I'll be straightforward: I've rebuilt dozens of websites for small business owners who started with GoDaddy's website builder. At some point, they hit a wall and needed something more. This isn't a hit piece—GoDaddy has its place—but you should know what you're signing up for before you invest your time.
Let's talk about what GoDaddy does well, where it falls short, and who it's actually right for.
What GoDaddy Does Well
GoDaddy is fast. If you need a basic website up quickly, it delivers. You pick a theme, answer some questions, and your site is largely built. The interface is simple enough that anyone can figure it out in an afternoon.
It's also affordable. Their basic plan runs about $10-12/month, which puts it on the lower end of website builder pricing. For a business that just needs an online brochure—hours, location, a photo or two—it gets the job done. (For a full breakdown of what DIY builders actually cost, see The Hidden Costs of 'Free' Website Builders.)
And let's acknowledge the obvious: GoDaddy is a huge company. They rank third among website builders worldwide. They're not disappearing anytime soon, and they have support available when you need it.
For complete beginners who want something simple and don't care about customization, GoDaddy works.
The Problems Start When You Want More
Here's where things get frustrating. These are the issues I see repeatedly when clients ask me to take over their GoDaddy sites:
No Undo Button
This sounds minor until you make a mistake. Then it's a nightmare. GoDaddy's editor has no undo button. Accidentally delete a section? Click the wrong thing? Hope you have a good memory, because there's no going back. Even basic word processors have undo—why doesn't a website builder?
You're Stuck with Pre-Built Sections
GoDaddy doesn't let you place elements wherever you want. Instead, you add pre-designed sections and hope one fits your vision. You can't add individual elements or move things around freely—you can only toggle existing elements on or off within the locked sections.
Want a contact form next to a map? Hope there's a section that does exactly that. Want to move a button an inch to the left? Too bad.
Limited Templates (And They All Look Similar)
GoDaddy offers just 22 themes. That sounds like plenty until you realize they all have the same basic structure. In fact, every GoDaddy theme has the same homepage layout—big image, headline, button—with only minor variations.
Your website ends up looking like... a GoDaddy website. Nothing distinctive. Nothing memorable. Just another site using the same template as thousands of others.
The Checkout Problem (If You Sell Online)
This one's concerning. If you use GoDaddy's ecommerce features, here's what happens when customers check out: they get redirected from your domain to mysimplestore.com.
Customers are redirected off your domain during checkout. This is bad for branding and worse for trust. Imagine handing someone your credit card info and suddenly seeing a different website name. Would you pause? I would.
Performance Issues
The builder itself can be sluggish. GoDaddy's management dashboard is often slow to load and unresponsive. Simple tasks like switching between sections or adding products take longer than they should. It's the kind of frustration that adds up over time.
No Easy Way Out
Here's the biggest issue: GoDaddy Website Builder does not have an export tool. If you build your site there and later decide to move to WordPress or another platform, there's no simple export button.
You're rebuilding from scratch. Copying text, downloading images, reconstructing pages. I've done this migration for clients—it takes time and it costs money. And GoDaddy isn't unique here—the same vendor lock-in problems exist with other popular builders.
Limited Integrations
There's no way to inject code into the head of your GoDaddy pages. This limits third-party integrations like advanced analytics, conversion tracking, live chat tools, or other marketing features. You're stuck with what GoDaddy gives you.
When GoDaddy Makes Sense
After all that criticism, here's the thing: GoDaddy does work for some people. It's a reasonable choice if:
- You need something basic now. A one-page site with your hours, location, and phone number is totally doable.
- You don't care about design. Looking distinctive isn't important to you.
- Your budget is tight. At around $10/month for a basic plan, it's affordable.
- You're not tech-savvy. The simple interface means less chance of breaking something.
If that's you, GoDaddy will work fine. Many businesses use GoDaddy and never have a problem.
When GoDaddy Holds You Back
GoDaddy becomes a problem when:
- You care how your website looks. The templates are generic and you can't customize them much.
- You want to stand out. About 75% of consumers judge a company's credibility based on its website design. A generic template doesn't help.
- You plan to grow. When you need features GoDaddy doesn't offer, migrating out is painful.
- You sell online. The checkout redirect issue is a trust killer.
- You want full control. Every limitation becomes frustrating when you have a vision you can't execute.
This is where I typically get the call. Someone's been using GoDaddy for a year or two, they've grown, and now they're stuck. (I cover similar limitations with Squarespace and other builders in separate reviews.)
The Real Cost of DIY Builders
Here's something most people don't consider: about 32% of small businesses use DIY website builders. That means a lot of businesses are using templates that look similar to each other.
When your competitor has the same homepage layout as you, with different colors and stock photos, nobody wins. You're competing on a playing field where nobody looks distinctive.
