Is GoDaddy Really Bad for Website Hosting?

59 thoughts on “Is GoDaddy Really Bad for Website Hosting?”

1. GoDaddy support seems to be average. Many web hosts offer better tech support than GoDaddy like Znetlive, Hostgator. Nowadays, most web hosting services provide phone support, email or ticket support and live chat support.

2. Hi, I used all the services by GD before – for domain and website hosting also. I don’t like the way they change the price for it. The price gets higher and higher. Thanks of all the Bonus Codes they make a lot of discounts at the first year, but the next…. 🙂
   I had no problems with the hosting, so me personally can talk about the prices, only.

3. Hi Sherryl-

   Disclosure: I work at GoDaddy.

   Saw a link to this post this pop up on Twitter today, and wanted to provide an update on a number of things.

   1) The infographic is significantly out of date. The world has changed a lot since 2011 – new CEO, new team, new products, etc. If you want a much more current state of the world, here is the AMA that Blake did on Reddit a couple of months back. It gives a much clearer view of the world today: reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/23v7f3/hi_im_blake_irving_i_am_the_ceo_of_godaddy_ask_me

   2) The products have changed greatly since this post and especially since the inforgraphic. Hosting, in particular, has had a number of architectural changes. More on that here: garage.godaddy.com/webpro/development/cranking-hosting-performance/

   I’m happy to field any questions about what the current state is. Feel free to reach out at @ccarfi on Twitter, or leave a reponse to this comment; I’ve subscribed to responses and should see them.

   Thanks,
   Chris
   Christopher Carfi recently posted..India’s IISRT takes technical content and collaboration online

4. Hi, Sherryl! I have also had terrible experience with GoDaddy. Thanks so much for this article! I’ve linked to you here. ruthannereid.com/learning-to-fly/hey-indies-heres-how-you-build-a-site/
   Ruthanne Reid recently posted..Winners and Cover Reveal!

   1. Hi Ruthanne,
      Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with GoDaddy too. Their website builder is horrible too but then again, I’m not a fan of any website builders. They’re proprietary software and if you ever want to move you website to another host, you’ll quickly discover that you can’t. You’ll need to rebuild it.

      Thanks so much for the link to my article! I appreciate it.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..What Blogging Tips Are You Missing?

5. Hello Sherryl,

   Ive had a nightmare myself with godaddy when hosting a wordpress blog, its a good job i keep regular backups of my websites, otherwise i may have given up. Although godaddy hosting is bad, i still use them for domains as i have registered around 200 for clients of mine over the years, but i will no longer register new domains either as there is better providers and its much cheaper elsewhere.
   Aden Clark recently posted..Control Panels used by Cheap Web Hosting Providers

6. Hi Sherryl, I have been using GoDaddy for a years until my site went down and they couldn’t give any explanation on why did it happen. It took four days to get my site back online and after that I moved my site to Hosted Appliance. Since then I had no problems and the customer support of my new hosting provider is always with me. I am curious if you are still using shared hosting, because I read somewhere you are not yet on VPS?

   1. Hi Alannia,
      I’m sorry to hear that you had a negative experience with GoDaddy. Their tech support is not the best. I hosted there years ago and my pleas that lengthy downtime was unacceptable fell on deaf ears. I can only imagine the losses an eCommerce site would incur hosting there. I am using shared hosting. VPS is not in my budget at this time.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..3 Things You May Not Know About Google and SEO – #FridayFinds

7. Just looked at the EIG page on Wikipedia – they really have bought a lot of companies.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_International_Group

   I looked at it because one of the sites I sometimes use for checking reviews had skewed results for web hosts, with the top 6 being “featured” and the scores hidden by default. All EIG companies. Clicking a link to show the normal lineup changed the list markedly. Bluehost was now #12. It was about #4 last year. Other EIC companies placed at 1, 3, 6, & 9, with GoDaddy at #2 spot. Given this discussion, lousy hosts are dominating the reviews.
   David FB recently posted..The Physics of Hagelin

   1. Hi David,
      It’s unfortunate how many hosting companies have been bought up by EIG. I’ve been with Bluehost for just about a year and I’ve already noticed both the support and my site performance dropping.

      Webhosting is definitely dominating the review and there’s a lot of posts and discussions going on about it right now. It’s difficult to make/receive recommendations on vendors too because no one solution will work for everyone.
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..Did Matt Cutts say that Guest Blogging for Links is Dead?

