faster page loads. SiteLock claims that enabling a CDN will improve website performance 50% on average (source).
So let’s have a look at the steps for optimizing Canada, and global speeds!
Upon singing up for a regular shared hosting plan with HostGator (Hatchling, Baby, Business, etc.) you have “SiteLock Monitoring” under additional services.
The security features are very limited but this includes access to their high speed CDN. Also, if you purchase the add-on later it will cost more, at $2.09/month.
Proceed to “SiteLock Security” once you are in your customer portal.
Clicking on the “Dashboard Icon” will take you to SiteLock for configuring the CDN for your website. Note, that this is a third-party service.
Scroll down to the bottom and look for the big, round “Upgrade TrueShield” button. And here it’s also possible change your desired language to French or others, by selecting the top menu, where it says “English”.
Proceed to purchase the free basic plan by clicking on “Submit”.
Then select “Configure” to get started!
Proceed to “Manage Routing”, where you need to write down three records for configuring your website domain. This is under the “Add” section on that page.
- A record (for example; 107.154.160.202)
- A record (for example; 107.154.167.202)
- CNAME record (for example; abcde.sitelockcdn.net)
Log into your HostGator account using cPanel or “Control Panel”.
Please note! If you are on the optimized WordPress Hosting plan, there is no cPanel. Just contact support and have them add the records for you.
You also have the option to change language to French, etc. in cPanel.
Proceed to “Advanced Zone Editor” app, which has a DNS icon.
Here you can configure the records for your domain;
Look for the “A record” line that contains your domain name, click on “Edit” and fill in the following details from the previous SiteLock screen.
- Name: canadahosting.ca
- TTL: 14400
- Type: A
- Address: A record
Next add the second “A record” through the “Add a Record” option;
- Type: A
- Name: canadahosting.ca
- TTL: 14400
- Address: A record
Finally add the CNAME record in this way;
- Type: CNAME
- Name: www.canadahosting.ca (note! add the [www])
- TTL: 14400
- CNAME: CNAME record
Now your domain has been set up, next go back to the previous “SiteLock Security” page, where you can flip on the CDN/Firewall switch.
Over time, website contents spread through the network of global data centers and your site speeds improve in Canada and elsewhere. And that’s it!
Getting started with WordPress is easy through cPanel. Or if you already have a site of your own, you can take advantage of the free site transfer service.
This is not limited to sites running on WordPress of course!
SSL & HTTPS with HostGator CDN
If you wan to utilize SSL, so that your website runs securely on HTTPS, this unfortunately requires a package upgrade. The “Prevent Plan” at $49.99/month supports websites running on SSL certificates. But I would recommend cheaper (or even free) alternatives.
See here for the HostGator CDN package and pricing levels.
Alternatives to Canada Hosting with HostGator;
Bluehost — This is the same company as HostGator on the same data center, and even more popular. Services are mostly same, except free CDN is supported with SSL.
FastComet — Data center in New Jersey for a low-latency connection to Canada. Plus, free SSL certificates, CDN and free life-time domain included on all plans.
BunnyCDN — For an alternative CDN, my recommendation goes to BunnyCDN which is cheap, fast & with no hidden “minimum costs” and easy to setup.
And that was my guide to Canada hosting on HostGator.
Hope you benefited it. Please comment, and share if possible.
HostGator partner SiteLock has CDN data centers in these countries;
Canada, Israel, Netherlands (Holland), Germany, United Kingdom (UK), Spain, Italy, Russia, France, Sweden, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, Portugal, Greece & United States (US).
There is no localized HostGator.ca website, neither do they have actual data center locations in Canada. Please, use the HostGator.com website based in the USA.
Some of these reviews have affiliate links in them. Thank you for your support, which is completely voluntary and free of any extra cost. Warmest regards, Tim.