We reviewed the top website builders, here is an honest review of how GoDaddy stacks up

Review Of Godaddy Website Builder: Is it Right for You?

How well does GoDaddy work?

If you're looking for a cheap and easy way to get started with building websites, GoDaddy is a decent option. Their deluxe plan starts at just $5.99 per month, and includes unlimited storage space and bandwidth. For those on a tight budget, their cheapest plan is just $1.99 per month. However, it's worth noting that this plan doesn't include any storage space or bandwidth. So if you're planning on building a large website or expecting a lot of traffic, you'll need to upgrade to a more expensive plan. Overall, GoDaddy offers decent value for the price, but isn't the best option out there if you're looking for top-notch performance.

Top GoDaddy Alternatives:

• 75 million blogs and over 34% of the world’s websites use Wordpress
• WordPress offers a 30-day refund.
• Hosting is part of all plans.

Wordpress website builder

• Wix has over 150 million users in over 190 countries.
• There is Wix free websites, but you’ll be limited to 500MB in storage and Wix ads.
• 14 day money back guarantee.

Wix.com website builder

Godaddy Sites: Final Word

When GoDaddy set out to build their webbuilder platform, their eyes were set on simplicity. A Simple Sasquatch like me would typically value that, but unfortunately in GoDaddy’s strive for simple, they missed some critical points. Of course the user wants a platform that is easy to use, but they also want to create something that uniquely shows their brand, product or blog. They want features and they want choices. Unfortunately, with GoDaddy, you will likely end up with a website that is cookie-cutter and bland. While the ecommerce site is actually pretty decent, it is fairly expensive and you will get a lot more site from a platform like Wix or Weebly.

What is the cost of GoDaddy?

While GoDaddy pricing might look reasonable a first glance, it typically ends up being more expensive than other website builder because you end up paying extra for different features, including security and adds-on that come part of other company packages. It also often charges more when it comes to renewal time. Beware of the up sell!

Does GoDaddy have a free or budget option

No free option, but for $10 a month, you’ll get the webbuilder, blogging functionality, access to customer support and some marketing features; however, you won’t get SEO and more complex functionality unless you move up to a more expensive plan.

Does GoDaddy have a money back option

GoDaddy might be one of the only site builders that offers a full free month trial. Thank you, GoDaddy.

What are the payment options

You can pay with credit, debit and PayPal.

Is GoDaddy easy to use?

When GoDaddy asked its users what was the one number one thing they disliked about building a website, they responded “It takes too long.” So GoDaddy set out to solve this issue and created a platform where anyone could create a website under an hour. 

In many ways, mission accomplished – it’s simple, fast and straightforward to use. BUT – there’s a big failure in the system – what you can create with GoDaddy is almost too basic and you end up with a product that feels pretty cookie-cutter.

Do you have to have any technical skills?

GoDaddy = GoSimple. You do not need technical skills to use their drag and drop tool.

Can you create and make edits from a tablet or phone?

For all the design disadvantages we’ve listed, GoDaddy has made mobile work for its users. You can do just about anything in a smartphone browser that you can do in a PC web browser, including changing the theme and adding sections and images.

How is GoDaddy’s template and photo selection?

How’s GoDaddy’s template selection?

There are over 300 designs and template options, and like most webbuilders, there are styles that reflect almost any type of business or website. The good news is that you can easily switch between templates. The bad – well actually terrible – news is that you can’t alter the templates very much.

How’s the stock photo and video selection?

GoDaddy offers a fairly robust selection of free stock imagery and you can, of course, add your own photos. Unfortunately, the issue about customization comes into play again. You will be fairly limited in your ability to edit, alternate or move the image. Media/video is basic – you can add slide shows, playlists and YouTube/Vimeo vids, but there aren’t any widgets or add-ones like you’d find on most competition sites.

Is GoDaddy customizable?

The other downside of the speedy platform is that it is one of the least customizable webbuilders out there. You have to follow their system to a fault – in most cases there is no ability to adjust format, images, or amount content, and there are few add-ones to extend your website’s capabilities.

