GoDaddy Review 2008

GoDaddy.com states that they offer world-class hosting as good as or better than most hosting companies offer, but we feel they are referring more to their state-of-the-art, World Class Data Center rather than to their actual web hosting products and customer service. A web host can have all the technological bells and whistles in the world backing them, but if a host service doesn't have solid customer support and a few key features, that host will fall short of the competition.
GoDaddy.com does offer some very attractive and affordable packages. But certain key features are missing with the GoDaddy solution, as compared to our higher ranked web hosting solutions.

Feature Set:

GoDaddy is not a bad value, but lacks a lot of features that competitors offer for virtually the same price. GoDaddy offers 5 GB of disk space storage, 500 email accounts, 250 GB monthly data transfer, and limited on languages/platform support. Many other web hosting providers offer more for less. All plans with GoDaddy include these features: World Class Data Center, online set-up and instant account activation, FrontPage Extensions, 24/7 FTP Access, best-of-breed routers, firewalls and servers; Web Site Statistics, free setup, daily backups, 24/7 monitoring, 24x7 email, telephone and web-based tech support, 24/7 physical security and secure SSL Certificates (an optional extra) GoDaddy places their emphasis more on technology than on customer support.

Customer Service:

Customer Service is what separates great hosts from the mediocre. GoDaddy offers an array of support options, such as Email Support, Telephone Support, an FAQ Section on their Web Site and access to various user guides. Unfortunately, there are a few items that are definite drawbacks with their Customer Service. If you use their Email Support, you will not get a response for 10 to 12 hours. Too long for most customers! GoDaddy even posts this right on their Web Site. I wouldn't be boasting about a 10 to 12 hour response time. If you don't want to wait for an email, there phone support is a little better. The average waiting period we experienced was 30 minutes. This is still too long of a wait and much longer than the wait we experienced with other web hosting companies that we reviewed. The tech I finally did speak with was not well-informed about the products or services offered and not eager to help. Unfortunately, Go Daddy does not offer live chat, a valuable customer service tool that allows you to receive instant help online.

Control Panel:

GoDaddy is not too difficult to use, even without a technical background. Most functions within the Account Management tool are similar to other control panels, but GoDaddy.com's panel lacks certain features that competitors offer. On the plus side, with GoDaddy.com you can perform account management tasks, email management, web security, database setup and management, manage statistic tools and install FrontPage Extensions (without these supported by your host, you can't take advantage of all the perks FrontPage offers).

Summary:

Overall, GoDaddy has some catching up to do with the competition. With lackluster customer service and missing key features, look to other providers that offer more value for your money. If GoDaddy would invest in customer service improvements, they would be a more attractive contender.

GoDaddy Review 2008