GoDaddy vs Squarespace

May 25, 2023 | Author: Sandeep Sharma
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GoDaddy
Easily create a professional website with hundreds of customizable designs, tailored to your business. We understand that you don’t always have time to work on your website during “business hours.” That’s why our award-winning support staff is here 24/7/365. If inspiration strikes at 2am on a Tuesday, one of our friendly, knowledgeable web pros will be here to help you make the most of it.
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Squarespace
Whether you need simple pages, striking galleries, a professional blog, or an online store, it's all included with your Squarespace website. Unlike alternatives in Squarespace everything is mobile-ready right from the start. Creating your website with Squarespace is a simple, intuitive process. Just add and arrange your content and features anywhere you want with the click of a mouse.
GoDaddy and Squarespace are both popular website building platforms, but they have distinct differences in terms of features, ease of use, and target users. GoDaddy is primarily a domain registration and web hosting service that also offers a website builder. It provides a wide range of hosting plans and domain management features. GoDaddy's website builder offers a simple drag-and-drop interface, pre-designed templates, and basic customization options, making it suitable for users who want a straightforward and hassle-free website creation process.

On the other hand, Squarespace is a dedicated website builder that focuses on providing visually appealing and professional-looking websites. It offers a range of elegant templates, a user-friendly interface, and robust customization options. Squarespace is popular among individuals, small businesses, and creative professionals who value aesthetics and want to create visually stunning websites.

See also: Top 10 Website building platforms
GoDaddy vs Squarespace in our news:

2023. Squarespace acquires Google Domains



Squarespace, a website building platform, has acquired Google Domains from Google for $180 million, leading to Google's exit from the domain name registration business. Squarespace will now take over as the domain name registrar for the existing 10.1 million domains registered with Google Domains. This acquisition positions Squarespace as one of the world's largest domain name registrars, trailing only GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Tucows in terms of total registered domains. Google initially launched Google Domains in 2014, but it remained in beta until March 2022. The service was primarily seen by Google as a means to enhance its business email and app product, Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite), as indicated by the sales copy on the Google Domains website.


2020. Squarespace adds support for memberships and paywalled content



Squarespace is introducing a new revenue-generating feature for websites built on its platform: Member Areas, enabling businesses to monetize exclusive content. This opens up possibilities for various scenarios, such as online publications implementing article paywalls, chefs offering paid access to cooking videos and recipes, or fitness instructors generating income from online classes. Squarespace supports different membership levels and facilitates the creation of member-only podcasts and newsletters. Moreover, site creators gain access to CRM data pertaining to each member, with plans to introduce additional segmentation tools in the future.


2020. GoDaddy acquired social content startup Over



GoDaddy has recently completed the acquisition of Over, a startup known for its app that assists businesses in creating compelling photos and videos for social media. Over offers a wide range of customizable templates and layouts, enabling users to swiftly and easily generate visually appealing content. With over 1 million active users and more than 220,000 projects created daily, Over has gained significant traction in the market. This acquisition aligns with GoDaddy's strategy of enhancing its website-building tools, which were relaunched as Websites+Marketing, and includes additional features such as email marketing, search engine optimization, and expanding online presence on platforms like Facebook and Yelp.


2018. GoDaddy site builder integrates with Google My Business



Website hosting and small business marketing firm GoDaddy has partnered with Google to streamline the process of setting up and verifying a Google My Business (GMB) profile. Through an integration with their GoCentral website builder, GoDaddy now offers automated GMB registration and submission. This integration enables swift transfer of business data from the website to GMB, significantly reducing the verification time from weeks to days. The GMB integration is available with the Business Plus and Online Store hosting plans. It's important to note that claiming and populating a GMB profile directly on Google remains free of charge. Furthermore, GoDaddy provides comprehensive reporting on GMB-driven traffic and related actions, including profile/listings views, calls, directions requests, and website visits. Notably, it is interesting that Google's own service, Google Sites, has not yet been integrated with GMB.


2018. Squarespace introduced Conversion Metrics



The introduction of new Conversion Metrics in Squarespace provides valuable insights into the performance of buttons and forms, allowing you to assess visitor engagement and interaction on your website. These metrics enable you to understand how visitors engage with your website, whether it's by contacting you, booking services, subscribing to your mailing list, or responding to an event invitation. The Conversion Metrics offer features like Pinpoint engagement, Spot patterns, and Filter by device, providing comprehensive information to identify opportunities for optimizing conversions. Armed with this data, you can confidently make informed changes to forms and buttons, test alternative versions, refine their placement, choose effective wording, and experiment with different styling options. By leveraging these metrics, you can enhance the user experience and maximize the conversion potential of your website.


