There’s something to be said about safety in numbers. As long as you’re safely tucked under the comforting blanket of a familiar brand, everything is going to be just fine – or at least, that’s how the theory goes.
In the web hosting world, that translates to using the services of the most popular hosting company on the market. At this very moment, that’s definitely GoDaddy, a Scottsdale-based domain registrar powerhouse.
What makes them such an enticing option? For starters, they serve over 13 million paying customers and manage more than 60 million domain names. No matter how hard you look, you’re unlikely to find a hosting company with a better reputation. They’re such a popular web presence that they can actually afford to air Super Bowl commercials! And it’s not just a marketing campaign, as evidenced by their steadfast customer service, reliable uptime, versatile Linux- and Windows-based hosting plans and numerous other attractive features.
Godaddy Hosting Coupons
And let’s not forget the omnipresent GoDaddy coupons and promo codes. Like most other hosting companies, GoDaddy offers a lot of discounts throughout the year. Whether you’re a new or experienced webmaster, it’s always a good idea to scour the Internet in search of these coupons before purchasing a hosting plan, as you might save yourself a lot of money in the process.
For example, it took me just a couple of minutes to find a ‘cjccou50hu’ coupon code, which got me a 50% discount on my favored GoDaddy hosting plan! A ‘cjccoup99’ promo code will let you buy a .COM domain for just $0.99, with additional .COM domains setting you back $9.99 per year. If you’re interested in GoDaddy’s new products, a ‘cjccoup30’ coupon will allow you to buy them at a 30% discount.
The Plans
But before you storm off in search of flashy promotions, how about we take a closer look at the services GoDaddy is offering us? First off, there are three main shared hosting plans on offer:
- Economy ($7.72/month): one website, one free domain, 100GB of storage, 10 x 1GB MySQL databases. With a Godaddy hosting coupon you can get the Economy plan for only 1 dollar per month. That’s 87% off.
- Deluxe ($10.30/month): unlimited websites, storage and subdomains, 25 x 1GB MySQL databases
- Ultimate ($16.74/month): everything included in the Deluxe package, plus doubled RAM and CPU allocation and a 1-year SSL certificate
Godaddy Pros
Some of the more popular specialist features include WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, the eCommerce account and the Website Builder. The prices are pretty comparable to some other prominent hosting companies such as 1&1 and HostGator, but GoDaddy provides a couple of distinct advantages, including a 1-year trial of an Office Outlook mailbox.
Of course, the sheer amount of hosting plans on offer would matter little if your website just couldn’t stay online. Dependable uptime is probably the single most important factor to keep in mind when looking for a hosting company. Fortunately, GoDaddy performs impressively in this regard. The tests I’ve conducted show that their average uptime availability sits at a remarkable 99.95%. Unsurprisingly, these statistics place them in the top echelon of hosting companies.
As far as customer service goes, GoDaddy has three levels of support: a searchable knowledge base, a customer forum and a 24/7 telephone number. The knowledge base is a natural first choice for an experienced webmaster, but some novices might struggle with the wordy FAQs and technical articles. The customer forum is fairly active, and finding an answer to your quandaries shouldn’t prove too difficult. However, the phone support team is the true star of the show. In addition to being quick to answer, they seem very friendly and knowledgeable about the subject at hand.
The website builder has been spruced up recently, and it now goes by the name of GoCentral. This handy tool is fairly simple to use, and allows you to create a professional mobile-friendly website in no time. The site builder itself is free, and you can also add a web store for $29.99 per month.
Godaddy Cons
GoDaddy doesn’t have a whole lot of negatives, but the refund period could use some working on. If you sign an annual contract, you’ll get a standard 30-day refund window; however, a monthly contract shortens the grace period to a mere 48 hours. There are some other conditions related to the refund policy as well, including the 1,500-word long small print at the end. GoDaddy might be a reliable hosting company, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at their refund conditions.
In the end, however, the positives far outweigh the negatives when it comes to GoDaddy. With its affordable hosting solutions, numerous useful features, rock-solid uptime statistics and tremendous customer support, GoDaddy certainly lives up to its reputation of a web hosting giant.