The first thing many of us do when we come up with a great idea is we rush out and find ourselves a domain name. Often from the Kings of Domain Marketing, GoDaddy.
But whether you intend to have the pros build your new site, or you are thinking of it doing it yourself, please let us help with a little friendly advice.
WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT BUY IT THROUGH GODADDY.
GoDaddy is second on our list of incredibly unethical websites. (We’ll get to Yelp later.) Think about some of their practices: they were caught snooping on your searches for a domain name – then buying it themselves, and selling it at a premium when you went back for it. Lovely. If your domain expires, and they see value in it – they have been known to snap it up and sell it back to you after extracting a healthy profit.
Secondly, assuming you are woefully ignorant enough to actually buy a domain from them (for $14.95, instead of the $10 you pay elsewhere) you may as well kiss goodbye to any control you ever thought you had of your domain. They’ll tack on numerous fees and ‘options’ that you don’t need, including one – Domains By Proxy – that is solely designed to make it almost impossible to ever transfer your domain to a reputable registrar. You’ll need an entirely separate login, password and so on – and THEN, they’ll ask for you to scan and send them your driver’s license before they’ll even allow you to unlock your domain name!
Their hosting package is cheap – but you get what you pay for. The Better Business Bureau reports that 78% of customers would not recommend GoDaddy to a friend. I wouldn’t recommend them to the guy who ran over my dog.
| Customer Experience | Total Customer Reviews |
|---|---|
| Positive Experience | 14 |
| Neutral Experience | 7 |
| Negative Experience | 154 |
| Total Customer Reviews | 175 |
Speaking of which…
Forget the practical matters for a moment: their CEO shoots elephants. Everyone needs a hobby, right?
And would any woman-owned business want to associate itself with their sexist, man-child advertising? For all we know, Danica Patrick may be a perfectly nice person. But so was the Marlboro Man.
There are so many places to buy a domain where you won’t get completely reamed. Our favorite is www.siteground.com because they’re only $10, and they’re easy to transfer.
And then, if it doesn’t work out, at least we don’t have to clean up GoDaddy’s mess when you call us next month…