GoDaddy Hosting Review 2024

GoDaddy doesn’t need introduction as it is easily the hosting platform giant. The biggest in the US and boasts more than 63 million domains. The user base has grown exponentially and presently stands at 14 million. However, just because it has huge numbers that does not automatically makes it a worthy contender for you.

Here’s why, in this review we will try to establish whether or not GoDaddy is best for business. First and foremost, let’s find out about some of its plans.

Plans and offerings

GoDaddy has a couple of plans up its sleeves. Obviously there is a basic one and other high end plans. Its Economy plan is available on either a three-month basis or for an annual (paid monthly) basis.

Economy plan naturally has limited resources such as support for one website, 100 GB storage and no SSL certificate etc. On the other hand, GoDaddy also offers a Deluxe plan. The plan supports unlimited number of websites, MySQL databases and 25 x 1 GB of storage space which is 10 times that of Economy.

Furthermore and for more premium users, GoDaddy has an Ultimate plan. It is the ultimate offering by GoDaddy as the name implies. As a user, you get double CPU and RAM allocation, DNS coupled with DNSSEC security and a 1-year SSL certificate.

Linux users are especially in luck because those who are well-versed can take advantage of GoDaddy’s cPanel as they are allowed low-level server access, raw access logs plus, year-long trial of Office 365 Outlook with mail and shared online calendar support.

Next, we’ll look into setting things up with GoDaddy.

Setting up an account

You can set up your GoDaddy account by selecting from a variety of payment terms: these ranges from 1-month, 3-month to 12, 24 and 36 months. Choose whichever is convenient for you.

At the time of signing up, you are provided with some starter addons.

What are they?

These include backup and restore, routine malware scanning or any free trial products which come pre-selected when registering for the service. You always have the option to unselect the boxes for the products you don’t need.

Once the payment is made, the rest of the steps are as easy as 1-2-3. You will first be asked to enter a domain name for your site. After that, you are required to choose the data center (location) where you want your site to be hosted. Lastly, you will be asked to create a cPanel login.

For any newbie, it might be a lot to digest but it’s best to continue with any selection for the time being and proceed towards completing the process. Elements such as choosing of data center or deciding on a domain name (which if not already) can be changed later as well.

It is now time to create that website of yours. So read on.

Establishing a web presence

When it comes to creating a website with GoDaddy, its Linux based hosting presents you with a cPanel frontend to manage your site. Although, this can be a cumbersome exercise especially for novice users but with time and effort, you can grasp it.

For those of you thinking, “who has the time to learn how to navigate a cPanel?” Well, learning is never wasted. Familiarizing yourself with cPanel can help you traverse many other hosting providers, should a need arises in future as it is used by most.

With a basic GoDaddy plan, you do not get a Website Builder but what you do get is preview sites. Preview sites let you quickly create a professional looking website, in no time. So for whatever the basic plan’s worth, it is enough to get a beginner by.

Moreover, the cPanel and GoDaddy’s Installatron can be used to set up a blog or install CMS (content management system) in place. It could also be used for developing any other web application.

When hosting a WordPress site (given it’s the most widespread platform) with GoDaddy, you will see options such as on auto-update policies and blog admin. But if it proves to be too overwhelming, simply hit install and as stated previously, you can deal with the settings later on.

Hosting provider performance

GoDaddy has three tier customer support; a knowledgebase with articles including walkthroughs and troubleshooting guides. Secondly, a customer forum or can be referred to as GoDaddy community where other users talk about what’s latest and put forth their concerns. Lastly, a 24/7 contact support number is available for any GoDaddy related queries.

So the provider has its users well covered, from all ends. If you delve into the knowledgebase a little, you will notice a limited number of FAQs. But do not be turn off by this since when you actually search about a particular topic, a list of technical articles will show up in your results. If you know what and where to look for in those articles, knowledgebase is for you.

Customer forum does not get many questions answered, perhaps because much of it is handled at the first tier level support. On an average, some 25 people may come looking for answers or answer questions posted therein. The downside is if you are actually waiting on an answer, it might take several days before a solution is proposed or the matter is resolved.

Contacting the team on their provided phone number can be a bit of hassle. Not only the navigation is confusing but you will be asked to enter customer ID, select the service you are calling for, phone PIN and so on so forth. This inadvertently increases wait times and can be a challenge for people low on patience.

In terms of server performance, GoDaddy fares positively on Bitcatcha Speed Checker and WebPageTest is reported to be around 0.4 seconds and that’s just for the ‘first byte’. The results are indeed good and considering these are for its basic hosting account – is not short of a feat!

Final word

(And) that’s all she wrote.

Amidst wide array of product offerings, optimal uptime and above average performance, GoDaddy has cemented itself as a leader in the hosting industry. It may be that you have to spend premium for addons such as Website Builder and extra features (Managed WordPress hosting) but in the end, it’s worth it.

Furthermore, a 30-day refund option is at your disposal. Therefore, you don’t have a lot to lose if things don’t turn out for you the way you had hoped. However, there’s a catch. Conditions vary. If you happen to be subscribed to a plan which is of less than a year, the grace period allowed is only 48 hours.

Whether or not it’s best for your business, we leave it up to you.