What Is GoDaddy? 

You’ve likely heard the name GoDaddy around recently, particularly if you’re considering building your own website.

However, how much do you know about GoDaddy and its services? 

What Is GoDaddy?

Godaddy is a leading provider of web hosting services.

Its mission is to provide customers with reliable, high-quality web hosting at affordable prices.

This includes shared hosting, VPS hosting, reseller hosting, dedicated servers, managed WordPress hosting, e-commerce solutions, and much more.

Sounds interesting, right? Take a look at this in-depth guide to learn more about GoDaddy, its products, and how this company can help you get your business off the ground. 

GoDaddy Overview 

Godaddy is a web hosting company that offers domain name registration services.

They also offer email hosting, cloud hosting, SSL certificates, and other related services.

Godaddy was founded in 1997 and has grown into a global corporation with over $1.5 billion in annual revenue.

The company operates in more than 40 countries around the globe.

Arguably, GoDaddy is the most popular company offering domain registrar and web-hosting services. 

GoDaddy Services: A Closer Look 

If you’re new in the business and looking at GoDaddy’s range of services, you’re likely feeling a bit overwhelmed.

A lot of the terms used by GoDaddy may be unfamiliar, and even a bit confusing. 

To ensure that you are as well-informed as possible, check out the information below.

We explain all of GoDaddy’s services in plain and simple terms so that you know exactly what you need. 

Domain Name Registration 

A domain is what you type into your browser when you want to visit a website, like “www.example.com.”

When you register a domain, you are essentially buying the ability to use it for a certain amount of time.

For example, let’s say I wanted to create a website called “example.com” for my personal portfolio.

I could purchase the domain from GoDaddy for $12 per year. The price may rise to $18 in the second year. 

If you purchase a domain name through GoDaddy, the company also offers domain protection against threats.

Threats can come in the form of domain hijacking, accidental expiration, and data exposure. 

The basic level of protection is free of charge.

However, you can upgrade to the higher plans that offer more protection if you wish. These tend to cost around $10 and $20. 

Web Hosting

Web hosting refers to the process of renting or buying the physical space where your website will live once purchased.

It is typically divided up into different sections, such as storage space, databases, application software, etc.

These components are all hosted on a server. Your web hosting plan determines which parts of the server you’ll receive.

Some plans include everything while others may limit you to just one or two options.

There are four different types of web hosting: VPS, shared, dedicated, and reseller.

Each one is different in terms of the infrastructure of the data center, the server space, the website management level, and the additional resources available.

GoDaddy offers all four types of web hosting.

WordPress Hosting 

WordPress Hosting 

Many popular web hosting providers offer WordPress-optimized shared hosting services.

If you’re used to managing a WordPress website, this service is a great option.

WordPress comes with a lot of themes and plugins to choose from, and it comes pre-installed. 

A GoDaddy WordPress plan isn’t that different from a regular web hosting plan, at least in terms of performance.

The WordPress plan aims to make it very easy for customers to both build and manage a WordPress website.

However, the WordPress plans are limited to a single install.  

eCommerce Solutions 

GoDaddy offers a great eCommerce solution for people who want to start selling products online.

Their eCommerce platform (Also check out BigCommerce) comes with many features including product management, customer management, and marketing.

You can sell unlimited products in a single store. You can also use tools for SEO, google listing, product promotion, etc.

GoDaddy supports all popular payment gateways, such as Stripe, PayPal, and Square. It also doesn’t charge a transaction fee! 

Web Builder

A web builder lets you design your own website without needing any coding knowledge.

With this tool, you can make changes to the layout or add new pages easily.

Using the drag-and-drop tool provided by GoDaddy makes building a website very simple. 

You can give GoDaddy’s Web Builder a go for free.

However, when you are ready to launch your website, you will need to upgrade in order to keep the service.

Generally, the pricing for the web builder service begins at around $7. 

SSL 

SSL is a digital certificate that ensures the authenticity of a website.

You should always check if a website is secured or not before entering any personal information.

SSL makes sure that a site is safe to use. Websites with an SSL certificate will show a green padlock symbol next to them.

This means that your data is encrypted and safe.

When purchasing a certificate, make sure you choose the right type (standalone vs. wildcard).

Also, make sure you purchase a certificate from a reliable company such as GoDaddy.

Professional Email 

You might have wondered, how do you get a professional email address? 

Well, one of GoDaddy’s products is to host an email service so that you can obtain a professional-looking email address.

For instance, rather than using ‘@gmail.com’, you can have an email address that looks something like ‘@businessname.com’. 

Microsoft 365

In addition to receiving a professional email, you can also purchase Microsoft 365 products from GoDaddy.

These are great if you are setting up an online business. Tools such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Skype, and OneDrive are very useful. 

GoDaddy Review: Is It Worth Your Money?

The following review will cover all aspects of GoDaddy including pricing, features, customer service, reliability, and overall value for money.

Pricing

GoDaddy offers some very cheap services and small plans.

This makes it a great place for people looking for specific products at a reasonable price. 

However, GoDaddy has received some criticism for luring in customers with very low prices, only to increase those prices after the first year. 

Additionally, GoDaddy tends to also charge for items that you may not necessarily need to pay for.

For example, SSL Certificates may be offered to you for free with a good provider. 

Features

Features

GoDaddy provides a wide range of tools and services to help you create and manage your website.

These include domain names, email accounts, site builders, content management systems (CMS), etc. 

They also offer premium add ons such as shopping carts, membership plugins, custom themes, and advanced SEO tools.

The features that GoDaddy offer tend to be of a high standard.

However, as mentioned above, you may end up paying more for them than necessary. 

Customer Service

If you need any assistance setting up your new website, then you can contact GoDaddy support via phone, live chat, or email.

Reliability

GoDaddy uses Amazon Web Services to host its websites.

AWS is one of the most popular cloud computing platforms currently used by thousands of companies worldwide.

AWS guarantees 99.9% uptime for its users.

In addition, if you experience downtime, they will reimburse you for up to $500 worth of lost business.

Overall Value For Money

GoDaddy is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to build a simple website or start a blog and doesn’t have much knowledge of the industry.

However, if you are looking for something more complex, then you should look elsewhere.

Conclusion 

GoDaddy is a reputable web hosting company offering many different types of products.

They provide a number of benefits for both beginners and experts alike. 

However, there are certain things that you should consider before signing up with GoDaddy.

You must ensure that you understand what each product does, and how they work together. 

You should also make sure that you know exactly what you want out of your website, and explore other services to see if GoDaddy is charging an excessive amount for what you need. 

Matthew Jacobs