8. Hey Sherryl,

   I saw this post and I just wrote today about my hosting service nightmare and a few people suggested GoDaddy. I’d already heard the horror stories as well so they were not on my radar.

   I use to be with Bluehost and was with them for almost five years but they could no longer support my site and I guess I moved right before the big downtime and boy was I glad. I think though that they were acquired before I moved which is why their customer service dropped significantly in quality in my eyes. They were good while it lasted though.

   I’m now searching once again after my recent nightmare of no customer support during a major hack of their server. Have had a lot of suggestions and will look into them all tomorrow.

   Gail also is helping me and will visit her Trello account to find what others are saying about the best way to go.

   This is just not an area we can slack on because hosting is a must for us all. Hope everything works out and you’re able to hang in there for awhile.

   Good luck.

   ~Adrienne
   Adrienne recently posted..How To Lose Customers Fast

   1. Hi Adrienne,
      Sorry it took me so long to reply to you! I’ve been playing catch up all weekend and somehow, (even though I knew you had left a comment here), I didn’t get back here. (I did manage to leave you a rather lengthy mini-reply on your post though.)

      I’m still on Bluehost but I am outgrowing them. I moved my site there at the end of December of 2012 and tech support was much better then. Also, my site performance seems to be dropping and I suspect the shared hosting is contributing to it. In November, Bluehost support really let me down. I went back and forth with tech support (both phone and support tickets) for about a week.

      I hope everything works out well for you too Adrienne. You’re certainly doing your homework when it comes to researching vendors.

      NOTE to anyone reading this (who is looking for a new webhost): There’s a healthy discussion going on in the comment section of the article that Adrienne linked to above. (She has 112 comments as of now.)

9. I know a lot of people have trouble getting some php database driven cms scripts to work properly at GoDaddy. Personally I would rather pay a dollar or two more and not have to fight it than to go through all the work I see some people talking about.

   If you search Google for EIG you will find a wikipedia link with all the hosting companies they have acquired, and there are quite a few.

   I have been hearing chatter about how some customers say the quality of service and customer satisfaction has gone down afterwards. If that is really the case it is too bad. Some of the hosts that they have taken over built up a heck of a business and reputation for that matter. I hate to see this happen, but what do you do. I would try to find a good non-EIG host if possible, but you really never know if they will be any better. All you can do is research, test one out and see what happens.
   Ray recently posted..Are Broken Links Really That Bad?

   1. Ray,
      Thanks for the heads-up about php driven scripts and GoDaddy. Time is money and I agree completely that it’s worth it to pay a little more for better support. (I’ve said before that I believe GoDaddy’s tech support associates are basically customer support associates that are manned with scripts. If your problem doesn’t lend itself to a canned answer, there’s a good chance that you’re left to solve it yourself.)

      Thanks for mentioning that a quick Google search for EIG will show the companies that they own.

      This discussion has got me thinking. I’ve had a hosting account with Rochen Host (a non-EIG company) for years now. I used to give them rave reviews but I became disillusioned with them when they started telling me that this site was exceeding their CPU usage. To be fair, they treated me well. Rather than throttle me back or shut down my site (which I’ve seen happen with other hosting vendors), they gave me 14-days and did try to work with me. Even with help from two very techie blogging friends, I could not get my CPU usage down. So, I ended up moving my site. I still have 5 client sites hosted there though and (so far) they run like clockwork. Rochen Host isn’t the least expensive option either but it’s worth taking a look at too. In the past, I’ve found their tech support to be stellar (except for that one issue with my site which we never did resolve.)
      Sherryl Perry recently posted..67% of Shopping Carts are Abandoned – Stop your Customers from Leaving

10. Hi Sherryl.
    Wow, it seems like an eternity since I last left a comment but I do check in from time to time and always recommend your site as a must for my business clients who are willing to have a go themselves.
    I have been with Hostgator for years now. I didn’t experience the recent problems that you spoke of. Maybe that’s because I have a reseller account. Who knows. I have always found the support outstanding myself and will continue with them for the foreseeable future.
    I would not go over to or promote GoDaddy on principle. It was the elephant thing that made my mind up there.
    Unlike Akaahan above, I don’t see this as an emotional decision but more an ethical one. If money and practicality comes before morals and ethics, then surely that makes us no better than them.
    Just my opinion and perhaps I should respect other peoples views on hunting endangered species but to be honest, I don’t. Killing an animal for a buzz will always be a sin to me. I’m really glad to see so many other people take this view.

