Considering GoDaddy for Your Website? Here's What You Need to Know
Having a website is crucial for any business today, whether you’re running a mom-and-pop doughnut shop or managing an established manufacturing company. Your website is the foundation of your digital strategy. It acts as your digital business card, storefront, and primary communication hub, providing customers with an easy way to connect with you.
But what happens when your website goes down, takes a long time to load, or experiences a security breach? It can lead to lost leads, missed sales opportunities, and damage to your brand’s credibility.
Simply put—you’ve invested all this time, effort, and money into this professional platform just for it not to work properly? Any website owner is going to be frustrated.
A lot of these potential problems have to do with one’s website host. A website host is a service that allows your website to “live” on the internet. Essentially, you rent space on a server—a powerful computer—where your website files, images, and data are stored. This is what allows people to access your site online at any time and from anywhere.
But oftentimes, when it comes to shared hosting (shared hosting is when multiple websites share the same server), you encounter many of these types of problems (downtime, slow loading speeds, etc.). One of the biggest culprits is the famous “GoDaddy.”
GoDaddy is one of the most popular website and domain hosting providers available. While many people purchase their domain through GoDaddy, they also offer a wide range of web hosting services, including shared hosting, virtual private server (VPS) hosting, and dedicated server hosting. Each option provides varying levels of control and performance. Known for its extensive advertising, GoDaddy primarily targets small businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals looking to establish a strong online presence.
However, recently, there have been many concerns over the level of quality of GoDaddy’s hosting especially for the more affordable tiers.
If you’re using GoDaddy or considering it for your hosting needs, here are five common issues you should know about.
1. Poor Performance and Frequent Downtime
GoDaddy’s hosting services, especially their shared hosting plans, often struggle with performance issues. Many users report frequent crashes and significant downtime, which means their websites are inaccessible for periods of time.
Why does this happen? Shared hosting—which is a type of web hosting GoDaddy heavily promotes in its affordable plans—is prone to overcrowding. This means your website shares server space with several other websites, impacting its speed and reliability due to limited resources. If another website on the same server experiences high traffic, it can easily disrupt your site’s performance.
Why It Matters:
- Slow loading speeds can lead to visitors abandoning your site. According to Google, 53% of mobile users leave a website that takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
- Frequent downtimes mean that people can’t access your site. This means a loss of leads, sales, and potential customers.
- It’s just plain frustrating. You pay a good amount of money to get your website up and running, and then it’s down…not great.
2. Security Concerns and Data Breaches
With cyberattacks and data breaches becoming hot-button issues over the years, website security is not something to take lightly. This is particularly true for sectors like healthcare, where patient records need to be kept private, or financial services, which manage personal financial details.
Unfortunately, GoDaddy has faced multiple high-profile data breaches over the years. For example, in late 2021, a breach exposed sensitive customer data, including email addresses, SSL private keys, and admin passwords. These incidents not only jeopardize sensitive customer information but can also tarnish a website’s reputation.
Why It Matters:
- A data breach can result in legal liability if customer information is compromised.
- Poor security features put your business at risk of malware, phishing, and hacking attempts.
3. Upselling and Hidden Fees
While GoDaddy may appear affordable at first glance (as it targets many small businesses and entrepreneurs just getting started), many users are surprised by hidden fees that quickly add up and the consistent upsells. The company heavily relies on upselling and promoting additional features like SSL certificates, backups, and site security—features that other hosting providers often include for free or as part of a package. While GoDaddy’s hosting packages may appear more “affordable” compared to other providers, this is largely because they offer fewer features in their basic plans, leaving room to upsell additional services later on.
Why It Matters:
- You may end up paying far more than anticipated for basic hosting services.
- It shows shady business practices on behalf of GoDaddy.
4. Limited Features on Lower-Tier Plans
GoDaddy’s lower-tier hosting plans are designed to attract budget-conscious customers like small businesses just starting out, but they often come with significant limitations. Features like daily backups, advanced site analytics, and staging environments (to test updates before launching them) are either missing or locked behind premium plans. For small businesses starting out, these limitations can significantly impact their ability to manage and grow their website, as well as peace of mind that it is secure.
Why It Matters:
- Limited features make it harder to maintain, analyze, and scale your site effectively.
- You may be forced to upgrade to pricier plans to access essential tools.
5. Subpar Customer Support
Now we get to users’ main gripe with GoDaddy: the utter lack of customer support. When website issues arise—whether it’s downtime, an error, or needing help with configuration—you rely on your hosting provider’s customer support to resolve the problem quickly. After all – most people aren’t tech pros.
Users cite that the support is inconsistent at best. The worst include long wait times, being kicked out of chats or hung up while on hold, their concerns not being taken seriously, being sent to robots instead of people and so on.
So, when problems arise, it can be insanely frustrating to get a hold of a real person to fix the issue or get advice. And as a small business owner, you likely don’t have the time or energy to pour hours into tracking down customer support.
Even if GoDaddy’s hosting platforms had some issues- after all, no technology is ever perfect, if they just had personable, effective customer support, it could go a long way.
Why It Matters:
- Poor customer support can extend website downtime and delay problem resolution.
- Small business owners, who often juggle multiple responsibilities, can’t afford to spend hours troubleshooting issues or waiting for answers
Think Twice Before Choosing GoDaddy Hosting
For small businesses and website owners, a reliable hosting provider is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your website. Choosing a host that values speed, security, and transparency can save you time, money, and frustration in the long run. Unfortunately, you won’t get this with GoDaddy.
While GoDaddy is a big brand name and a trusted provider of domains, its hosting services are less than desirable. Users are plagued by performance issues, hidden fees, constant upsells, and subpar customer support.
This definitely makes customers flustered and drives them away in droves.
For small business owners and entrepreneurs, it’s worth considering smaller hosting providers that prioritize customer service over flashy advertising or big names. Often, smaller or boutique hosting companies can provide far better customer service and tailored support, ensuring your website gets the attention it deserves.
Additionally, if you work with a website designer or marketing agency, ask if they offer hosting services or can recommend a provider. Many agencies have their own servers or preferred hosting partners, which could result in a smoother experience, better communication, and quicker problem resolution.
About the author
April Young
April is our Project and Content Manager, known for her strong communication skills. With years of experience in SEO, copywriting, project planning, and contract management, she excels in creating compelling website content and leading a dynamic team of copywriters, web designers, and contractors.