| What is a domain name? |
A domain name is a Web address, such as godaddy.com, that is linked to an IP address (which represents a physical point on the Internet). When someone types a domain name into a Web browser, the requested Web page displays.
A domain name consists of a top-level and a second-level domain. A top-level domain (TLD) is the part of the domain name located to the right of the dot (godaddy.com). The most common top-level domains are .COM, .NET, and .ORG. Some other popular top-level domains are .BIZ, .INFO, .NAME and .WS. These TLDs have certain guidelines but are, for the most part, available to any registrant, anywhere in the world.
The part of the domain name located to the left of the dot — "godaddy," in this case — is called the second-level domain (SLD) name. The second-level domain name is the "readable" part of the address and refers to the organization or entity behind the Internet address. Second-level domain names must be registered with an Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)-accredited registrar. |
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Go Daddy is an Internet domain registrar and Web hosting company that also sells e-business related software and services. In 2010, it reached more than 45 million domain names under management.[2][3] Go Daddy is currently the largest ICANN-accredited registrar in the world, and is four times the size of its closest competitor.[4]. This is largely because of the Superbowl ads it ran in 2005.[citation needed] The television network caused their second ad to be blanked out, with a media frenzy ensuing. Go Daddy started advertising in the Super Bowl in 2005. Since then, the company expanded its marketing to include sports sponsorships.[5][6] Go Daddy filed for an IPO in 2006, but later canceled it, due to "market uncertainties".[7] In 2011, Go Daddy confirmed that KKR, Silver Lake Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures had closed a private equity deal.
Go Daddy is the giant of the web hosting service industry, many times larger than any other domain registrar. They service upwards of 45 million domain names and the number is on the rise. They definitely know what they are doing, and you can count on their service to be reliable and competent, earning our TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award. They have some of the best domain searching features available – if a domain you want to purchase is no longer available, Go Daddy can put it on back order. They also provide a massive domain auction where the shortest, spiciest domain names are up for grabs. Because they have grown so large, you can also expect Go Daddy to be somewhat more commercially minded and less personal.
Go Daddy helps beginners easily set up their site and offers additional site creation tools for advanced developers. All of Go Daddy’s solutions support several programming languages, including CGI (Python and Ruby), PHP, Perl, ASP, MySQL, ColdFusion and FrontPage extensions.
Go Daddy leaves most marketing tools out of its low-priced website hosting plans. It does offer them in a different section of the website, which took a little investigating for us to find. Users who want to market their site through email will need to expand their efforts on their own once they hit the limit of 5,000 emails per year. For an additional charge, the service also offers SEO tools and search engine submission. Every Go Daddy plan includes site statistics information and raw access logs.
Go Daddy is a worthy competitor in the website hosting industry, especially given the immense reputation it has managed to build within the last few years. The service provides all the essentials including site creation tools, server access and secure facilities that house their data servers. The setup process is straightforward, and this website hosting service has an option for all levels of management, from beginner to expert. Although we don’t love the fees for add-on features, Go Daddy hosting proves to be an efficient and versatile hosting provider.
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Wright Holdings, Inc.