    1. Thanks for recommending my site Steve. I appreciate that.

       Actually, the most serious issues that I’ve been experiencing with EIG owned companies have been with BlueHost not HostGator. (I accidentally attributed a recent experience to HG and in fact it was with BH.) This site is hosted with BlueHost and I have several client sites hosted on HostGator.

       The biggest problem that I’ve found with HostGator is an increased amount of downtime but that pales in comparison to what has been going on with a few of my blogging friends. I’m waiting until that issue is resolved for them but I’ll most likely be sharing their story once they blog about it. Bottom-line, they had an issue where one of the sites that they’re hosting with HG was flagged as being malicious. Unfortunately, this coincided with a product launch and HG’s response was inadequate.

       I share your view of supporting companies that don’t participate in behavior that doesn’t align with our own. There are so many options available to us, I prefer to support people who I respect and like.

       Thanks for dropping by Steve! It has been a while since we’ve touched base. 🙂

11. Hi Sherryl
    I use Bluehost at the moment, but that runs out in April. So I have to see if I am going to move or not.
    So far they have been pretty good with little downtime, but people are starting to grumble!
    WPEngine I have heard great things about but it comes at a cost. Of course when your website slowly becomes your life and business then perhaps the cost is minimal.
    always an interesting debate
    ashley
    Ashley @ madlemmings recently posted..How to Write the Best Blog Headlines – Tips and Tricks

    1. Ashley,
       As of today, this site is still on BlueHost but part of the reason is procrastination and another part strategy. (I plan on launching this site with a new design and responsive theme. So, I’ll be building the new site on another hosting account and then making the switch.)

       The final “straw” with me was the week long episode that I went through with BlueHost in November. (I went into detail about this in my replies to David and Jeannette.) That was the first time that I can remember getting a Google alert that the bots couldn’t access my site. I also lost a few hours work because I had created a blog post using Chrome. (I had saved the post and previewed it before losing the connection to my site along. When I was able to log back on, I discovered that I had lost all my work.) I ended up recreating the post through Firefox.

       I’m having a hard time justifying the cost of WPEngine myself. Deciding who I’m going to host with is adding to my procrastination. 🙂

       It definitely is an interesting debate! I had no idea when I wrote this article that it would generate this many comments but webhosting is definitely a hot topic these days. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us too.

12. Godaddy may not be the best hosting company out there but coming to that conclusion on emotion grounds isn”t going to benefit our blogs in anyway. Let”s be realistic…if the CEO of the best hosting company in the world (not sure such a thing exists) is convicted for murder, will you just move your blog away on that ground? That would be unprofessional. While I have decided to move away from Godaddy, I am doing so for purely logical and practical reasons not emotionally inflamed decisions. Always,Terungwa

    1. Akaahan,
       There are a multitude of reasons to not use GoDaddy and their actions are just one factor. Bottom-line, most people prefer to do business with people that they like. If a company’s actions, perceptions, views etc. don’t align with ours, then there will be people who won’t use their products/services. There will also be people (like you) who are willing to look past that and make a decision based purely on data.

       Personally, you can count me in the camp that weighs in both. I like to support people and businesses that I respect. It’s the same logic that I use when I choose to not shop at the most popular big-box store in our area. (I don’t share their views that it’s morally right to hire part-time employees to avoid paying health benefits.) Sure, it may cost me more to shop elsewhere but I refuse to reward a company that has such strongly differing views from mine.

       Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. It’s always good to see other viewpoints.
       Sherryl Perry recently posted..Is Website Hosting More than Just a Server?

13. I still use Go Daddy for domain registration, but that is it. They really do have great customer service. I stop using them for blogging and webhosting because their services just did not compare to other webhost. Too bad for them. I still would not recommend their services to others to this day.
    Elizabeth Hall recently posted..Ultimate Social Media Success | 6 Visualization Ideas to Get You Started

    1. Hi Elizabeth,
       It’s interesting that you mention that GoDaddy has good customer service. In fact, their sales associates do seem to be very pleasant and courteous. Where they fail (to me) is their technical knowledge. If reading from one of their scripts works, they’re fine but if you need help troubleshooting something, they’re not well trained/skilled. Their response to me when their server was failing was to try to console me but not take action to rectify the issue.

       Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. BTW – Something quirky is going on with my commenting plugin. So, the link hat you left is not showing at the moment. I’ll see what I can do to get it fixed.
       Sherryl Perry recently posted..Afraid to Move Your Website but Know You Should?

       1. Thanks Sherry for the response. It’s ok about the link. Have a great evening.
          Elizabeth Hall (@SmartOfficeHelp) recently posted..005 | 7 Steps to a Productive Social Media Workflow

14. Hi Sherryl,

    I have never used GoDaddy and wouldn’t for a number of reasons including their ads, which gives me a negative perception of their brand. Although I use Blue Host I still have problems with them and I am looking at others such as WP engine to switch to.
    Susan Oakes recently posted..Stop Hoarding To Keep Customers Buying

    1. Susan,
       That is so true about the negative perception of the GoDaddy brand. A lot of people are going to be moving their sites this year.

15. Have used GoDaddy since 2009, as you know. They are not great but the last year or so I have had no problems.

    Correct me if I am wrong but didn’t one of your hosting providers start telling you you should be paying a huge fee every month? Remember thinking that at least GoDaddy hasn’t tried that one. Which of your providers was it and how did the debacle end?
    Catarina recently posted..Which economies will grow fastest this year?

    1. Catarina,
       I didn’t realize that you were still hosting with GoDaddy. That’s great that you’re not encountering problems with them. With shared hosting, it’s always a bit of a dice shoot as to which server your site ends up on.

       I think you might be referring to Blue Host’s suggestion that I pay $1.99 a month for a dedicated IP address. I don’t believe that the suggestion was a solution for the problem that I was encountering at the time but I decided to opt for it anyways because having a dedicated IP address does provide some protection from being associated with spammy sites. I’ve purchased this service before and I honestly had just forgotten that it was an option.

       Thanks for dropping by and letting us know that you’re happy with GD.

16. Thanks for the article, Sherryl.
    I used to do web design work as part of a consulting business. I’ve thus run into quite a few web hosts. Some were terrible, like a Philippine one that associated a clients therapy site with porn. But GoDaddy wasn’t great, to say that least so I also cringe when I hear their name.

    They also encourage bulk registration and domain reselling. Most spam sites are hosted there too, that I’ve checked.

    It was a real song and dance to transfer a clients domain off GoDaddy. They refused to help and the settings for unlocking the domain were buried in their obscure control panel. That may have improved now but I doubt it.

    I did run into one GoDaddy promoter recently. Claimed a personal relationship with the owner. Claimed no knowledge of problems. But it sounds like he gets affiliate income from putting clients sites there.

    Interesting about Bluehost. They’re often highly recommended. Wasn’t aware of that background interconnection. Tech columnist Fred Langa went with TRK Hosting after an extensive review. Smaller but good service. Have used them.

    For my current blog migration project, I went with easyPress. They’re a dedicated blog-hosting company in Canada, owned by easyDNS registrar. Don’t have a track record for up time yet but their service with setup has been stellar. Not the cheapest but many of the hosts in Canada are lame around blogs.

    1. David,
       I moved my sites from GoDaddy years ago and I honestly don’t remember it being an ordeal. They also refunded my unused hosting.

       One thing that I’ve noticed often (when I’m cleaning up broken links) is that a lot of abandoned domain names are parked at GoDaddy and GD doesn’t miss an opportunity to run spammy ads on them. Because these domains are not actually broken, it’s not always easy to find them. (The only way that I’ve found out that some are parked is to click on the links. Although, BrokenLinkCheck.com sometimes gives me clues that point to them.) I have yet to notice any other domain registrar that has this many parked domains pointing to spammy ads. It’s abusive to me.

       As for BlueHost, I believe they were fine until EIG took them over. In addition to the fiasco that affected multiple sites in August, in November I was encountering the ““Oops! Google Chrome could not connect to keepupwiththeweb.com” errors.” (I lost data while working in Chrome, people couldn’t access my site and I received an error message from Google that their bots couldn’t access my site.) This went on for a week. It turned out that they had installed software on the server that my site is on in response to a DDOS attack and that was causing issues with my site. I did not receive any apologies from them and my last support ticket went unanswered for a day. I finally called tech support to talk to a technician. (I had been using a combination of calls to their 800# and support tickets.)