The real cost isn't the monthly fee—it's the opportunity cost of blending in when you could stand out. (If you're weighing whether to DIY or hire help, see How Much Should a Small Business Website Cost?)
The Invisible Problems: Why a Website Isn't Just a Pretty Picture
Here's something most people don't realize: a website is not just a graphical document. It's not like a Word doc or a PowerPoint slide that you can drag around and call it done.
A website has plumbing.
Underneath every website is code—HTML that gives structure, CSS that handles appearance, JavaScript that adds interactivity. There's meta data for search engines. There's alt text for screen readers. There are heading hierarchies that tell browsers and assistive technology what's important.
Would you install your store's plumbing yourself? Unless you're a plumber, probably not. You know that one wrong connection and you've got water everywhere. A slow leak that damages your foundation. Problems that don't show up until months later.
GoDaddy and other DIY builders hide the plumbing from you. That's the point. You don't see the messy code underneath. You just drag, drop, and hope everything works.
But here's what gets lost when you treat a website like a graphical document:
The Accessibility Crisis (Especially in California)
This is the big one that almost nobody thinks about until it's too late.
Accessible design means your website works for everyone—people who use screen readers, people who can't use a mouse, people with color blindness, people with low vision. It's not just "nice to have"—it's how you treat people.
Here's what happens with DIY builders: you pick a template, you add your content, you make it look good to you. But you have no idea whether:
- Your color contrast passes accessibility standards
- Your images have proper alt text for screen readers
- Your forms can be navigated with a keyboard
- Your heading structure makes sense to assistive technology
These aren't cosmetic issues. These are legal issues. Especially in California.
In the first half of 2025 alone, over 2,000 ADA website accessibility lawsuits were filed nationwide—and California ranked third in the country. These lawsuits target businesses whose websites aren't accessible to people with disabilities.
And here's what most business owners don't know: accessibility overlay widgets don't protect you. Those "add accessibility with one click" tools that some builders pitch? They don't fix the underlying problems. In fact, many lawsuits are filed against sites that already have these widgets installed.
Accessibility has to be built in from the start. Proper HTML structure. Semantic elements. Thoughtful color choices. Alt text on every image. This isn't something a template builder can guarantee—because you control the content, and you can break accessibility without even realizing it.
Technical Debt You Can't See
There's more lurking under the surface:
Speed: GoDaddy sites load reasonably okay initially. But as you add content, images, and features, things slow down. Google penalizes slow sites in search rankings. We cover this in detail here, but the short version is: every second of load time costs you customers.
Security: GoDaddy handles basic security, but when you're on a shared platform with thousands of other sites, you're only as secure as the weakest link. If another site on the same server gets compromised, there's spillover risk.
SEO: Your site might look fine to humans, but what does Google see? Proper title tags, meta descriptions, heading hierarchies, schema markup—these are the technical details that help you rank in search results. DIY platforms give you some of this, but not all of it.
Mobile: GoDaddy templates are mobile-responsive, which is good. But responsive doesn't mean optimized. Are your images the right size? Is your text readable without zooming? Are your buttons tap-friendly? These details matter.
What YouGrow Does Differently
I'm not here to sell you on YouGrow if GoDaddy is working for you. But if you've read this far, maybe you're already feeling the limitations.
Here's what's different about working with us:
- Built accessible from day one. We don't bolt on accessibility as an afterthought. We design with proper contrast, screen reader support, keyboard navigation, and alt text from the start. Your site welcomes every customer.
- Your website looks like yours. We don't use cookie-cutter templates. We customize our proven layouts to your brand so you stand out, not blend in.
- You're not locked in. Month-to-month, cancel anytime. If we stop delivering, you walk away. Plus, we give you content exports if you ever leave.
- You never touch the plumbing. Need something changed? Email or call us. Most updates happen within one business day. You focus on your business; we handle the technical work.
- We're local. Based in Arroyo Grande, serving SLO County. You can call 805-439-6288 and talk to a real person who knows your community.
Our price is $79/month. That's more than GoDaddy's basic plan. But you're not paying for a DIY tool—you're paying for a partner who handles everything, including the plumbing, so you can focus on your business.
So Should You Use GoDaddy?
My honest take: GoDaddy is fine for what it is—a simple tool for simple needs. If you need a basic website quickly and don't care much about customization, it'll do the job.
But if you care about how your business looks online, if you want to stand out, or if you think you might grow beyond the basics, consider starting with something that gives you room to breathe.
The cost of switching later isn't just money—it's time, frustration, and starting over. Better to choose the right path from the beginning.
If you're not sure whether GoDaddy fits your needs, or if you've already hit its limits, let's talk. No pressure, no sales pitch—just a conversation about what you need and whether we're the right fit.
Onur builds websites for SLO County small businesses at YouGrow.pro. Based in Arroyo Grande. $79/month, everything included.