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Stratasis vs GoDaddy

A website built for your business, or a GoDaddy builder site made in an afternoon from a template. How they differ, what each really costs to run, and which one wins you customers.

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The short answer

GoDaddy's builder vs a custom website, in two lines. Who each one is for.

Choose GoDaddy if

You need a basic page online today, and you already buy your domain and email there.

  • You need a page online today
  • A basic layout is fine
  • Your domain's already there
  • You'll handle it yourself
  • Search isn't a priority

Choose Stratasis if

You want a website that brings in work, designed for your business and looked after for you.

  • Your site should win customers
  • You want a design of your own
  • Booking, payments or a portal
  • One team you can call
  • You want to rank in your area

Stratasis vs GoDaddy at a glance

GoDaddy's builder vs a custom website, side by side. What changes for the business.

Compared

GoDaddy

Stratasis

Who builds itYou do, from a generated templateWe do, from a design for you
How the cost worksA plan, plus add-ons at checkoutA project price, then a monthly fee to run it
DesignA handful of basic layoutsDesigned around your customers
Load timeBuilder code and stock imagesOnly the code the site needs
SearchBasic guided settingsStructure and schema, page by page
Booking and paymentsBasic, on the higher plansConnected to the tools you use
Owning itIt lives on GoDaddyYour code, domain and accounts
When it breaksA support line, then youOne team you can call

What GoDaddy does, and where it falls short

Where GoDaddy's builder helps, and where it holds a business back. The plain version.

Pros

  • Online in an hourAnswer a few questions and a site is generated.
  • One accountDomain, email and site from one company.
  • Cheap to startIntroductory offers make the first year inexpensive.

Cons

  • Bare-bones designA small set of layouts that look like what they are.
  • The upsellsExtras offered at every step, from privacy to email to marketing tools.
  • Watch the renewalIntroductory offers commonly renew at a higher rate.
  • Thin on featuresBooking and selling sit on higher plans, and stay basic.
  • Limited search controlGuided settings, not the structure local search rewards.
  • Can't take it with youThe builder site stays on GoDaddy if you leave.

Our take

A placeholder, not a website that works.

GoDaddy's builder is fine for getting a name and a phone number online. It isn't built to compete: the layouts are basic, the features are thin and the extras keep coming. When your website has to bring in customers, it's the first thing that needs replacing.

Signs your GoDaddy site is holding you back

When a GoDaddy builder site stops being enough. Eight we see most.

A site made in an afternoon looks like one.

These are the gaps we find on most GoDaddy builder sites we're asked to replace.

  1. 01It looks generatedStock photos, stock words, and a layout customers have seen before.
  2. 02The bill keeps growingRenewals and add-ons that cost more than the site is worth.
  3. 03One page doing everythingNo page per service or town, so search has little to go on.
  4. 04Missing from local resultsCompetitors showing up on the map and in town searches instead.
  5. 05Booking by phone onlyNo real online booking, so the work goes to whoever answers.
  6. 06Slow on a phoneBuilder code and stock images weighing down every page.
  7. 07Everything in one tangleDomain, email and site knotted together in one account.
  8. 08Support that doesn't know youA line that knows the product, not your business.

GoDaddy's builder or a custom website, explained

What to weigh before you choose. In plain English.

What GoDaddy's builder is, and what it isn't

GoDaddy is best known for domains, and its website builder is the add-on: answer a few questions, pick a look, and it generates a site you edit in a simple editor.

It's made to get something online quickly, not to help a business compete. The result is usually a single page or a few thin ones, with stock photos and suggested words that read like everyone else's.

How the cost adds up

GoDaddy is known for low first-year offers, with renewals commonly at a higher rate. Along the way come the extras: domain privacy, professional email, marketing tools, the higher plan for booking or selling. It's easy to end up paying more for the bundle than the site is worth to the business.

A site from Stratasis is a project price, then one monthly fee for hosting, updates and the changes you ask for, with nothing added at checkout.

  • GoDaddy: a plan, plus extras and renewals
  • Stratasis: a fixed project price, then one monthly fee

Generated designs, and why customers notice

The builder offers a small set of layouts and fills them with stock images and suggested text. Customers can tell. When three businesses in a search all look generated, none of them stand out, and none of them look like the one to trust.

A design made for your business uses your work, your words and your brand, laid out around what customers need to know before they call.

Load time and search

Builder pages carry the platform's code and heavy stock images, which shows on phones. The search tools are guided and basic: titles, descriptions, a checklist.

Ranking locally takes a page for every service and town, structured data search engines read, and pages light enough to load well on mobile data. That's how a site from Stratasis is planned from the start.

Booking, payments and growing

Booking, payments and marketing tools sit on the higher plans and stay basic: fine for a demo, thin for a business that runs on appointments or quotes.

Bookings tied to your calendar, quote requests with photos, payments into your own account, a client portal: we build these into the site itself.

Owning your site, and leaving GoDaddy

You can move your domain, but the builder site stays on GoDaddy. There's no export, so leaving means a rebuild, often while untangling email from the same account.

With Stratasis the code, the domain and every account are in your name.

Moving from GoDaddy to a site of your own

We plan the new site, carry anything worth keeping across, keep your domain where it is or move it for you, keep your email working, and redirect every old page. Your GoDaddy site stays live until the switch.

  • Your email keeps working
  • Every old page redirected
  • No day without a website

Questions and answers

Still have a question?

Ask us anything. We'll answer it straight, even if the answer is that we're not the right fit.

Ask us

  • It's fine for putting your name, hours and number online. For a business that needs its website to win customers, it's basic: few layouts, thin features, little control over search and costs that commonly rise at renewal.

  • Introductory offers commonly renew at a higher rate, and extras like privacy, email and marketing tools are often added along the way.

  • No. Your domain can stay where it is and simply point to the new site, or we can move it for you. Either way, your email keeps working.

  • Yes. The builder site can't be exported, so we rebuild it properly, keep your domain and email working, and redirect every old page.

  • Not if the move is done properly. Every old address is redirected to its new page, so search engines carry your rankings across. They usually hold through the move, and often improve once the new pages settle in.

  • You can ask us for any change and it's made for you as part of looking after the site. Where you'd like to edit something yourself, like menus, prices or posts, we build a simple way to do it.

  • Most small sites take a few weeks from the first call to launch, and your GoDaddy site stays live until the day we switch, so there's never a day without a website.

Kind words

Hear it from the businesses we've built for. What it's like to work with us, in their own words.

“Our new website and ads brought in more customers than we expected. Stratasis made the whole thing easy from start to finish.”
Anna BorowskaOwner, Apex Windows
“They took our whole website from idea to launch, online booking included, and never made it feel complicated.”
Elizabeth MarkowskiOwner, Virelle
“Everything was built around how we actually work, with the compliance side looked after from the first day.”
Daniel ZhaoFounder, Pelagion
“One team for the brand, the site and the ads. It finally feels like one business online.”
Mark SullivanDirector, Harbor
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