GoDaddy Review
GoDaddy's web hosting services are unique not only because they
offer more supplemental services than any other service, but
because they offer a distinct control panel that is not used by any
other web host. Although the
GoDaddy control panel is designed to be easy-to-use, it may
actually pose a challenge to webmasters that are accustomed to the
cPanel or vDeck control panels as it is built very differently than
more standard control panels.
Company Information
Founded: 1998
Headquarters: Phoenix, AZ
Domains Managed: More than 15 million
Awards and Accreditations
Plans and Pricing
Although GoDaddy's prices are more expensive than bargain
hosting sites such as FatCow
and iPage, their prices are
competitive with many other web hosting providers including HostGator, InMotion and Register.com. GoDaddy's
Unlimited Package offers more than ample services for small
business websites and is the most similar to the standard plans
offered by FatCow and iPage, as well as InMotion's Pro package and
HostGator's Baby plan. If you're looking to test the waters before
investing in a premium plan, the Economy and Deluxe plans also
offer many useful services and add-ons that can help you get your
website off the ground.
| |
Economy |
Deluxe |
Unlimited |
| 1 Month Plan |
N/A |
$6.99/month |
$9.99/month |
| 3 Month Plan |
$4.99/month |
N/A |
N/A |
| $14.97 Total |
N/A |
N/A |
| 12 Month Plan |
$4.49/month |
$5.39/month |
$8.49/month |
| $53.88 Total |
$64.68 Total |
$101.88 Total |
| 24 Month Plan |
$3.99/month |
$5.09/month |
$7.99/month |
| $95.76 Total |
$122.16 Total |
$191.76 Total |
| 36 Month Plan |
$3.49/month |
$4.79/month |
$7.49/month |
| $125.64 Total |
$172.44 Total |
$269.64 Total |
In addition to offering 3 web hosting packages, GoDaddy also
offers a dizzying array of extra services that can potentially
enhance various aspects of your website from the site's overall
efficiency and design to its security. The purchasing process at
GoDaddy may actually take longer than it does for many other web
hosts because you will be required to read through multiple pages
of information about extra features before getting to the final
shopping cart. Firstly, GoDaddy will try to convince you to
purchase extra domain names that are similar to the ones you chose,
like the comparable .com, .net, and .biz. Once you've chosen your
domains, GoDaddy will try to offer you extra services. Some of the
more useful extras offered include additional email accounts, SSL
(which is included in the Unlimited plan), assistance with SEO
(search engine optimization) and e-commerce shopping cart
functionality.
Compare
GoDaddy's Pricing to other Web Hosting Services >>
Money Back Guarantee
GoDaddy may be the only webhost that does not trumpet its money
back guarantee directly on its website. In fact, they don't offer a
money back guarantee at all, but will provide you with a refund (or
partial refund) if you wish to cancel your service. If you decide
to cancel your hosting plan at any time you can request a refund
for the amount of time remaining in your service contract. Domain
registration fees are not refundable.
Ease of Use
Your first encounter with GoDaddy may be a bit overwhelming as a
result of the multitude of services available. Once you familiarize
yourself with the system, however, you will likely find that it is
relatively straightforward. Account setup takes 6 steps. During
this process you will be asked if you want to integrate Google
Analytics into your website. If you're interested in tracking your
traffic or making use of any of Google's tools, this is an
especially useful benefit â€" most other web hosts don't integrate
Google tools into their control panels at all.
A look at the 6 steps to site setup
Once the account is setup it takes approximately 24 hours to
setup the domain. In some cases it can take up to 48 hours for this
process. This lag time is significantly longer than the wait time
of most other web hosts which successfully set up domains within an
hour or two.
A page comes up mentioning that your account is pending setup,
but you won't know how long it will take unless you call the
customer service center. For hosting customers like myself that set
aside time out of their busy schedules to setup an account and get
their site live ASAP, this can be very frustrating.
Account
Pending Setup
Upon opening my account I set about establishing an email
account. The process required 4 simple steps.
Step 1: Select Email Account List
Step 2: Add and setup new account
Step 3: Add address
Step 4: Create
mailbox
Step
5: Setup is complete
The mailbox was working within 20 minutes of setup. Setting up a
second email account was equally straightforward. Email accounts
that are hosted by GoDaddy can be accessed via the control panel or
through remote web access.
Setting up a WordPress blog required 4 steps, which took
slightly longer that it did on most other web hosts which offer 1
or 2 page WordPress installation.
Step
1: Install WordPress
Step 2: Agree to license agreement
Step 3: Choose a
domain
Step
4: Set up a database
Step
5: Process complete
Once the setup was complete I received an email confirming that
the blog was set up. This confirmation is unique to GoDaddy, as
most other web hosts do not offer this follow-up.
Email
Confirmation
A
look at the final product
Compare GoDaddy's Ease of Use to
other Web Hosting Services >>
Customer Support
Considering that GoDaddy is one of the most popular web hosting
services, I was surprised to see that they offer neither toll free
customer service nor a live chat option. I called GoDaddy multiple
times on both weekdays and the weekend. The average wait time was 6
minutes, however it was evident that calls are answered much more
quickly on weekdays than on weekends. The longest wait time that I
experienced was at 1:30pm EST on a Sunday afternoon when I waited
for 14 minutes. GoDaddy's customer service representatives were
always helpful, friendly and patient.
In addition to phone support, GoDaddy offers email support. I
emailed them at 2:40pm EST on a Sunday afternoon and the
confirmation promised that I'd receive a response within 8 hours. I
was surprised to see that an email confirming that my request had
been received promised a response within 24 hours. Despite these
assurances, they never got back to me.
Ticket submission confirmation
Email confirmation that my ticket had
been received
Finally, GoDaddy offers a Help Center with a powerful search
function that makes it easy to look up most answers independently.
They also offer forums that can provide a good source of useful
information. What was noticeably lacking was an in-depth video
tutorial service which would be useful in helping new users
acquaint themselves with GoDaddy's unique system.
Compare GoDaddy's Customer Support to
other Web Hosting Services >>
Summary
Positive Features
- Offers every possible service that you may ever need for your
website
- A wider selection of add-ons than most other web hosts
- Google Webmaster Tools integration available upon setup
- Premium domain registration available
- GoDaddy offers more advertising credits than all other web
hosts
Negative Features
- No live chat
- Email support was unresponsive
- Control panel may be difficult to navigate for first time
users
- GoDaddy's website is cluttered with products that are
irrelevant to most small business owners
- Website setup processes take longer than they do with most
other web hosts
