Many people register their domain name with GoDaddy, simply because they have heard of it. But Google Domains or NameCheap might be better for you.
You can transfer your existing domain name registration to another registrar, except the few days before the registration expires. Google Domains has clear instructions how to transfer.
There are features that you might want, that GoDaddy charges extra for. And GoDaddy does not always have the best price (among the reliable, well-known domain registrars).
I never use GoDaddy for hosting websites. Their security is lacking: too many people who wanted me managing their sites, who were hosting on GoDaddy, were already hacked; I moved their site hosting to SiteGround and rebuilt it.) Also, GoDaddy charges for SSL certificates, which every website needs today (for example, without SSL, your WordPress login page is not encrypted so your username and password can be collected). SiteGround and many other hosts provide SSL certificates for free. Their Managed WordPress hosting isn’t better than SiteGround’s, their technical support isn’t as good (SiteGround has Excellent support), the management interface is harder to use. Don’t host websites on GoDaddy, even though GoDaddy is much better than many other hosting companies.
I have used GoDaddy for Domain Name Registration, decent price, reliable. But they charge extra for keeping your information private.
Do a Whois search to see what information is public, for example at Google Domains, type in any domain name, and if it is registered by someone, click on the More Options link ( https://domains.google.com/m/registrar/search ). Another way to get the Whois information is ICANN Who Is Lookup or GoDaddy Whois. I notice that GoDaddy displays much more personal information than ICANN or Google.
One reason for transferring your domain registration to Google Domains is “Privacy protection included. Google Domains covers the cost of keeping your details private.”
Google Domains has lower cost for domain registration than GoDaddy (at least on the domain I was about to renew), and privacy protection is included; so GoDaddy loses on two counts.
As of early January 2020, Google wants $12/yr for a .com, GoDaddy wants $18/year for renewing that .com plus $9.99/year more for privacy. (Tip: A GoDaddy support person mentioned May 2020 that the Domain Registry will soon have all Domain Registrars give privacy for free.)
“When you transfer, you retain all the time of your current registration and add an extra year. The current expiration date for YOURDOMAIN.com is January 10, 2020. After the transfer is complete, YOURDOMAIN.com will be registered until January 10, 2021. Transferring your domain to Google requires an additional year of registration ($12 plus tax).”
Google Domains has a user interface that is clear and easy to use, for managing a large number of domains. Several people who are in the Arizona WordPress Meetup who set up websites for many clients, prefer the Google Domains interface over GoDaddy’s.
Leave a Reply