GoDaddy was born to give people an easy, affordable way to get their ideas online. Today, with more than 13 million customers around the world, the goal is much the same, i.e., to help people easily start, confidently grow and successfully run their own ventures.

SMEpost.com caught up with Rajiv Sodhi, who as the Vice President and Managing Director of GoDaddy India & Australia has his focus on driving adoption of internet and cloud based technologies amongst the small and medium businesses. Here are the edited excerpts.

 Q: India’s Internet user base is expected to reach a staggering 500 million soon. A lot of this growth is coming from Mobile devices. In this changing landscape, what are the key trends that you see emerging in the near future?

A: Today, India is on the cusp of dramatic Internet growth, largely due to easy and affordable availability of smartphones and increase in 3G and 4G connectivity. While many large scale businesses and startups understand the importance of the Internet, it is the SMEs which are playing catch-up at a fast pace. Considering the considerable growth in the Internet penetration, small business owners and entrepreneurs are increasingly understanding the power and reach of Internet and taking their businesses online, especially as their target audiences are strongly embracing the Internet.

Another trend that is impacting the industry is the use of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) such as .photography, .guru and .shiksha which are giving small businesses and enterprises the ability to create a relevant domain name that better defines their websites, brand, business, group or organization.

For those who aren’t ready to build a website, the trend of using personal domains to direct their target audiences to their social media profile is also catching on in India, helping to build and control their brand and identities online.

Q: India is a large market, but it is also quite a unique market. Being a global player, do you see or face any specific challenges in India vis-à-vis other markets?

A: India is a large market and with over 51 million SMEs, presents opportunities aplenty. It is a strategic market for GoDaddy and has been the cornerstone of our international expansion. When we decided to take GoDaddy beyond the U.S. boundaries, India was the first country we chose because of the unprecedented and persistent Internet growth rate.

Despite the increase in Internet penetration, the domain name penetration in India remains low, which means that many small businesses and enterprises still have not chosen and registered a domain name for their venture. The number one challenge behind this is the lack of ‘awareness’. According to a recent survey conducted by Redshift and GoDaddy, 19 percent of small businesses believe the process is beyond their technical expertise.

Secondly, India is a ‘Do-it-for-me (DIFM)’ country, wherein the customers seek help of the professionals unlike western countries, which are more in the Do-it-Yourself (DIY) mode.

Thirdly, a majority of small businesses in India still may not fully understand the benefits of having a website on the Internet and taking control of their brand online. Hence, with our market strategies and robust partner and reseller network across India, we are working to educate small business owners about the benefits of having an online presence.

Q: Close to 45 per cent of the total manufacturing output and 40 per cent of the country’s exports is contributed by India’s SME sector. Given NDA government’s focus on the SME Sector, how do you see the SME sector furthering the growth & development of Indian economy?

A: SMEs play central role in the growth of Indian economy. Highlighted as one of the crucial sectors in terms of employment generation, SMEs are witnessing remarkable progress in the light of positive political and economic support.

With the Government’s renewed focus on the sector, marquee initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’, the untapped potential of SMEs is increasingly being organized, encouraged and supported.  The Government is helping to create a more enabling ecosystem to support businesses that are gearing to deliver the right product, the right quality, the right solution and the right service at a competitive price.

The Indian ecommerce industry, which is expected to cross the $100-billion mark over the next five years as compared to the present $17 billion valuation, has also prompted SMEs to add scale to their businesses and establish their unique identities in the market. Today, more than 80 percent of Indian shoppers choose to go online choose from thousands of options available.

Q: What are the services offered by GoDaddy for SMEs?

A: The core services offered by GoDaddy include:

Domains – Domain names are ‘real estate of the 21st Century’ and the first step to building an online presence. GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar, give customers more options for individuals or businesses looking to attract more customers online. Other domain services include GoDaddy Auctions, a marketplace for domain name buyers & sellers & Afternic, the world’s premier domain marketplace.

Web Hosting – GoDaddy hosts more than 10 million websites worldwide and is hyper-focused on delivering fast, reliable and easy to use Web hosting. GoDaddy offers Shared, Dedicated and Virtual Private Servers in addition to a very popular, managed WordPress service, which lets customers focus on content creation, while GoDaddy handles the technical Web hosting details.

