The problem with GoDaddy is that they recognize that many people are unclear on what is needed for a domain name and web hosting, so when people come to purchase something from them they (similar to what VistaPrint does) throw a variety of add-ons at you during the checkout process hoping that a buyer’s lack of knowledge will increase their sales.
For example, when you purchase a domain name for 1 year you have to navigate a long list of suggested add-ons (NONE OF THESE ARE NEEDED FOR MOST PEOPLE). Firstly, NO, you don’t need a private domain name. The reality is that is someone visits your website they already know who the owner of the domain is by looking at the contact page. If you want to hide your company information (I can’t imagine why since your company information validates who you are and defines you as legitimate) then yes, sure, go private. But for most people there is no need to pay extra to hide the “whois” information on a domain. Ah, but I have gotten ahead of myself … So say you want to purchase the domain “myjackflashhappy.com”. On the home page you enter the domain (without the https://www) in the URL box and check availability. If the domain is available you will see a green button that reads “continue to registration”. Ok, that sounds easy. You click the button and a large pop-up windows loads that says “STOP – you can purchase the .net, .biz, .us, … etc….version of these names now for a discount. You need to click outside of the box to have it disappear, or check the box “don’t show this again”.
Let’s be clear, you don’t need to purchase the different extensions for a domain name. In some cases where the domain name is very popular then yes, you might want to get the .net and possibly the .biz extensions and then park them, but in most cases you’re just wasting your money since the person who registers the primary .com name first, and has an active web presence, will always do better in the search engine rankings. Those who seek to piggy-back on your success by choosing the same domain name yet with a different extension will only hurt their online ranking.
Ok, so at this point you need to either log-in as an existing customer or create a registration account.
Next you’ll be redirected to a “your domain settings” page that asks you the registration length. By default it is set to “5 years”. I only want it set to 1 year so I change it from the drop-down. At this point a “certified domain” add-on option loads which tells you that for $4.99/yr you can add a badge to your website page that certifies the domain is owned by you. Maybe I’m confused but isn’t that what a “whois” search does? This unnecessary certification is nearly half the cost of the domain, and there is a yearly fee…wow!
Next we have “your privacy and domain protection”. This is another attempt to get you pay for stuff you don’t need. The options are “standard” (which is the included public domain record) which 99% of websites choose. But GoDaddy also kindly offers a “privacy with business registration” for $11.99/yr and what they describe as their BEST VALUE, their “protected registration” for $24.99/yr.
To be clear, the business registration simply makes your registration private, so you are not listed in the “whois” database, and yet it provides details about your business to whois searches. Not providing details yet at the same time providing details? Their selling point is that thousands of people search the “whois” records daily, really? I think those who visit your website are the ones the matter.
The other BEST VALUE option for their “protected registration” provides the private registration and the business registration noted above, yet it also has credit card expiration protection and transfer protection. Ok, so again to be clear, all one needs to do is set the domain name as an “auto-renewal” and ensure that their credit card is valid to ensure that the domain is protected. Furthermore when a credit card gets close to expiration you’ll receive numerous emails from GoDaddy. The transfer protection is ludicrous at best. When someone “locks” their domain (which is default) it can’t be transferred. Furthermore, only the account holder of the domain name can unlock it, and they have to approve the domain transfer request from their personal GoDaddy account (known as releasing the domain). As you can see these expensive add-ons are absolutely useless.
Next we have “Activate Your Domain”. Here is the suggested add-on option of “Add Hosting” for $5.69/mo or $8.54/mo. If you need hosting then GoDaddy is ok, but HostGator is cheaper, provides better support, and since they use cPanel for administration it is a much more full-featured platform. HostGator is also a larger hosting company that GoDaddy, and they don’t try to upsell you at every turn.
Below this we have “more options” which include an SSL certificate for $69.99/yr, and then there is the option of online storage for $23.88/yr. My assumption is that you know this but just in case, an SSL certificate is only needed if you have an online store, but in this case you would also need a dedicated IP address which the hosting account plans noted by GoDaddy above don’t provide. The “exclusive online storage” is simply a web interface wherein you can store content, which any FTP program will allow you to do. Assuming you have a hosting account then you already likely have ample space to store your content. In this case just create a folder under your public_html folder to store your content and you’ll be able to upload/download content, and have file storage access without paying additional for this.
Below this section we have “Add Email”. This has to be the funniest part of all. GoDaddy wants to charge you for webmail which almost all hosting accounts provide for free (and Google Webmail is the far better and free option)…ok, so they provide 5 email addresses for the sale price of $2.49/mo, … they have a 10 email option, and a 10 email unlimited storage option. Let’s be clear, if you use GoDaddy as your email server then all of your emails are stored on the GoDaddy server. This in effect prevents you from moving your emails to another account. What most will do is use their hosting account to forward web emails to their Outlook account so the mail is stored on their local computer; or they will use GMail since they provide nearly unlimited storage space, have numerous tools for integration (calendars, Analytics, Webmaster tools, Google+, Mobile, etc), and they allow for domain specific return email addresses.
At this point you will finally get near the end of the checkout process, and you’ll see where you selected 1 year for the registration length with a couple of more prompts about buying this add-on or that. The order summary is provided at right and I noted that though I was informed that my domain name would cost $11.97 it now says that the cart sub-total is $15.17 and that I’ve acquired a discount of $2.00 so my total is now $13.17; this tells me that the actual yearly renewal cost will be $15.17. The additional $2.00 cost is the ICANN fee (which is fine) but it would have been nice to have this fee noted early on.
Finally when you get to the final payment section having chosen a payment method you’ll note that the 1-year registration length has been changed to 2-years. You will need to adjust this registration length in the cart. I guess Bob Parson thinks that his many unnecessary add-ons aren’t irritating enough, so he has opted to deliberately try to slip one by you as well. Got of love GoDaddy!
