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Evaluating GoDaddy’s TLD Offerings for SMBs

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Hey everyone,

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are a significant part of GoDaddy’s business strategy. GoDaddy provides a range of services tailored to SMBs, including domain registration, website building, hosting, and various digital marketing tools. By offering these value-added services, GoDaddy aims to support SMBs in establishing and growing their online presence.

The focus on SMBs is evident in GoDaddy’s marketing and product development efforts. They often highlight how their tools can help small businesses compete in the digital marketplace, emphasizing ease of use and affordability. This segment is crucial for GoDaddy because SMBs represent a large and growing market with ongoing needs for digital services and support.

Recently, I’ve been noticing a trend with GoDaddy’s domain registration path, especially when it comes to targeting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

It seems like GoDaddy is pushing a lot of useless “fun” and unconventional TLDs like “.sucks” and “.foo” rather than the more traditional and arguably more valuable “.com” domains. This got me thinking about what TLDs would actually be the most beneficial for SMBs and in what order they should be offered during the registration process.

While these quirky TLDs might catch the eye, they often come with hefty renewal fees—SMBs will pay over $400 a year (every year) to renew a “.sucks” domain at GoDaddy. This raises the question: does GoDaddy really have the best interests of SMBs at heart, or are they prioritizing profit over practicality?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on:
  • Which TLDs should be prioritized for SMBs? Should “.com” always be the first option, followed by other traditional TLDs like “.net” and “.org”?
  • What order should these TLDs be presented in the registration path? Should there be a mix of traditional and new gTLDs, or should the focus be on the most recognized and trusted ones?
  • Is GoDaddy’s current strategy beneficial or detrimental to SMBs? Are these quirky TLDs and high renewal fees justifiable, or do they pose a risk to small businesses?
Looking forward to a lively discussion and your valuable insights!
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Im guessing there are quite a few .sucks regs purely as defensive plays. Especially when you see GD promoting this when you search your brand name.

Majority of these will never get used and are purely profit extraction.
 
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So what's really happening is that GoDaddy is focusing on the negative aspects of entrepreneurship, rather than promoting positivity.
 
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If GD had the interests of searchers in their hearts, they'd promote:

1. the best fit .com
2. the best fit cctld based on the geo info of the buyer
3. the best fit .org if the search seems to be social, charitable etc. project related.

Anything else hurts a business.

If GD truly believes in .sucks, it should move its main operations from https://godaddy.com to https://godaddy.sucks that it also owns and reverse the forwarding.
 
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does GoDaddy really have the best interests of SMBs at heart, or are they prioritizing profit over practicality?
Obviously a rhetorical question. Sadly, we all know where GD's priorities lie. Unfortunately they are so big now I don't think they even remember there is a customer involved most of the time. It's just the 3 P's: profit, profit, profit...
 
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I will also give it a try with this list, for some of GoDaddy’s key markets and segments.

Sure, we can still have hefty debates about the inclusion of .biz, .shop, and .store, but these extensions are certainly more appropriate than the nonsensical .foo and .sucks extensions that GoDaddy is currently promoting to their SMB customers, for highly questionable reasons.

If GoDaddy truly cares about the best interests of SMBs and wants them to succeed, it should always offer the best domain choices at the top of the list, considering both the terms before and after the dot.