2017. Squarespace released new analytics app



The newly launched Squarespace Analytics app for iOS and Android allows users to conveniently access essential insights and website analytics from any location and at any time. This app simplifies the process of incorporating analytics into daily workflows by presenting comprehensive business metrics through a user-friendly dashboard that has been specifically designed for smaller screens. Users can effortlessly check key metrics at a glance and further explore more detailed views to gain actionable insights. The app now includes a range of newly added metrics that offer the same comprehensive analytics available on desktop but with the convenience of mobile accessibility. Additionally, the app introduces an enhanced date picker feature, enabling users to access a broader range of historical data and select from new time frames or set custom date ranges.


2017. GoDaddy launches Pro managed WordPress



GoDaddy, the leading cloud platform for small businesses, has introduced Pro Managed WordPress, a specialized service tailored for WordPress web professionals. Pro Managed WordPress combines high-performance and reliable hosting with comprehensive security features and essential tools that enable efficient management of multiple clients and websites. This all-in-one solution for WordPress professionals also includes Pro Advanced Care, a dedicated 24/7 customer support service specifically designed for WordPress users. With the launch of Pro Managed WordPress, GoDaddy builds upon its three-year history of providing WordPress hosting and strengthens its position as the world's largest WordPress host, serving millions of sites. Throughout the development process, GoDaddy has collaborated closely with its GoDaddy Pro Program community, a vibrant community of over two hundred thousand web professionals.


2017. Squarespace introduced Gift Cards for Online Stores



Squarespace has recently introduced digital gift cards for Squarespace Online Stores, providing merchants with an additional means to boost sales and attract new customers. Selling gift cards offers various advantages beyond revenue generation. It encourages customers to spend more, as they often exceed the card's initial value. Furthermore, gift cards facilitate last-minute shopping, promote brand recognition, and help reduce return rates. Seamlessly integrated into your store, digital gift cards can be purchased and redeemed like any other product. This feature is accessible to all users on the Commerce Advanced plan, regardless of their location or the currency supported by Squarespace Commerce.


2017. GoDaddy launched business phone system SmartLine



Domain and hosting provider GoDaddy is expanding its services to include voice and telephone capabilities through a new app called SmartLine. This app aims to address a common requirement for small businesses—using their smartphones for both personal and work calls while preserving privacy. SmartLine enables users to create a secondary number that seamlessly connects to their iOS or Android devices. Notably, the mobile app allows users to fully configure SmartLine without the need to visit a website. Additional features include the ability to establish business hours, ensuring that calls outside of those hours are directed to voicemail, as well as the option to receive voicemail transcriptions. GoDaddy intends to differentiate itself by introducing further functionalities, including vanity numbers, toll-free numbers, and the ability to share a single phone number among multiple employees' cell phones. The unlimited calling and texting plan for SmartLine is priced at $9.99 per month.


2017. GoDaddy kills off its AWS-style cloud services



Web hosting and domain registration company GoDaddy is undergoing strategic changes to restructure its business. As part of this, it has reached an agreement to sell its European PlusServer business to BC Partners, a private equity firm based in London, for a total of $456 million. Furthermore, GoDaddy has made the decision to discontinue its Cloud Servers service, which was introduced just last year as a platform akin to AWS, facilitating the development, testing, and scalability of cloud solutions on GoDaddy's infrastructure. The Cloud Servers business was initially launched in March 2016, aiming to capitalize on the rising demand for cloud services and attract customers who were exploring or initiating the transition to cloud-based applications and services, prior to embracing larger platforms like AWS, Google, and Microsoft. With these changes, GoDaddy will now shift its focus towards competition with alternatives such as Wix, Jimdo, and others.

Author: Sandeep Sharma
Sandeep is a marketing expert with a wealth of knowledge in various domains: customer relationship management, social media management, advertising, search engine optimization, website building, Sandeep has established himself as a multifaceted professional. He honed his skills while working at Salesforce and Hubspot, where he gained invaluable insights into the industry. Now, as the proud owner of a small advertising consulting agency, Sandeep continues to provide innovative and effective strategies to businesses, helping them thrive in the competitive landscape of digital marketing. You can contact Sandeep via email sandeep@liventerprise.com