GoDaddy is the spatula which scrapes the bottom of the barrel.
September 16, 2016
GoDaddy is the spatula which scrapes the bottom of the barrel.
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with GoDaddy
We use GoDaddy whenever a client comes to us with a GoDaddy account and refuses to change hosts. This is more frequent than it should be, but we're happy to comply with clients' wishes. This is a sort of edge case and the service is not used by anyone else in the agency.
Pros
- GoDaddy has readily available add-ons for anything you want to do.
- Their site hosting isn't terrible, although it is slow.
Cons
- They nickel & dime like crazy! What other services provide as part of a basic package, GoDaddy charges piecemeal for.
- Their servers are extremely slow. Page load times would be laughable if it weren't so tragic.
- Their account management is opaque, settings menus rely on buggy modals, nothing is where it should be, and to access the WordPress management screen users have to type in a separate URL - there's no link in context menus!
- Their customer service segments are difficult to reach. I've seen their 'WordPress Service Reps' marked as Offline for over a week! This means when I call I'm stuck with a generalist or a rep who is in over his head, so I end up advising the rep on what he needs to do to fix my problem.
- I only need to GoDaddy technicians because their interface is so obfuscative. Their attempt to make everything novice-centric has cost them tremendously in functionality.
- GoDaddy reduces our ROI by costing me in non-billable hours. I don't charge clients for sitting on the phone with tech support to power cycle the server or fix the php.ini file, so my $/hr takes a hit.
- Their nickel&dime strategy requires I have an additional conversation with clients about their max recurring fees. Small as they are, I need approval for upping their bill. GoDaddy is only the cheap option if you don't value security, stability, or performance.
I never selected GoDaddy, but when a client doesn't want to upgrade, I won't force the issue. If a client wants a fresh build and are severely budget-constrained,
Weebly is my recommendation. Having the money for a quality WordPress build but no stomach for monthly expenses leads to DigitalOcean, which we normally use for experimental builds since they spin up so quickly and easily. If a client wants professional hosting with automatic backups, guaranteed stability, and proven performance, WP Engine is our recommendation. We will never recommend GoDaddy.
Weebly is my recommendation. Having the money for a quality WordPress build but no stomach for monthly expenses leads to DigitalOcean, which we normally use for experimental builds since they spin up so quickly and easily. If a client wants professional hosting with automatic backups, guaranteed stability, and proven performance, WP Engine is our recommendation. We will never recommend GoDaddy.
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