Godaddy With Shopify: Ultimate Guide To Setting Up A Website

Last updated on February 6th, 2024 at 06:27 am

In this blog post, we will give you the ultimate guide on how to set up or use Godaddy with Shopify so you can make the best decision possible for yourself!

One of the most common questions that people ask themselves when deciding to start an online business is whether or not they should set up their website with Godaddy and Shopify.

Or should I go with Wix, WordPress, Weebly?

These are all valid options – but there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration before making your decision.

What is Godaddy?

Godaddy is a web hosting company that was founded in 1997. It is one of the largest domain name registrars in the world, and it offers a wide range of services including web hosting, domain registration, website builder tools, eCommerce solutions, and more.

What is Shopify?

Shopify is an eCommerce platform that was founded in 2006.

It allows businesses to create their own online stores and sell products directly to consumers.

Shopify is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms available, and it has received a number of awards including being named the best eCommerce platform by Mashable in 2013.

Now that we have introduced you to both Godaddy and Shopify, let us discuss the pros and cons of each platform so you can decide which one is right for you!

Pros of using Godaddy:

One of the largest domain name registrars in the world, making it perfect to use Godaddy with Shopify.
Offers a wide range of services including web hosting, domain registration, website builder tools, eCommerce solutions, and more
Low-cost web hosting plans
Good customer support

Cons of using Godaddy:

Website builder tools are limited and not as user-friendly as other platforms such as Wix or WordPress
eCommerce solutions are not as comprehensive as Shopify or other platforms
Customer support can be slow to respond at times
Expensive domain registration renewals that cost $19.17 for a .com and $21.17 for other top-level domains such as .org, which is significantly more expensive than competing web hosting platforms (for example; Godaddy charges $5.99 per month to web hosting compared with Namecheap’s price of only $1.35 per month)

Pros of using Shopify:

One of the most popular eCommerce platforms available, with over half a million active users
Received a number of awards including being named the best ecommerce platform by Mashable in 2013
Comprehensive ecommerce solution that allows businesses to create their own online stores and sell products directly to consumers
Good for both small and large businesses as it can scale with your business
Very user friendly platform that is easy to set up even if you don’t have any experience designing websites or setting up ecommerce platforms

Cons of using Shopify:

Expensive monthly subscription fees depending on the plan chosen – $29/mo Basic Plan, $79/mo Standard Plan, $299/mo Advanced Plan (plus other special features such as gift cards and abandoned cart recovery) compared with GoDaddy’s low-cost web hosting plans which start at only $5.99 per month

Either way, Godaddy with Shopify can come together to create a pretty powerful force and help propel your online business.

How can I use Godaddy with Shopify?

That is simple. To use Godaddy with Shopify, you can register a domain at Godaddy and point it to your online store in Shopify.

Don’t worry because I am going to show you how.

First, you need to create an online store using Shopify.

How to create a store on Shopify

To get started, head over to https://www.shopify.com/

And then click on Start Free Trial.

See, while Shopify is a paid platform, it allows you to take a peek into their tools for free for 14 days.

To get Shopify free trial, you will have to fill in the form.

So, go ahead and provide your email address, choose a password, and give your store a name.

Notice that the store will actually have a .myshopify.com.

That is an extension which means that if your store name is coolshirts, its domain name will be something like coolshirts.myshopify.com.

Luckily, with Godaddy, we can later change that into whatever custom name we want, for now, let us continue building our store.

When you click to create your store, Shopify will go into detail about creating your perfect online shop.

The next move is to provide some information about you and your business.

By answering these questions, you are helping Shopify personalize recommendations in terms of tools and resources they think will help you get started as fast as possible.

If you don’t want to go through all these onboarding processes, you have the option to skip them.

Once that is done, you will be redirected to your Shopify dashboard.

Now start uploading products to your Shopify store.

And provide all the necessary information a potential customer will require to make a purchase decision.

If you need more guidance on how to go about setting up your Shopify store, you can consult Shopify’s Official YouTube channel for step-by-step tutorials.

From here, I will focus on showing you how to use Godaddy with Shopify.

Inside your Shopify dashboard, look for Add a domain tab (see screenshot below).

This is where you can change Shopify’s subdomain into something unique and cool like coolshirts.store or any other domain name you’d want.

And to do that, you must first own that domain before connecting it to your Shopify store.

That is where Godaddy comes in.

Before you click on that Add a domain tab, let us first register that domain on Godaddy.

How to register a domain on Godaddy

To get started with your store domain registration, head over to https://www.godaddy.com/

On seach box, type the name you’d wish to call your store.

And click on search domain.

Godaddy will go ahead and search the entire domains’ database for a match.

If it doesn’t find, you will get a message that your domain is available, and thus can now continue with the store name registration process.

On the flip side, if a match is found, it means that someone else has already registered the same name as the one you picked. As such, you can’t use it.

Just pick a different one and follow the same process.

Once you find a domain that is available for registration, the next step is to pick the right domain extension.

A Domain extension is the last part of the domain.

Do you want a .com or .store domain?

Remember that the type of domain extension will determine the price of your store name.

Here is an example;

.com domain on Godaddy goes for $0.99 for the first year with a 2 year registration with a renewal price of $19.17.

.store domain on the other hand will cost you $2.17 for the first year and a renewal of $80.17 afterward.

Sit down and decide which one best represents your brand online.

Once decided, go ahead AND add it to your cart.

Next, brace yourself for some upsells.

Godaddy is well-known for its upselling techniques. Add what you think will help your Shopify store and uncheck the rest.

Before paying for your store name order, make sure everything is in order.

And then go ahead and pay.

That is how to register a store name on Godaddy.

Now, to use Godaddy with Shopify, we need to connect that domain name you just bought to the store we created earlier.

How to connect Godaddy domain to Shopify

To connect an existing domain to your Shopify store, head over your Shopify settings section, and the domains section;

And then click on Connect existing domain

Enter the name of the domain you registered on Godaddy into the box

And then click next.

Now, to connect your domain, you need to log in to your provider account and change your settings.

This will involve you changing the domain nameservers to those of Shopify.

Once all that is done, the domain you purchased on Godaddy will be pointing to your Shopify store.

And that is how to use Godaddy with Shopify.

Why use Godaddy with Shopify?

There are a number of reasons why you should choose to use both Godaddy and Shopify together.

The main reason is that they work very well in conjunction with each other, which allows for great functionality when designing your website.

Let us discuss the benefits of using Godaddy with Shopify platforms together:

Ability to seamlessly integrate an ecommerce solution into your website design with Shopify
Godaddy’s low-cost web hosting and domain registration plans that are perfect for businesses just starting out and want to keep costs down
Excellent customer support from both platforms which can help you when setting up your website or troubleshooting any issues that may arise
Ability to use a wide variety of templates and designs with Shopify
Ability to manage your website and online store from one platform with Shopify’s user-friendly dashboard.

Wrap up

To conclude, I believe that Godaddy with Shopify is excellent platforms for setting up a website, but if I had to choose one over the other I would go with Godaddy due to its low-cost web hosting plans and comprehensive range of services.

However, Shopify is an excellent platform for businesses that want to create their own online store and sell products to customers directly.

So, if you are looking to set up a website and an eCommerce store at the same time then Godaddy with Shopify is definitely what you should go with!

Plus, it is really easy to use – unlike other platforms that can be confusing for beginners or businesses who aren’t very tech-savvy. Just follow the steps above and you will be well on your way to creating a professional-looking e-commerce store in no time!