       Thanks for the tip on TRK Hosting and easyPress. I hadn’t heard of either of them.

       1. Hi Sherryl
          Yes, I’ve also observed that how a registrar treats parked domains is telling. Some abuse them with their own advertizing, unrelated to the person parking them. It’s one thing to say “This domain is parked at XYZ” but quite another to use it as a billboard. I find that opportunistic and abusive. GoDaddy isn’t the only one but it certainly is a good example.

          Another thing I’ve run into is people looking for hosts outside the US as they don’t want their databases in Homeland Security territory. Not sure how effective that is, but it’s come up several times. Sometimes their customers are asking for it.

          1. David,
             I agree that it’s opportunistic and abusive. Using the domain as a “billboard” is exactly what they’re doing.

             I hadn’t heard about people looking for hosts outside the US. One of the hosting vendors that I use is a company in Scotland but the server that my site is hosted on is in Dallas. I have no idea but I’m guessing that would fall under Homeland Security.

17. Hi Sherry,

    I’m so glad I got here so early in the year, so now you’ve got an extra reader for the year, as I will bookmark your blog to get back here regularly.

    That’s an excellent post.

    First I agree that those stupid adds don’t help them. Like you I have my domains registered with them, but I will never use their hosting, not because I know about hosting, which I don’t, but because I was listening to those who do and they always told me that their hosting platform was bad.

    For domain registration I think they were one of the first ones out there, so they still have the upper hand I think, but that’s all the credit I’d give them.

    Have an excellent weekend!
    Sylviane Nuccio recently posted..What Is All The Fuss About Hypnotic Writing?

    1. Hi Sylviane,
       I’m very happy to see you here. You have a new reader too! We both see each other commenting on other blogs. I’m glad we’ve finally visited each other.

       I feel the same way about domain registration. I believe GD does that well. I was just reading the article “Get a Faster Website and Chiseled Abs” in Website Magazine. They’re talking about the importance of our core and comparing it to the core of our website. They stress that our DNS (Domain Name Server) and our hosting server makes up the core of our site and if that isn’t optimized, we’ll never achieve consistently fast load times and secure sites.

18. Hey Sherryl,

    I haven’t hosted with Go daddy (I did use them for domain registering). I started with a custom domain (used it with Blogger), and I only moved to WP 2 years after I began blogging (so, I was familiar with the web hosting services..which ones were good). I went with Host gator as so many friends recommended it (of course, that is no longer the case).

    With my second blog, I was with Netfirms (I just looked it up and seems like EIG owns Netfirms!). It was a good hosting provider. Sure, I had problems, but the customer service helped to solve the issues soon enough. Right now, I am using Web hosting buzz as my web host.

    Anyways, good luck with the redesign 😀 Hope you have a great weekend!
    Jeevan Jacob John recently posted..Goals, Resolutions and Motives – Why?

    1. Hi Jeevan,
       Web hosting buzz? Now, that’s a new one to me. I’ll have to check them out.

       As always, thanks for dropping by and you have a great weekend too!

19. We use WP-Engine at InNetwork for our hosting. I have to say that it’s worked wonderful for us. Site loads up really fast, never goes down, awesome technical support on their end.

    It also comes with an automatic backup, caching, and staging area (so you can do work on your site without ever having to go offline). You can easily copy your live site to staging, or vice versa, at the click of a button, which is very convenient.

    They also automatically update to new wordpress versions for you, run a check to make sure your site works properly, and if it doesn’t it reverts back to your previous WP version.

    If ever I start up another website on WordPress, I’ll use WP-Engine again.
    Daniel Hebert recently posted..3 Muppet-tastic Public Speaking Lessons

    1. Hi Daniel,

       I’ve heard great things about WP-Engine. So, thanks for letting us know that your experiences with them have been good and that you recommend them.

       I did not realize that they had the one-button option for copying your site to a staging area. It sounds like they’re definitely worth a serious look.

       Thanks for joining the conversation. It’s nice to meet you here.
       Sherryl Perry recently posted..Could Your Business Survive if Something Happened to You?

