Website Builder Review

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is the largest domain name registrar in the world. In addition to domain name registration and web hosting solutions, GoDaddy also offers website building tools to its customers.

Summary of Pros

  1. Easy to use interface
    GoDaddy's editor is minimalistic but at the same time intuitive. All the available tools are laid out on a one-column floating toolbar. It doesn't offer as big a selection of gadgets as Wix does, but it does offer all the basic tools you need to build a website. Site action controls and menus are found on the header toolbar, including a Undo/Redo feature. GoDaddy's website builder is a true drag-and-drop interface, you can insert content on pretty much anywhere on your website – you can even overlap content if you want to.
  2. 24/7/365 support via phone, live chat and email
    With most other website builders, you have to be subscribed to the higher plans to get phone support, but with GoDaddy, you can pick up your phone and get support from a real person, anytime, anywhere, in over 20 languages and regardless of which plan you are using. You can find the global list of phone numbers at GoDaddy Support Phone Numbers but note that not all support lines are 24/7; for example, the support line for France is only available from 9am to 7pm, Monday to Friday.
  3. Backup and restore function
    GoDaddy allows you to create backup copies of your website whenever you want. In addition, you can save up to five copies of your website and there is no time limit on using the backups. By saving multiple copies of your website, you are not restricted to restoring only the most recent version.
  4. Pre-populated templates
    All of GoDaddy's templates come pre-populated with sample content, not the standard "this is a paragraph" or "Loren ipsum" placeholder text. You can simply replace the content with your own. This can save you a lot of time, especially if you are unsure of your design capabilities or running out of ideas.
  5. Photo options
    GoDaddy's website builder comes with an extensive collection of stock images. In addition, all images you upload are saved in your online storage for use on any of your pages. You can also connect your Facebook and Instagram accounts to use your photos on those services. Online photo editing is provided by Aviary, but this advanced image editor is only available in the Business and Business Plus plans.

Summary of Cons

  1. Can't change themes
    One of the major drawbacks of GoDaddy's website builder is that once you've picked a theme, you can't switch it to another one without using your content. If you need to switch to another template, you will need to re-enter all your content.
  2. No e-Commerce tools
    There is no integrated eCommerce tools in the website builder. GoDaddy offers a separate website builder service that is dedicated specifically to online store. However, if all you need is just a simple storefront and use PayPal™ as a payment processor, you can upgrade to the Business plan and use the integrated PayPal options.
  3. Very basic mobile display
    GoDaddy's websites are mobile-friendly, but not responsive. When you create a website with GoDaddy's website builder, a mobile version of your website is automatically created. If you don't want to have a mobile version of your website, you can disable it as well. You also have the option to hide any elements from the mobile version of your website, giving you the flexibility to configure your mobile website. However, If you want to customize your mobile website, you will need to be on the Business or Business Plus plans.
  4. No blogging
    GoDaddy's website builder doesn't offer any blogging capabilities and you won't be able to create a blog – all you get is integration to an external blog feed.
Website Builder Review - GoDaddy

Plans & Pricing

GoDaddy offers 3 website builder plans: Personal, Business and Business Plus.

  • Click to see https://www.godaddy.com/websites/website-builder

The pricing for the plans are in line with other website builders with similar capabilities.

The Personal Plan gives you access to 50 design templates, along with a gigabyte of disk storage and 150 GB of bandwidth. It also comes with a 1-year free domain name and free 1-year business email from Microsoft Office 365. The plan is available for $5.99/month. Note that you don't get a mobile version of your website on this plan.

The Business Plan builds upon the Personal Plan but gives you full access to their collection of 300 templates. It also includes a mobile version of your website. You get 10GB of disk space and 500GB of bandwidth along with the 1-year free domain name and 1-yr free Office 365 email service. This plan is offered at $9.99/month.

The Business Plus plan includes everything from the Business Plan, plus search-engine optimization, social-media management tools (so that you can create a Facebook and Twitter page that matches your website) and a 1-yr SSL certification. This top tier plan comes with 50GB of disk space and 1TB of bandwidth. This plan is offered at $14.99/month.

