When I was just starting out, I signed up for GoDaddy. You’ve probably already heard of it, they advertise A LOT. And when you’re new in the industry and you don’t know any better, you think—oh, that sounds popular, let’s go with that.
Don’t.
GoDaddy is a jack-of-all-trades, sure. It offers domain name registration and web hosting primarily but also has email and marketing tools, SSL and site protection and a bunch of other services that you think you might need down the line as your business grows. It’s also worth noting that it’s a master of none of these things.
Hopefully, that alone is enough to convince you to seek out other companies. But if not, and since you’re already here, you can go on and read through this comprehensive GoDaddy review.
I divided it according to several categories that I personally look for. Things like how easy it is to use, how versatile the product is, how reliable their services are and of course, if it will prove to be a dependable investment for marketers. And while I am not alone in my opinion about GoDaddy, I do have a few years of experience with the brand to give you a thorough and unbiased opinion of what it has to offer.
Ease of use
★★
When I was still using GoDaddy, they still had their own custom hosting panel. The best hosting options, I found, after switching from GoDaddy, use “cPanel.” And when you’re working with WordPress sites, you’ll find that the hosting panel you use is essential to making this easier or harder for you. And no matter how many times GoDaddy says their site works really well with WordPress, it really doesn’t.
In 2014, however, it seems like GoDaddy finally made a move to keep up with the industry standard and switched to a cPanel. It’s a custom install (which is still a con, for me) but a great improvement on its usability from when I was actually using it. (If you have tried it, tell me all about it on the comment section below.)
On another note, GoDaddy is also known for being slow. As one of the most popular hosting sites, they host thousands of sites on a single server that constantly competes for bandwidth and time. On top of that, with limited back end support, making server changes is really slow as well.
Flexibility
★★★★
The thing about being a jack-of-all-trades is that it can make things easier—which is largely why I’m giving GoDaddy four stars. When your domain name, hosting, and email are all managed by the same company, coordination is easier, upgrading is faster, figuring out what your next steps will be might be a little clearer.
With that said, GoDaddy also spends a lot of time trying to sell you all their other services that you’re likely to end up paying for features and services that you don’t even really need. This is especially true for marketers who are just familiarizing themselves with the technology. It also speaks a lot about their usability. Imagine going on their website to purchase a domain name and then you get bombarded with over ten upsells! It’s annoying, to say the least.
Support
★★★
GoDaddy has never been known for their support, although it may have gotten better over the years. I’ll grade them as a neutral, but I’ll admit that it might not be entirely fair since I don’t use GoDaddy anymore.
Value for Money
★★★
While GoDaddy is not necessarily the most expensive hosting option out there, it’s also not the cheapest. So in terms of price—they’re somewhere in the middle. But put that into context with their overall service, and I would have to conclude that what you’re spending isn’t worth the headache.
Dependability
★★★
All hosting companies experience down time, GoDaddy is no exception. It doesn’t make their service any more dependable than sites like HostGator or Liquid Web. But when you take it into context with complaints from other aspects of their product, such as poor customer support or slow servers with limited backend, it does begin to sound less appealing as an option.
Overall
There are a handful of GoDaddy users out there who seem to have been spared all these typical hassles. Good for them. As for me (and maybe you), the good news is that you don’t have to settle for bad service! There are plenty other similar services out there that are far more reliable and ideal for new marketers. After switching from GoDaddy, I’ve since used HostGator, Bluehost, and Liquid Web. Each of them have their pros and cons, but all things considered, they are still way better than GoDaddy.
What are your thoughts? Do you Agree? Disagree? Please leave a comment below and let me know…
– Mercer
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