20. I use Rackspace. I know they are expensive, but my website is my business and if the server can’t handle my site, I am out of business. The service has been outstanding. I am on my own dedicated server. I did interview GoDaddy and I was unimpressed with their customer service. If I felt this way before I started, I was concerned what would happen down the line. Rackspace believes in fanatical service and that is what you get. There is an old adage, “You get what you pay for.”.

    I also think from a business person’s view, when you see powered by GoDaddy at the bottom of a web page, knowing about the ads, and how cheap they are, leaves the wrong message.
    Arleen recently posted..Super Bowl Advertising: You Don’t Need a Commercial Just Some Creativity

    1. Arleen,
       I have to admit that (as a blogger) Rackspace doesn’t even pop into my mind as a hosting solution. I think of them for cloud storage but I believe you’re the first person (who I know) that hosts with them.

       It makes a lot of sense to me that you would use them for hosting. Your company website is way beyond my simple site and therefore the demands are much greater.

       Thanks so much for recommending Rackspace to us! I’ll keep them in mind for the future. I’m sure there are other readers here who will find your recommendation helpful as well.
       Sherryl Perry recently posted..67% of Shopping Carts are Abandoned – Stop your Customers from Leaving

21. Thanks Tom. I had missed your article when you posted it last month but I saw it in a RT. I always get riled up when I see people talking about GoDaddy hosting. They were my first painful experience in hosting. Although hosting with GD did start out as a positive experience and they really were a well respected company years ago. Things change and we have to change with them.
    Sherryl Perry recently posted..Is GoDaddy Really Bad for Website Hosting?

22. Hi Sheryl,

    Thanks for writing! Well, my experience with GoDaddy is bad. Maybe just my luck. I was with them twice and both were insanely bad.

    I have no issues with their domain selling but hosting wise, man that is what I call all hell break lose!

    However, looking on the bright side, I know some bloggers who had good experience with them.

    Haha!

    Thanks for writing girl.
    Reginald recently posted..Two SEO Best Practices To Generate More Website Traffic

    1. Hi Reginald,
       Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to join the conversation. Sorry to hear that you had bad experiences with them too. The only people I have ever talked to about hosting with GoDaddy shared the same negative experience. They’re still selling hosting. So, some people must be happy. They’re still selling their website builder solutions too which boggles my mind.

23. I never intended to host with GoDaddy – too much horrifying stories 🙂

    I am hosting my non-English site with a local hosting service but for my English site and blog – i use Namecheap. I was leaning toward BlueHost but they disappointed me with their pre-sell customer service (i had a few questions which they fail to address in timely manner; some they failed to address at all!). And i while i was wondering what to do, Namecheap, whom i use for domains registrar, came in with 50% off on their shared hosting. So i bought it.

    I am not quite happy with it as i experience downtime more often than i’d like and many times my site is super slow for now reason – while the site is a small wordpress site… confusing and frustrating! I have a few other sites hosted with them and when i get my startup up and running, then i will move to VPS or dedicated server – if they still have more downtime than i’d like, then i will definitely move away from Namecheap for hosting.

    For now – pros are more than the cons for hosting with Namecheap 🙂
    Diana recently posted..Virtual Team: How to Fit in

    1. Diana,
       I’ve thought about using Namecheap as a domain registrar but I’ve never considered hosting with them. Thanks for letting us know about your experiences with them. Discussions like these should really help people who are researching web hosting solutions. Thanks for weighing in on this.
       Sherryl Perry recently posted..Is Website Hosting More than Just a Server?

24. I initially went with GoDaddy because it was the name I knew thanks to their relentless advertising. Only after did I balk because their ads really are tasteless. But once I used WordPress for a while the issues started, namely with site downtime and useless customer service. I new use BlueHost and most issues are gone, plus they have really great customer service.
    Jeri recently posted..JeriWB Blog Resolutions 2014

    1. That sounds about right Jeri. It’s the SQL databases that really cause an issue for GoDaddy. I honestly don’t think they should be considered for hosting a WordPress site. It sounds like their tech support hasn’t improved since I used them. They used to always be reading from scripts and they made it clear that they only supported hosting and would not answer software related questions.
       Sherryl Perry recently posted..What’s The Best Way to Build a Website? – (Part 2 of 3)

25. Many people fall into Godaddy trap. Deleted domains, deleted website, 24/7 downtime in addition to tons of SPAM. I would not recommend Godaddy for domain registrar or web host even to my worst enemy.

