5 Issues With the GoDaddy Website Builder Is GoDaddy the right solution for small business?
Love 'em or hate 'em, it's widely acknowledged that GoDaddy is a giant in the world of website hosting and domain registrations. What few people realize is that the company also has a lesser-known do-it-yourself website building tool that allows individuals and small businesses to create their own websites.
Of course, the big question that arises: is the tool any good? The short answer is that there's probably good reason GoDaddy is better-known for hosting and domain registration rather than website building tools.
To be fair, take a closer look at GoDaddy's tool and you'll see that there are certainly some perks to using it. For one, small business owners will be able to choose from a number of customizable templates when they create their storefront, keeping the look and feel of their site unique. Plus, you'll be able to get hosting for your site through GoDaddy, which also offers phone and online support to its customers.
All good things, right?
Still, GoDaddy is not without its share of issues -- many of which can negatively affect small business websites. To overcome most of the issues, you'll most likely have to hire a developer to build and maintain your website for you, which can be extremely costly -- up to thousands of dollars. Here's a look at 5 of GoDaddy's main problems:
Problematic Storefront Development
As we mentioned, GoDaddy offers a number of customizable homepage templates. But this can make your work more difficult. First, you'll need to know which template would offer your customers the best user experience, as they navigate your storefront. Plus, those templates might not be optimized across all browsers and search engines, and might not work on mobile devices. You will also be responsible for maintaining and updating the technology, which can be overwhelming for people without a background in technology or design.
Reliance on Third-Party Tools
Because website development isn't GoDaddy's primary business, a lot of common functionalities that help drive traffic to a small business website, like maps and newsletters, are not directly supported by GoDaddy. You can incorporate them into your website, but you'll have to use third-party apps, which means you will be responsible for updating them and properly integrating them onto your site. Plus if you have any problems with the apps, you'll be reliant on the third-party for help.
Limited Direct E-Commerce and Customer Engagement Solutions
With GoDaddy, e-commerce options are limited to an online store for product sales only. If you want to incorporate external payment or merchant account services, you will be responsible for integrating them yourself. Similarly, you'll need to use third-party apps for things that are critical to many small businesses -- particularly those in the product sector -- like online appointment schedulers, built-in messaging, and discount managers. You won't be able to allow complex transactions, like payment upon service or partial payments.
Lack of Client Management Tools
Client relationship management (CRM) is not available through GoDaddy, and you'll be reliant on a third-party tool if you'd like to incorporate this features. Small business owners understand the value of CRM for analyzing customer data and using it in remarketing efforts. Sales tracking -- also incredibly important to small businesses -- and creating website pages with flexible security are not available.
Weak Pricing Plans for Small Businesses
Though GoDaddy offers a free version of its tool, most small business owners will require additional functionality for their website to be successful. This means upgrading to a paid version of the GoDaddy tool. Even with the upgrade, because so much of GoDaddy's functionality relies on third-party apps, people with limited knowledge of website building will most like have to hire the services of a website developer -- a costly enterprise.
With this in mind, it's important to consider alternatives to GoDaddy. For instance, a web building platform, like Ocoos, is based on underlying technology that is developed and updated behind the scenes. Small business owners will not have to rely on third party tools, nor will they have to update or optimize their website themselves.
Plus, Ocoos offers the features relevant to a small business, including CRM functionality, integrated payment methods, complex transactions, and traffic-driving tools like appointment schedulers. Ocoos websites are always optimized across browsers and mobile devices. Finally, a concierge service is available for a fee to build and customize your website for you.
