Notes from the Consultant's Jungle

Internet domain hoster and registrar, GoDaddy, has recently added business incorporation services to its palette of value added services. It’s reasonable to assume that individuals shopping for low cost domain hosting are launching small businesses. If you’ve shopped for a domain name lately, you know how difficult it is to find a domain close to what you had in mind for your business. In that regard, the idea of registering your business at the same time the domain name is locked in is a pretty cool thing.

We’re told that the incorporation services are being provided by a partner, The Company Corporation. Because business incorporation is not a recurring activity, the use of a partner makes even better sense for this service. While we are not deeply familiar with The Company Corporation, a walk through their web site reflects that they’re probably a very good fit for the type of user who will find quick, online registration of their business attractive. This is also well aligned with GoDaddy’s standing in this same context.

Hosters have been challenged in recent years by erosion of margin and high churn. Adding complimentary products and services is now critical to success in shared hosting. The trick, of course, is selection of services that make the core business more sticky and profitable. This happens through services that portend future sales and Customer loyalty.

One has to admire the mindshare commanded by GoDaddy in the shared hosting market. Their marketing has been powerful and effective. In our opinion thus far, GoDaddy’s mindshare is not so strong as a business resource. It’s possible that they elevate their standing as a business resource, but the look and feel of GoDaddy’s brand is somewhat orthogonal to what one expects as a credible business partner. Perhaps that’s just our expectation of the look-and-feel of a business resource, and different from the types of small businesses that GoDaddy is targeting. It’s a tough game they’re in, but hopefully we’ll see more business services that offer recurring sales and improved stickiness for GoDaddy as a resource for small businesses.