This Simple Sasquatch likes to keep things straight-forward, but even GoDaddy is a bit too simple, making the user feel stifled. GoDaddy has very limited customization options. You can make minor edits to the theme (colour and font), but you can’t change the layout, add extra imagery or paragraphs in a section or edit the menu. And as mentioned, there are limited add-on options compared to other sites. The result? A underlying feeling that you’ve created a somewhat bland website.

Can I insert my own code?

If you’ve got the skills to do so, you can add your own code to your GoDaddy site.

What are GoDaddy features & functionality like?

Like a lonely Sasquatch, GoDaddy has decided to do the website builder thing on its own – you cannot buy third-party apps or add-ons. This ends up being a detriment to the overall functionality. There are some features – video integration, social media options and some marketing tools, but overall the features accessible through GoDaddy is very limited. 

Can I integrate with apps

There are some direct integrations like ChowNow and Opentable available, but there is no App Store. Grrrr….

Does GoDaddy have newsletter capabilities

You betcha. GoDaddy’s email/newsletter functionality is a lot like the rest of the website builder. Fast, easy and simple, but often lacking the ability to tailor the design or functionality.

How is GoDaddys’ blog feature

GoDaddy has a basic blog template. You can probably guess what I’m going to say – speedy, simple, but stifling 

Is GoDaddy SEO (search engine optimization) ready

If you go beyond the Basic Plan, GoDaddy’s website builder incorporates SEO tools in the website builder. But be ready for the ol’ GoDaddy up-sell – you’ll be encourage to pay extra for extra SEO tools or even purchase support from an SEO specialist.

Does GoDaddy provide analytics

While it doesn’t have an internal analytics tool, GoDaddy makes it easy to add Google Analytics to your site so you can tracker your visitor visits.

Is GoDaddy good for business?

What type of business is GoDaddy best for?

GoDaddy is a good option if you need to get your website up fast and you aren’t too fussed about flashy design and functionality. The e-commerce store is not too bad, but there are a lot of other webbuilder options out there that will give you more functionality at a better price.

How is GoDaddy for e-commerce?

GoDaddy’s online stores is pretty decent and provides 800 website templates. I like that GoDaddy provides the option to integrates with QuickBook and eBay, as well as offers appointment scheduling, calendar syncing, sales campaigns/newsletters. It has a number of nice little extras to help you manage your store, including well-organized product management, receipts, abandoned cart and shipping options.

While the GoDaddy e-commerce site meet the Sasquatch standards, it is relatively expensive and doesn’t quite make up for the other builder limitations.

How is GoDaddy for reliability, speed and security?

Does GoDaddy work on all devices?

In this day and age, all website builders pretty much need to be mobile responsive and GoDaddy is no exception. Your visitors will get a very similar experience whether they’re on a computer or a mobile.

How fast will my GoDaddy site load?

Not only will does GoDaddy make it fast to create a website, you can also be confident that the load time will be fast, too.

How secure is GoDaddy?

In all plans have basic security, including SSL certificates.

What’s the uptime?

Honestly, there isn’t much that differentiates the webbuilders, like the others, GoDaddy has a >99% + uptime.

How is GoDaddy for customer support?

You could be building your Sasquatch Winter Getaways Site on the weekend, which is why I love that GoDaddy offers Live Chat and phone support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is above what most other webbuilders provide. It has a pretty decent Help Site with lots of FAQs and step-by-step walkthroughs, but sometimes it is difficult to get to the information you need as the search function doesn’t work that well.

If I had to groan and grumble about one thing (and trust me I’m good at groaning), it would be customer service. Live chat can take a long time to get a response and to access phone support you need to go through a significant automated menu first (including knowing a PIN). Will the rep be able to answer your question? This appears to be a bit of luck of the draw – some customers report helpful support while others report they left with their questions unanswered.

What type of support does it offer?

Live chat, email a and phone support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.