1. United States

Tech Startups​

  • .com
  • .io
  • .tech
  • .ai
  • .co

Retail & E-commerce​

  • .com
  • .shop
  • .store
  • .biz
  • .online

Nonprofits & Organizations​

  • .org
  • .com
  • .net
  • .us
  • .ngo

2. United Kingdom

Tech Startups​

  • .co.uk
  • .com
  • .io
  • .tech
  • .ai

Retail & E-commerce​

  • .co.uk
  • .com
  • .shop
  • .store
  • .biz

Nonprofits & Organizations​

  • .org.uk
  • .org
  • .co.uk
  • .com
  • .net

3. Germany

Tech Startups​

  • .de
  • .com
  • .io
  • .tech
  • .ai

Retail & E-commerce​

  • .de
  • .com
  • .shop
  • .store
  • .biz

Nonprofits & Organizations​

  • .org
  • .de
  • .com
  • .net
  • .eu

4. India

Tech Startups​

  • .in
  • .com
  • .io
  • .tech
  • .co

Retail & E-commerce​

  • .in
  • .com
  • .shop
  • .store
  • .biz

Nonprofits & Organizations​

  • .org
  • .in
  • .com
  • .net
  • .ngo

5. Australia

Tech Startups​

  • .com.au
  • .com
  • .io
  • .tech
  • .co

Retail & E-commerce​

  • .com.au
  • .com
  • .shop
  • .store
  • .biz

Nonprofits & Organizations​

  • .org.au
  • .org
  • .com.au
  • .com
  • .net

6. Canada

Tech Startups​

  • .ca
  • .com
  • .io
  • .tech
  • .ai

Retail & E-commerce​

  • .ca
  • .com
  • .shop
  • .store
  • .biz

Nonprofits & Organizations​

  • .org
  • .ca
  • .com
  • .net
  • .ngo

7. Brazil

Tech Startups​

  • .com.br
  • .com
  • .io
  • .tech
  • .co

Retail & E-commerce​

  • .com.br
  • .com
  • .shop
  • .store
  • .biz

Nonprofits & Organizations​

  • .org.br
  • .org
  • .com.br
  • .com
  • .net

8. Japan

Tech Startups​

  • .jp
  • .com
  • .io
  • .tech
  • .co

Retail & E-commerce​

  • .jp
  • .com
  • .shop
  • .store
  • .biz

Nonprofits & Organizations​

  • .org
  • .jp
  • .com
  • .net
  • .ngo

9. France

Tech Startups​

  • .fr
  • .com
  • .io
  • .tech
  • .ai

Retail & E-commerce​

  • .fr
  • .com
  • .shop
  • .store
  • .biz

Nonprofits & Organizations​

  • .org
  • .fr
  • .com
  • .net
  • .eu

10. South Africa

Tech Startups​

  • .co.za
  • .com
  • .io
  • .tech
  • .co

Retail & E-commerce​

  • .co.za
  • .com
  • .shop
  • .store
  • .biz

Nonprofits & Organizations​

  • .org.za
  • .org
  • .co.za
  • .com
  • .net
 
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The Domain Debacle

In the vibrant town of Startupville, there was a small business owner named Max who ran a cozy coffee shop called “Max’s Marvelous Mochas.” One day, Max decided it was time to take the business online. With a steaming cup of espresso in hand, Max logged onto GoDaddy, ready to find the perfect domain.

Max started with the obvious choices: “MaxsMochas.com” and “MarvelousMochas.com.” Both were taken. Undeterred, Max tried “MaxsMarvelousMochas.com” and found it available. Just as Max was about to click “Buy,” a pop-up appeared: “Other popular domains you might like: MaxsMarvelousMochas.sucks, MaxsMarvelousMochas.foo.”

Max raised an eyebrow. “MaxsMarvelousMochas.sucks? Who would want that?” Max laughed. And “.foo? What does that even mean?” Despite the odd suggestions, Max decided to investigate further.

Clicking on the “.sucks” domain, Max discovered the shocking truth: “$400 annual renewal fee.” Max’s jaw dropped. “That’s more than my monthly coffee bean budget!” Max exclaimed.

Feeling a bit skeptical, Max checked the “.foo” domain next. It was cheaper, but still seemed pointless. “Why would I want a domain that sounds like a joke?” Max muttered.

Realizing the potential financial pitfalls, Max decided to stick with the original choice. But just as Max was about to finalize the purchase, another pop-up appeared: “Secure your domain with our premium protection plan for just $50 more!”

Max sighed, feeling the frustration build. “This is getting ridiculous,” Max thought. Deciding to skip all the extras, Max finally secured “MaxsMarvelousMochas.com” and vowed to be wary of such upsells in the future.

With the domain secured, Max felt a mix of relief and annoyance. “Next step, building the website!” Max said, determined to make the online presence a success without falling for expensive gimmicks.
 
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MaxsMarvelousMochas.sucks

The only reason Max did not go with this one and did not follow on the footsteps of Godaddy, who, of course, has secured Godaddy.sucks, is that "mochas" is plural and it should have been MaxsMarvelousMochas.suck
 
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A little OT, but church.sucks has a creation date of 2024-02-22T16:51:59Z, and we are supposed to believe that a few days later it sold for $13K at Sedo.

churchsucks.png
 
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