Digital Presence & Commerce – GoDaddy’s presence & commerce product offerings help customers to get their businesses online, found and up and running quickly & seamlessly. Online Store provides everything a small business owner needs to open and run an ecommerce store.

Productivity – GoDaddy’s suite of productivity tools makes business easier for customers—helping them run a smooth ship to build and grow their venture. GoDaddy’s strategic partnership with Microsoft to offer Office 365 as GoDaddy’s core email and productivity service provides customers seamless access to email connected to domain names, cloud storage and productivity solutions.

Q: What kind of initiatives has GoDaddy embarked on so far to enable SMEs to conduct their businesses online?

A: The first thing GoDaddy is doing to help SMEs in India overcome the previously mentioned challenges by driving awareness about the ease, affordability and benefits of creating a digital presence online for a small business owner.

Our latest 360-degree campaign with the tag line “Go You. GoDaddy” in English and “Badhe chalo. GoDaddy” is to encourage SMBs to stay on course, assuring that GoDaddy is there to support their journey with its easy to use and affordable solutions.

Today, at a very low cost, one can get a domain name, create and host a website, and use professional email as part of GoDaddy’s Get Online Today package. Similarly, for an affordable price, SMBs can set-up a fully functional ecommerce website using GoDaddy’s Online Store.

The GoDaddy Pro Program is a one-stop shop, offering client management tools, advanced support, and other features to help web developers and designers more easily manage their client’s accounts.

To sum it all up, we are continually working to raise awareness among small businesses, letting them know that it is easy and affordable to choose a domain name and create a website for their small business with GoDaddy online tools and step-by-step solutions.

Q: We understand that GoDaddy India Care Center in Hyderabad is dedicated to serving the Indian customers. Please confirm?

A: Yes, the GoDaddy India Customer Care Center in Hyderabad exclusively services our Indian customers. We established our customer care center in 2012 solely for the Indian market with local support representatives, who speak local Indian languages. Today, over 400 agents provide GoDaddy’s award-winning 24/7 support to small businesses assisting them along the way as they create their presence on the Internet.

Q: What is the size of your business in India in terms of the number of domain name registrations and how does it compare with other growing markets?

A: GoDaddy is experiencing a growing position in India. GoDaddy is currently the number one registrar for .IN domain names with over 33 percent of the total market share according to National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI). The spurt in website traffic and call volume handled by our care center is an indication of the robust growth we are experiencing in the market. Our India website is ranked #53 on Alexa.

We get over 3,000 calls per day at the India customer care center. This is a testimony to the fact that there is an increased level of interest among Indian consumers to create a digital presence for their businesses using GoDaddy and its related services.

Q: What are the future plans of GoDaddy in enabling and empowering Indian SME sector to leverage the power of digitization?

A: We believe that SMEs are positioned to lead the charge for Internet growth in India, and GoDaddy is focused on providing a comprehensive range of affordable integrated online tools and solutions to help SMEs establish their online presence and run their businesses more effectively and efficiently. Going forward, we will continue to cater to the unique needs of the India SME market, addressing the challenges and helping increasingly more businesses build an effective online presence.

Q: Is GoDaddy planning to conduct any SME education initiative?

A: At GoDaddy, our first and foremost objective has been and continues to be helping to educate small businesses owners and entrepreneurs about the power of Internet and how easily they can bring their business online. To help increase adoption and educate SMEs, GoDaddy has undertaken several initiatives.

The GoDaddy Garage platform features articles by GoDaddy team members, industry experts, GoDaddy customers and partners sharing their experiences and expertise on various subjects designed to be of help to small business owners as they build their business online. The team also hosts regular hangout sessions for SMEs on topics ranging from the process of setting up a website to highlighting various GoDaddy solutions.

Through our innovative marketing campaigns, we’re targeting India’s millions of small business owners and entrepreneurs by running campaigns in local languages because we know that people who are coming online are not only from metros and are not only English speaking people.

Our case studies spread awareness, inspire small businesses and give them ideas for ways to grow their small business on the Internet.

An important initiative that sets us apart is our 24/7 award winning customer care service with over 400 agents in India, interacting in local languages with Indian customers.