Although I have honestly never seen a GoDaddy commercial (though from what I hear, I would not like them), they are my top pick for domain name registration. That doesn’t mean I necessarily love their service, it’s just good enough and what I know. I do want to throw out some caveats, though, for people who may be considering using GoDaddy to register a domain (or other services). Since I’m an optimist, I’ll tell you what I like about them first:

The Good

• Fast Propagation - This means that your site becomes visible relatively quickly (I’ve seen some go “live” within an hour). Some services, like Yahoo! domain registration, can take much, much longer.
• Easy To Use Interface (up to checkout) - GoDaddy’s URL availability search is very easy to use and makes good recommendations for alternate domains you may be interested in if your first pick isn’t available.
• Competitive Pricing - You may find people that will register your domain for cheaper, but not by much.

The Bad

• Ugly, Ugly, Ugly Checkout Process - Not only is it hard to follow, the checkout process is riddled with up sells (not only are these irritating (I hate up sells), but they make the process very difficult) they try to snag you with. Additionally, adding a single feature, like private registration, is a difficult process as they try to sell you on big packages before giving you the option to just add private registration.
• Ugly, Ugly, Ugly new GoDaddy Girl - If your whole marketing strategy is degrading women, you might as well get a more attractive one to act as your face.

So, I don’t wholeheartedly support GoDaddy, but they’re definitely worth considering when registering your first domain. Oh, and if your doing it as a blogger, you should consider hosting it with IncuBlogger (you get free hosting on a VPS (it’s quick) and training on how to make a monetizing blog).

Although I have honestly never seen a GoDaddy commercial (though from what I hear, I would not like them), they are my top pick for domain name registration. That doesn’t mean I necessarily love their service, it’s just good enough and what I know. I do want to throw out some caveats, though, for people who may be considering using GoDaddy to register a domain (or other services). Since I’m an optimist, I’ll tell you what I like about them first:

The Good

• Fast Propagation - This means that your site becomes visible relatively quickly (I’ve seen some go “live” within an hour). Some services, like Yahoo! domain registration, can take much, much longer.
• Easy To Use Interface (up to checkout) - GoDaddy’s URL availability search is very easy to use and makes good recommendations for alternate domains you may be interested in if your first pick isn’t available.
• Competitive Pricing - You may find people that will register your domain for cheaper, but not by much.

The Bad

• Ugly, Ugly, Ugly Checkout Process - Not only is it hard to follow, the checkout process is riddled with up sells (not only are these irritating (I hate up sells), but they make the process very difficult) they try to snag you with. Additionally, adding a single feature, like private registration, is a difficult process as they try to sell you on big packages before giving you the option to just add private registration.
• Ugly, Ugly, Ugly new GoDaddy Girl - If your whole marketing strategy is degrading women, you might as well get a more attractive one to act as your face.

So, I don’t wholeheartedly support GoDaddy, but they’re definitely worth considering when registering your first domain. Oh, and if your doing it as a blogger, you should consider hosting it with IncuBlogger (you get free hosting on a VPS (it’s quick) and training on how to make a monetizing blog).