Website on a Budget

I discovered Go Daddy a couple of years ago when I could not decide which domain name to purchase. I wanted to lock-in several options, but did not want to spend a lot of money. Go Daddy sold domain names for less than other competitors like Network Solutions and Register.com. Today, a .com domain name at Go Daddy will set you back $8.95. The same purchase at Network Solutions will cost you $34.99. At first I wondered if there was a catch, the cost was so much less.

Two years of experience as a Go Daddy customer has shown there is no catch, not in the cost of the domain name. The lower pricing is simply their competitive edge, a way to attract a good chunk of the target market. They have now matched, if not surpassed, a prime competitor in the number of domain names registered. Read an interesting blog post by Go Daddy founder, Bob Parsons, at http://www.bobparsons.com where he responds to statements made by Network Solutions' Champ Mitchell.

I have since learned that Go Daddy builds every product they sell. I have found them to be an inexpensive way to build and publish a website with advanced features. In fact the reason my postings have been scarce lately is that my creative time has been spent developing a new website using Go Daddy's Website Complete.

Website Complete is a website building software sold by Go Daddy for $14.95. It offers plug in features like an event calendar, auto responders, flash animation, background music, forms, a guest book, and a directory. You can even add a page hit counter to track the number of visitors to your site. There are other options like a quick shopping cart and special fonts that require an additional purchase.

Everything Go Daddy sells, including hosting, seems affordable. Their customer service and technical support is available 24/7. They have walked me through specific functions many times. The technical support representatives have been courteous and successful in problem solving.

When the time comes to take the site live, there are a few catches. There is a $35 licensing fee that must be paid before a Website Complete built website can be published. Also, some of the advanced features like the event calendar will not work unless the site is published on Go Daddy's server. Still, I was able to build and publish an advanced website for far less than the hundreds or thousands of dollars it would have cost me to have someone else build it for me. I can make changes myself, whenever I want. I added a store and a shopping cart for a small monthly fee of $9.95. I can accept credit or debit card payments for no additional up front costs using PayPal. The capability is already built into my shopping cart. All in all I have been very satisfied with the hosting service, the domain names, and the products that I have purchased through Go Daddy.

There is a learning curve associated with Website Complete, unless one of the templates totally meets your needs. There are many pre-designed templates from which to choose. If you would like to see what a Website Complete finished product looks like, visit http://www.thedebtstopper.com, my new website. I am very interested in what you think, so please leave comments. Comments can be made here or on the website.