I have been a Godaddy customer for a really long time and for the most part, that’s really all I knew when it came to domains.
Are they really the best as far as domains and website hosting is concerned?
Are those discounts really worth it?
Within this post I want to answer a bunch of questions that most people have when it comes to Godaddy and their domain service.
Sometimes change is what we need in our lives and that is what I did as far as where I get my domains from.
With the mixed reviews about this domain and website creation company, I want to give you my opinion as well as my reasons for leaving a service that I used for over 5 years.
1.) I Was All Over the Place
As an online marketer and most especially a blogger, you want to have all your work in one platform and that was really impossible 5 years ago.
I had my domains with Godaddy, then I had hosting with Hostgator.
Then I built my site with Wealthy Affiliate and boy was this a big waste of time.
I was a sucker for all the crazy blog posts that I read and little did I know that I was making everyone else money by listening to their recommendations.
Hey, we all gotta learn sometime, right?
2.) Discounts Got Me
I loved the 99 cent domains that I used to get with Godaddy as they got my business up and running for a no brainer price.
The problem I had was when it came time to renew, they wanted way more than that price and although it was expected, I just wasn’t a big fan come time to renew.
It may not seem like a big deal because it’s $15 to renew, but that is still more than the competition.
3.) Not So User Friendly
For new bloggers, building a website is not the easiest thing, and I had the hardest time becoming best friends with the site.
At least back in 2010, before they did their overhaul and made things a little more user friendly.
Even at that, it was just not easy to navigate and with all the marketing in the way, I was wasting too much time trying to learn how to use a site that only gave me domains.
Not cool.
4.) Paying For Email
As an online professional, you want your personal email as it shows professionalism.
Back in the day I used to think it was cool just to tell my friends to email me at john@aworkathomejobs.com, but that was just my young, still confused days.
Now, it’s all about business and I NEED my personal email just for my clients.
With Godaddy, you had to pay for that and along with their not user friendly site, I could not understand their email plans, which led to me paying for something I didn’t even use.
Not to mention the outdated back office, which didn’t function like a regular G-Mail account did.
5.) Security
SSL sites are a must these days if you want to stand out from the crowd and impress the high and mighty search engines.
Once again, I had to decide on whether or not I was going to need my site to be secure, since I wasn’t selling any products straight from my site.
These days, it is very much needed regardless and I am not willing to pay for something that I think should come with all domain names.
6.) SEO?
I’m a huge fan of marketing (especially online), but not when there isn’t any value going to the customers.
If you know anything about blogging and search engine optimization, that’s what we want to master in order to get Google’s good graces and page 1 rankings.
As a newb to online marketing, the one product that stood out to me when giving into Godaddy’s many up-sells was their SEO package.
Being that I didn’t know what I was doing, I of course gave into that.
It just so happens to be the most expensive thing on that list and boy was it worthless.
Looking back at it now, I wonder what in the world did it even do.
I know…nothing!
That right there was a deal breaker and I lost all respect for Godaddy.
7.) I Found Better
Gone are the days or purchasing a domain here, getting hosting there, and building a website somewhere else.
If you’re new to the online world you’re probably wondering what in the world I’m talking about, so let me explain.
Back in the day, there was no complete stop for online marketers and yes, we literally had to buy a domain in one place and have it hosted somewhere else.
Then I had to use a different site builder due to the outdated platforms that these domain providers offered.
Drag and drop sounded like the best way to go until you got your hands on things and realized that the whole concept wasn’t working as planned.
These days there still aren’t many (if any) places to do this, but I do know of one.
The Wealthy Affiliate.
I am a full-time affiliate marketer and I run many websites and I have almost all my services with those guys.
With the ability to purchase domains, have your site secure, as well as get personal email all in one place is just amazing.
Before I used them for their awesome training and support for affiliate marketing, but now they have taken things to another level.
Conclusion
I have no problems with Godaddy and although I quit for my personal reasons, I think they are slacking in their quality department, which is not good.
I don’t know if what’s her face is still with them, but I’m sure their crazy marketing for domain names is still rolling.
Is Godaddy still worth it?
For domains, yes, but not for other services.
As a beginner you can get a domain for $.99 for your first year, which is enough time to start making money online before you renewal comes around.
Other than that, I’m a bit disappointed in their service and once I get my last two domains transferred to Wealthy Affiliate, I will no longer be affiliated with them after that.
It was great in the beginning, but there are just better options out there if you’re looking for more than just domains.
These are my reasons for leaving Godaddy and I will be forever grateful for what they have done for me and my online career.
It’s time to move on, so thanks for introducing me to the world of domains, Godaddy.
Cheers!
– John
A Work at Home Jobs
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