In addition to the standard annual billing, GoDaddy also offers a month-to-month billing option as well as a 2- and 3-yr billing terms for additional savings.

While you may opt for the month-to-month option so you don't have to commit to 12 months of service, the free domain name offer is only valid if you sign up for the annual or multi-year terms and it only applies to the initial purchase term. After the initial purchase term, domains will be renewed at the then-current renewal rate.

Same applies to the SSL certificate that you get with the Business Plus plan – it is free for the first year, but after the initial free year, it will be automatically renewed at the then-current price until the service is cancelled.

GoDaddy's website builder does not come with eCommerce capabilities. If you need to build an eCommerce website, your only options are to either pay GoDaddy $1,499 to create an eCommerce website for you, or use their separate Online Store builder to create the online store yourself. This Online Store builder is offered at $29.99/month and allows you to build a full-feature online store, including coupon codes, secure checkouts, mobile-ready stores and other eCommerce options.

Website Builder Review - GoDaddy

Templates

GoDaddy's collection of templates houses 300 designs. Templates are designed for various industry categories such as business, finance, law, education, health, beauty, music, portfolio, wedding, restaurants and more. So chances are, you will find a design template that suits your needs.

All GoDaddy's templates come pre-structured and pre-populated with content. Instead of the standard "This is a heading" or "Loren ipsum" all templates come with actual content, making it easy for you to just replace the content with your own and saving you time especially if you are unsure of your design capabilities. Other website builders that offer pre-populated templates are Wix and IM Creator.

However, there are major drawbacks of GoDaddy's website builder and one of which is once you've pick a template, you can't change to another template without losing your content.

Another issue to consider is that GoDaddy doesn't allow you to edit the HTML or CSS codes of the templates. But if you don't intend on customizing a template through the HTML/CSS codes, then this should not be a concern for you.

And finally, GoDaddy's templates are not responsive. Instead, GoDaddy automatically generates a mobile version of your website. While you can disable or hide any elements from your mobile website, you will need to be on the Business or Business Plus plan if you want to change the layout or colors of your mobile website.

Website Builder Review - GoDaddy

Editor

GoDaddy's website builder uses the drag-and-drop technology, allowing you to literally drag and drop elements where you want them to how. Just like the editors of Wix, Website.com and IM Creator, GoDaddy gives you full control over the placement of your content.

The website builder's interface is very user-friendly. All tools are laid out on the one-column floating toolbar – you can even drag and place the sidebar anywhere on the editor window.

GoDaddy doesn't offer as big a selection of tools and gadgets as Wix does, but you will find all the basic tools you need to build a website. Site action controls are menus are found on the header toolbar, including a Undo/Redo feature.

GoDaddy's editor automatically extends the length of your webpage as you add content. However, if you remove the content, the footer doesn't readjust itself. There are also no drag handles to easily adjust the page length. To re-adjust the page length, you will need to do so via the Page Background Settings panel.

One more thing to mention, while adding new pages is simple, GoDaddy doesn't offer any standard page types like other website builders (such as Wix and Website.com) do – About, Contact, Gallery, etc. Adding a page on GoDaddy's editor gives you a blank page.

One major plus though, GoDaddy allows you to create backup copies of your website whenever you want. In addition, you can save up to five copies of your website and there is no time limit on using the backups. By saving multiple copies of your website, you are not restricted to restoring only the most recent version.

GoDaddy's website builder is meant for creating simple websites and it comes with sufficient tools to setup a decent website.

Apps available on the Personal Plan:

  • Slideshow
  • Photo gallery
  • Basic form
  • Google maps
  • Buttons
  • Blog/RSS feed
  • Facebook and Twitter badges
  • Social sharing toolbar
  • YouTube video player
  • HTML code embed

However, important features such as SEO are only available on the Business or Business Plus plans – you will find that constant upgrades may required to achieve your website goals. So, while the GoDaddy's features offered are useful, your access to them is dependent on if you are willing to pay for them time and again.

