GoDaddy vs Squarespace

2020. Squarespace adds support for memberships and paywalled content



Squarespace is adding a new monetization option for websites built on the platform: Member Areas, where businesses can charge for access to exclusive content. That could, of course, mean an online publication that wants to paywall some of its articles, but it could also mean a chef who wants to charge for access to cooking videos and recipes, or a fitness instructor hoping to make money from online classes. Squarespace also supports different membership tiers, as well as publishing member-only podcasts and newsletters. Site creators get access to CRM data on each of their members, with plans for more segmentation tools in the future.


2020. GoDaddy acquired social content startup Over



GoDaddy has acquired Over, the startup behind an app that helps businesses create the photos and videos they need for social media. Over is offering a variety of customizable templates and layouts that should make it faster and easier to create eye-catching visual content. The startup says it has more than 1 million active users of its own, who are using it to create more than 220,000 projects every day. The acquisition follows GoDaddy’s relaunch of its website-building tools last fall under the new name Websites+Marketing, with additional features around email marketing, search engine optimization and maintaining a presence beyond your website, whether that’s on Facebook or Yelp.


2018. GoDaddy site builder integrates with Google My Business



Website hosting and small business marketing firm GoDaddy has done an integration with Google that largely automates the process of setting up and verifying a Google My Business (GMB) profile. GMB registration and submission is integrated with the company’s GoCentral website builder. Business data from the website is uploaded to GMB and verification is compressed from weeks to days. The GMB integration is included with the Business Plus and Online Store hosting plans. Claiming and populating a GMB profile directly on Google is free. GoDaddy will also report on GMB-driven traffic and related actions: profile/listings views, calls, directions requests and website visits. Interesting that Google own service Google Sites isn't still integrated with GMB.


2018. Squarespace introduced Conversion Metrics



New Conversion Metrics for Squarespace allow you to gauge the performance of buttons and forms to gain insight into how and where visitors engage with your website. It allows to understand how visitors contact you, book your services, join your mailing list, RSVP to an event — and more. The metrics include Pinpoint engagement, Spot patterns and Filter by device. Surfacing conversion-optimization opportunities empowers you to make informed changes to the forms and buttons on your website and test alternative versions with confidence. So you can perfect your placement, choose words wisely and test different styling options.


2017. Squarespace released new analytics app



The new Squarespace Analytics app for iOS and Android offers access to key insights and website analytics from anywhere, at any time, making it even easier to incorporate analytics into daily workflows. The app presents rich and detailed business metrics in a clean, easy-to-use dashboard, reimagined for smaller screens. Check key metrics at a glance and drill down into more granular views to uncover actionable insights. Newly added metrics provide the full range of our desktop analytics in the convenience of a mobile app. You can view more historical data with an updated date picker, which now includes new time frames and the ability to set custom date ranges.


2017. GoDaddy launches Pro managed WordPress



GoDaddy, the world's largest cloud platform for small business, launched Pro Managed WordPress, a new service designed specifically for WordPress web professionals. Pro Managed WordPress bundles together high-performance and highly-reliable hosting, with end-to-end security, and the essential tools necessary to efficiently manage multiple clients and websites. This complete solution for WordPress professionals includes Pro Advanced Care, a new WordPress-centric 24/7 expert customer support service. GoDaddy introduced its first WordPress hosting product three years ago, and today the company is the largest WordPress host globally, serving over four million sites. GoDaddy has been working closely with its GoDaddy Pro Program community, a group consisting of over two hundred thousand web professionals.


2017. Squarespace introduced Gift Cards for Online Stores



Squarespace introduced digital gift cards for Squarespace Online Stores, providing yet another way for merchants to drive sales and acquire new customers. In addition to increasing sales, selling gift cards can offer many other benefits for your business. They encourage customers to spend more. Even though gift cards are preloaded with a set amount, customers often spend more than the card’s value. They make last-minute shopping possible, build brand awareness and lower return rates. Digital gift cards can be purchased and redeemed just like any other product, making them a seamless addition to your store. This feature is available to all users on the Commerce Advanced plan in all countries and currencies supported by Squarespace Commerce.


2017. GoDaddy launched business phone system SmartLine



Domain and hosting provider GoDaddy is moving into the voice and telephone business with a new app called SmartLine. It's aimed at addressing a basic need of small businesses — more and more of them are using their smartphones for both work and personal calls, but they don’t necessarily want to give everyone their personal phone number. So SmartLine creates a second number that connects to a customer’s iOS or Android device. Other features include the ability to fully configure SmartLine from the mobile app (without visiting a website), to set business hours (so that calls outside of those hours go directly to voicemail) and to receive voicemail transcriptions. And to win over alternatives, GoDaddy plans for more features, like vanity numbers, toll-free numbers and sharing a single phone number between multiple employees’ cell phones. A SmartLine with unlimited calling and texting costs $9.99 per month.


2017. GoDaddy kills off its AWS-style cloud services



Web hosting and domain registration business GoDaddy is making some moves to reorganize its business. It will sell its European PlusServer business to London-based private equity firm BC Partners for $456 million. Besides GoDaddy is shutting down Cloud Servers, a business it launched only last year as an AWS-style service for building, testing and scaling cloud solutions on GoDaddy’s infrastructure. Cloud Servers business was originally launched in March 2016. The idea was to tap into the recent vogue for cloud services, capturing new business from existing customers who were considering or starting to make early moves into cloud-based apps and services, before they made the leap to AWS, Google, Microsoft. So now GoDaddy will focus on competition with Wix, Jimdo and other alternatives.


2017. Squarespace adds checkout on your domain for Online Stores



Online Stores on Squarespace platform can now have secure checkout on domains. With Checkout on Your Domain, customers can shop in your store without being redirected to a third-party for checkout. The entire shopping experience will live on one domain, creating a more consistent look and a stronger sense of security. Checkout on Your Domain is available in the Advanced Commerce plan and is automatically active on sites with SSL enabled. SSL is free for all websites and can be enabled under Settings > Security & SSL. After setting your site to “Secure,” customers ready to purchase will be directed to a checkout page on your domain, like https://yourdomain.com/checkout.