GoDaddy, the company that empowers everyday entrepreneurs, today officially announced it is expanding its presence in South Africa.
By formally entering the market, GoDaddy will engage more closely with small business owners and entrepreneurs in South Africa, and offer more tools and support to help them build a powerful online presence and grow their business.
GoDaddy plans to deliver locally relevant online tools and solutions and be a partner for South African customers’ entrepreneurial journey, including naming their idea and building a professional website, attracting and engaging with customers online, and managing their work and driving results.
“As small businesses fuel the South African economy, our official launch here signals our commitment to supporting this vibrant entrepreneurial landscape, which plays a critical role in helping to drive prosperity and creating jobs,” said Stefano Maruzzi, GoDaddy Vice President for EMEA Region.
“South Africa is an important market for GoDaddy with our customer base in the region growing 25% year-on-year in 2018. Our integrated suite of online tools makes it easier for small business owners and entrepreneurs to leverage the power of the internet to help their business become more visible,” added Maruzzi.
Building on a strong existing presence
GoDaddy recognizes that a significant portion of South African small businesses don’t yet have an online presence. A recent GoDaddy survey of 250 South African small business owners indicate that time, budget and online knowledge represent significant barriers for them getting online.
Of those who have created websites, GoDaddy’s online tools were chosen specifically for their competitive prices, ease-of-use and high reliability.
GoDaddy’s South African website offers products and services targeted for South African customers in the local rand currency, and includes 24/7 customer care with local telephone numbers and online chat options available.
Making it easy for South African businesses to go online
GoDaddy aims to help more entrepreneurs create a professional online presence by making its tools easy-to-use and affordable. Whether a customer is self-employed as a plumber, runs a law firm, hustles after-hours as a freelance designer, or owns a small artisanal bakery, GoDaddy enables them to get a professional website up-and-running in less than an hour. In addition, GoDaddy provides ongoing guidance to help customers along in their journey.
The GoDaddy Website Builder tool enables people, with little technical experience, to design a mobile-optimised website from the start. Website Builder is designed to be “mobile first”, allowing people to build and edit their website directly from a mobile device. Website Builder enables people to build, strengthen and grow their online presence and business.
Thanks to its intuitive design interface and integrated features like search engine visibility, social media, and e-mail marketing, aspiring entrepreneurs can easily build and manage a fully-integrated digital presence for their venture.
Offering expansive Domain inventory and SSL Certificates
GoDaddy offers an extensive top-level domain inventory worldwide, as well as second level domains such as .co.za. GoDaddy also offers an aftermarket platform where users can buy and sell domain names. Other integrated tools include security products, such as SSL Certificates for websites that help protect the transmission of customers’ data while helping to gain customer trust, and continuous website monitoring protection services.
Supporting skills development
As part of its expanded presence in South Africa, GoDaddy recently hosted a pilot workshop of its ‘Digital Me with GoDaddy’ Programme, a curriculum developed to equip small business owners and entrepreneurs with information to help kick-start their journey online. The GoDaddy South Africa Blog and social media channels now also provide additional advice, education and inspiration for entrepreneurs across the country.
International Growth
GoDaddy today offers localised products and services in more than 50 markets with customers in over 100 countries around the world. More than half of the company’s new business comes from outside the US.