    1. Hi Kaloyan,
       Thanks for weighing in on this. I think it’s important to get the word out so that people will be forewarned. It’s important that people do their due diligence and research hosting companies before they decide who they want to host with. GoDaddy is an excellent example of a company that was once well respected but now has dropped drastically in customer satisfaction. Unfortunately, we’re seeing more vendors lately that are disappointing the people who are depending on them.
       Sherryl Perry recently posted..Copyright Infringement – What Should You Do if Your Blog Post is Stolen?

       1. Godaddy, have never been respected web hosting provider, though quite popular domain registrar.
          Agree, the best way to find reliable web hosting is to read many reviews on many different review websites.

          1. Exactly Kaloyan. I wouldn’t dream of choosing a web hosting vendor without reading reviews. A quick Internet search can uncover a lot of message threads on forum groups too to give us a clear snapshot of what is really going on.

             Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with us.

26. Hi Sherryl — as you point out, I moved my site to A2 Hosting and I’ve been pleased thus far. The service from HostGator had just gotten so bad that I felt I couldn’t stay with them. It’s sad that such a respected company lost its reputation for good service when it was acquired by EIG. I never considered GoDaddy because of all the reports of their poor service. Look forward to seeing your new design.
    Jeannette Paladino recently posted..Favorite Blog Posts From Write Speak Sell in 2013

    1. That’s great that you’re happy with A2 hosting Jeannette. I’ve found with Blue Host that the tech support is better when you submit an online support ticket as opposed to calling their phone support. Still, the steady increase in downtime is disturbing. It seems that the companies that are owned by EIG are following in the footsteps of GoDaddy.

       As always, thanks so much for dropping by and adding to the conversation.

       (Note: When I initially left this reply, I said it was Host Gator that support tickets work better than phone support. I corrected this on 1/9.)

       1. Sherryl — I’m surprised that telephone support has also declined at HostGator. I always found the phone reps so responsive when the company was hosting my site. Another nail in the coffin.
          Jeannette Paladino recently posted..Favorite Blog Posts From Write Speak Sell in 2013

          1. Jeannette,
             I apologize. I checked my records this morning and it’s BlueHost that I’ve submitted support tickets to when I’ve been unhappy with their phone support. HostGator’s phone support is still good (I corrected this in my last reply to you.)

             The first time that I turned to BlueHost support tickets was when I received an answer from tech support that didn’t seem right to me. (I received the correct answer in reply to my ticket.)

             The second time that I ended up submitting a ticket to BlueHost was in November when I was encountering the ““Oops! Google Chrome could not connect to keepupwiththeweb.com” errors. (I lost data while working in Chrome, people couldn’t access my site and I received an error message from Google that their bots couldn’t access my site.)

             That scenario went on for a week. In that case, I relied on a combination of phone and support tickets. It turned out that software that they had installed on the server that my site is on (in response to a DDOS attack) had caused my issues. Geesh! I really need to move my site. ::)

             1. Ugh! I can relate. Good luck.
                Jeannette Paladino recently posted..Favorite Blog Posts From Write Speak Sell in 2013

27. As I said on Google+, I started using A2 for one new client. I had been using BlueHost for many years; no problems until the EIG buyout. I had recently signed up a new client with BlueHost, and the brand new site with hardly anything on it was incredibly slow. As for moving my own, I’ve been too busy with work to do so. But I think I will do so at some point.
    Leora Wenger recently posted..Therapy Websites: Safe and Inviting

    1. Thanks for letting us know Lenora. Jeanette Paladino and I were emailing each other a few weeks ago and she mentioned that she had moved to A2 also. It’s definitely the front runner for me now. I know that Liquid Web has been recommended also but A2 is more affordable.

28. Gosh, GoDaddy was where I started. In time I was advised to move my hosting to another service. It was a good move but as it is with all things online, things change and we may be moving to a different one again. I’ll let you know what we do as we make decisions on the new design and all that other stuff:-)
    Susan Cooper recently posted..Bucket List: Story

    1. Thanks Susan. I’d appreciate that. I’m thinking of combining the redesign along with the move. That may be the simplest thing to do. I have one small add-on domain alongside this site. So, I’ll have to move that too.

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