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Startups should not use GoDaddy. Ever

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Re: Startups should not use GoDaddy. Ever

#141

Post by nimblegorilla »

jamesbritt wrote: post #73
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #41

I moved away from GoDaddy a couple of years ago. Now I have a few expiring domains left on there. Last week I got a notice they were going to charge me for a renewal, which I did not want. So I called the support guy. Twenty or so minutes later, he sent me to a link to fill out a form where all would be taken care of. Except it wasn't. Just like my previous few encounters with GoDaddy, when I went to the link I learn…

Counter anecdote: I've quite a few domains on GoDaddy. I've transfered a few over the years, both to and from GoDaddy, and while the steps where not explained clearly I never had an issue where I was prevented from controlling my domains. I also used their DNS service for the first time last month and found it pretty straightforward. Maybe I wasn't trying to do something that would have been complex (I didn't set up…

"I could easily live without the day-glo rampage of add-ons whenever I try to register a new domain, but I've gotten used to it."

That is the worst part from my perspective. I use namecheap and it is very simple and fast to manage my domains using the namecheap interface. Godaddy seems to bury your domain management under a bunch of add-on services. I really dread helping out anyone on godaddy because I have to wade through all kinds of crap before I get to the screens I want.

Another nice touch by namecheap is that it takes 1 click to setup your DNS for google email services. I feel like godaddy makes MX configuration difficult just so some people will give up and pay for email through them.

Re: Startups should not use GoDaddy. Ever

#142

Post by jeromeparadis »

My first rule is use a registrar to register domains. Never host your site or DNS at the registrar. My second rule is do not host your DNS where you host your site. It makes it easier to switch providers without downtime. With these rules, I use GoDaddy to register domains and never had any problems. For DNS, DNS Made Easy is cheap and reliable.

Re: Startups should not use GoDaddy. Ever

#144

Post by katieben »

jamesbritt wrote: post #73
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #41

I moved away from GoDaddy a couple of years ago. Now I have a few expiring domains left on there. Last week I got a notice they were going to charge me for a renewal, which I did not want. So I called the support guy. Twenty or so minutes later, he sent me to a link to fill out a form where all would be taken care of. Except it wasn't. Just like my previous few encounters with GoDaddy, when I went to the link I learn…

Counter anecdote: I've quite a few domains on GoDaddy. I've transfered a few over the years, both to and from GoDaddy, and while the steps where not explained clearly I never had an issue where I was prevented from controlling my domains. I also used their DNS service for the first time last month and found it pretty straightforward. Maybe I wasn't trying to do something that would have been complex (I didn't set up…

Ditto here. I use GoDaddy for domain registration, and an InMotion VPS for hosting. The interface is confusing and cluttered, but their call-in support is always really friendly and reliable. Nothing makes my blood boil hotter than bad customer service, so despite GoDaddy's sins, their knowledgeable, friendly customer support team makes it worth it to me.

The purchasing process IS super greasy car salesman - I'd never ever refer a client to GoDaddy. They'd end up buying 20 things they didn't need, 20 times the cost it has to be. That gets obnoxious, but oh well - at least I know what to expect every time, and I can just say no. It beats talking to the unqualified or rude techies at other hosting companies.

Re: Startups should not use GoDaddy. Ever

#145

Post by dendory »

I used GoDaddy when I first started, years ago, but quickly moved away from them. Been with Dreamhost for years now and it's been very good. Adding SSL can't be simpler, they even streamline the process, allowing you to buy the cert directly in the panel (or import your own from a third party), assign a static IP, and everything works inside an hour. Anyways, just wanted to share my experience.

Re: Startups should not use GoDaddy. Ever

#146

Post by alwillis »

I couldn't agree more. I've seen firsthand people using Go Daddy to check out a possible domain only to have Go Daddy squatting on it the next day. He was able to get a few of them back, but it such a hassle.

This was a couple of years ago; I can't imagine how much worse things are now.

Re: Startups should not use GoDaddy. Ever

#147

Post by w33ble »

dasil003 wrote: post #8
rshigeta wrote: post #4

I've seen a lot of issues raised about godaddy recently, but any suggestions for domain registry that work better?

I use Dreamhost. $9.95 is reasonable, and it's great for placeholder, static or otherwise low-traffic, low-importance sites (which of course are the majority of domain registrations).

Same. They also offer free anonymity, and I find their interface for both registering domains and hosting easy to navigate. I share their hosting with a handful of friends, mostly for testing and extremely low-traffic, personal use stuff.

Re: Startups should not use GoDaddy. Ever

#148

Post by skcin7 »

larrys wrote: post #108

One of the reasons godaddy is successful is that they are the registrar of referral for people (web designers, programmers, ISP's) that have customers that need domain registration or renewal. When an end user has a domain they need or one up for renewal godaddy is the registrar that is suggested to them by their "tech guy". This is similar to how Microsoft gained power in a way. They were supported by a huge network…

The example of the "privacy protection" reminds me when I was a n00b (I still kinda am), but like 3 years ago I wanted a domain that was taken so I paid ~$15 for them for domain backordering.... LOL. I didn't really know what it was at the time (stupid me) but now I feel so incredibly stupid for basically giving away $15 and getting duped for my money.

Re: Startups should not use GoDaddy. Ever

#149

Post by modfodder »

larrik wrote: post #7

I swore off GoDaddy years ago when I was setting up a website for a friend. It took an entire night to FTP up about 100k worth of files to his account. His website was extremely slow as well, so it wasn't just me. We're talking about a website that got maybe dozens of hits per day. He was a paying customer!!!! I've never had such a bad host, even from free ones. Also, I absentmindedly signed myself up for their WHOIS…

I had the same problem, but finally discovered that DomainsByProxy uses the same password as Godaddy. The hard part is finding your customer id.

when you make a new purchase at godaddy, it gives you the option to link your new domainsbyproxy purchase to a previous account. it lists all your previous login ids.

so just grab those login ids and use your godaddy password for each of them.

Once I was able to grab the right login id I was able to use my godaddy password (the original password you used when you purchased the privacy protection, if you changed it since then, it will not be the same as the new password). Once logged in it was easy to remove the privacy protection and godaddy immediately reflected the new status.

Here's the thread that helped me... http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=272435

Re: Startups should not use GoDaddy. Ever

#150

Post by d2 »

OK kids, here's what you need to know. There are three levels of your relationship with Godaddy:

Level 1: You're in balls deep. You register your domains with GoDaddy, use their DNS servers and host your shit on their servers. You also get your SSL certs from them. That's what the OP was doing.

Level 2: You're in up to the balls, but that's where it stops. You register with them, host your DNS with them but your website lives on another providers servers and you get your SSL elsewhere.

Level 3: You wearing a condom and don't give them their own key or underwear drawer. In other words, you register your domain with GoDaddy but you host the DNS somewhere else like DNSMadeEasy which costs, but is reliable. You also host your site somewhere else like Linode for example. And your SSL cert is something that costs more but is reliable. I have an EV cert from Verisign which costs but you get better conversions.

Level 3 is the only place you want to be. Pay them the bare minimum, immediately delegate the DNS hosting to a reliable rock solid provider that doesn't black-list DNS servers and use that provider to point your A record to whatever web host you're using. You get cheap domains and the only time you have to wade through GD's cluster fuck interface is when you change DNS providers or want to register another domain.

My primary domain did over 27 million DNS requests last month via DNS Made Easy with a 12 hour TTL and it's been registered with godaddy for over 4 years now with no problems at all.

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