GoDaddy GoCentral: 431 templates, one voice, and a rule book for both

GoDaddy GoCentral: 431 templates, one voice, and a rule book for both

GoDaddy GoCentral: 431 templates, one voice, and a rule book for both

Updated case study image

Industry-specific website templates for small business owners using GoDaddy’s GoCentral builder. 431 templates across every vertical. My role: lead content designer, sole writer for premium verticals, and creator of the content system.

The problem with placeholder copy

GoCentral templates looked great, but they shipped with generic placeholder copy — and customers were publishing it. The page said “Welcome to our website.” The business was a florist in Tucson.

Who’s actually on the other end

These were people who owned florist shops, law firms, yoga studios, and real estate businesses. They knew their craft. They did not know how to write a website from scratch. When the template didn’t reflect their industry, they didn’t edit it — they questioned the whole product.

A slightly more tech-savvy friend

Helpful but not condescending. Warm but not fake. Confident but not expert. The voice frame became: write it like you’re doing it right along with them.

Three things had to be true

  • Custom, vertical-specific copy with real keywords — not “Welcome to our website,” but copy that sounded like a real business in that industry.

  • The right widgets pre-added for each vertical — menus for restaurants, listings for real estate, galleries for photographers.

  • Widget names that matched how business owners think — “Add a gallery,” “Add practice areas,” and “Add services,” not abstract builder language.

431 templates. One plan.

My team designed 431 unique templates. I had two writers to help — neither had written website copy before. I wrote a rule book for premium copy, generic copy, headers, buttons, body sections, and industry-specific examples so quality could scale.

The results

In a 50/50 A/B test over two months of data, new Online Store and Real Estate templates published at a rate 8% higher than the original generic templates. Publishing is GoDaddy’s most important activation signal: a customer who publishes is a customer who stays.

“I’m a real estate agent, and I love the copy that was already there. Now I don’t have to pay a marketing person!”

The win

  • New Online Store and Real Estate templates published 8% higher than old templates.

  • 431 unique templates written across all verticals by a three-person team.

  • The style guide became the onboarding standard for future content hires.