Apps the require subscription to the Business Plan:

  • Advanced image editing
  • MP3 audio player
  • Yelp
  • PayPal
  • Menu editor
  • Custom form creation
  • Favicon
Apps that require subscription to the Business Plus Plan:

  • Facebook and Twitter page creation
  • Search Engine Optimization

No eCommerce tools

GoDaddy has a separate website builder that is dedicated specifically to online store, so if you want to build an online store, you will need to use that builder.

But if you just want to add a Buy Now button, you can use the HTML code embed tool and insert PayPal's button codes on to your web page. Alternatively, subscribe to their Business plan and you will get the PayPal Buy Now button in the Apps menu.

No blogging tools

There is a blog element on the editor's sidebar, but when you drag and drop it onto your web page, you will see that it is not a true blogging solution – it is simply a means of displaying your blog posts from an RSS feed. You cannot create a blog on your GoDaddy website.

Yelp reviews

Subscribe to GoDaddy's Business plan and you can link your website with your business' Yelp page to display your latest Yelp reviews and comments on your website and a map of your business' location.

No password-protection; no site membership

GoDaddy doesn't offer the option of password protection for your whole website or even selected pages.

The GoDaddy website builder also doesn't support membership system.

Basic Traffic Stats

Right from your website builder dashboard, you will find an overview of your website traffic statistics, showing the number of visitors by month, day or year. You can also view the top 5 referrers and top 5 locations of your visitors. Unfortunately, these are all too basic and doesn't include the important statistical information offered by competitors like Weebly and Website.com.

Website Builder Review - GoDaddy

Working with Images

GoDaddy's website builder comes with an extensive collection of stock images. In addition, each template comes with a set of theme photos.

All images you upload are saved in your online storage for use on any of your pages. You can also connect your Facebook and Instagram accounts to use your photos on those services.

Image editing on the Personal plan is only limited to cropping, zoom, resize and border effects.

Users on the Business or Business Plus plans have access to a set of Photoshop-like options (powered by Aviary) for editing their images. Combine this powerful image editor with GoDaddy's extensive collections of images, GoDaddy's image options are one of the best amongst other website builders on the market.

Website Builder Review - GoDaddy

Domain & Emails

Like many of its competition, GoDaddy offers free domain registration with an annual subscription on all its website builder plans. But this free domain offer only applies to the initial purchase term, after the initial purchase term, domain names will be renewed at the then-current renewal price.

You can access your domain manager from your GoDaddy account dashboard. From your Domain Manager, you can manage various domain settings, including domain registrant information, auto-renewal, domain locking, private registration and manage DNS.

All GoDaddy website builder plans come with free 1-year email services. But unlike Wix and Squarespace, your email service is powered by Microsoft Office 365. Like the domain registration, after the free 1-year term, the email service will be automatically renewed at the then-current price.

Website Builder Review - GoDaddy

Support

If there's any feature that put GoDaddy ahead of its competitors, it's their customer support. All GoDaddy's support channels are available 24/7, 365 days a year, regardless of which plan you are using. Many competitors do not offer phone support and for those who do, you would have to be subscribed to the higher plans, and it's seldom 24/7/365.

GoDaddy also offers live chat and email support as well as a comprehensive library of helpful tips and guides.

Website Builder Review - GoDaddy

Conclusion

GoDaddy's website builder is very easy-to-use, but it does lack the many bells and whistles that other website builders offer. It is ideal of small businesses, designers, musician or professionals who need to build a website that's professional-looking and don't require any eCommerce or blogging functionality.

If you want need more features and functionality, you're better off going with website builders like Wix, Weebly or Website.com. But if you need superb customer and technical support, GoDaddy is definitely a top contender with their 24/7/365 phone support.

Unfortunately, true to its up-selling reputation, you are bound to come across many "upgrade now" offers from the time you submit your service purchase form to the time you build and launch your website.