Websites + Marketing Help

Allow website visitors to set cookie and tracking preferences

Cookies, or small data files, are just one way to track visitors' movements across a site. Tracking may also be used to follow your visitors on your site if you use the Facebook pixel or a Google Analytics tracking ID.

Some U.S. states and countries around the world have privacy laws requiring you to obtain explicit consent or give your visitors the option to opt out of being tracked. These laws may also require you to notify your visitors about your use of data tracking. Your policies can be described in the Privacy Policy section of your site.

Read more information below the video and how-to steps about how cookies and tracking work

  1. Go to your GoDaddy product page.
  2. Scroll to Websites + Marketing and select Manage next to the website you want to change.
  3. Select Edit Website to open your website editor.
  4. Select Settings then Cookie Banner.

    Note: The cookie banner is turned on by default for new websites. If your cookie banner is off, you must turn it on when adding any third-party tracking integrations such as Google Analytics, Facebook pixel, etc.

  5. Ensure the Show cookie notification toggle is turned on. The cookie policy window appears when your website loads and will persist until the visitor accepts or declines.
    1. If visitors select Accept, behavioral data such as clicks and individual page visits, or any information tracked by third parties (such as Facebook, Google, Pinterest, etc.) can be tracked.
    2. If visitors select Decline, click outside the box, or otherwise close the box, then data won’t be tracked. Tracking tools will only be loaded if visitors accept.
  6. The Title, Message, and Button Label fields are already filled in, but you can customize any of them. The Message field works well for a short cookie notice. If you have a longer, detailed privacy policy, you'll want to add a privacy policy.
  7. Advanced Tracking is a tool that collects aggregated, anonymized data and is separate from any individual behavior tracked above. This must be set to ON to provide you with the insights and metrics available on your Dashboard. GoDaddy also uses this data to improve your site’s performance, such as page loading speed, and must be turned on for the third-party tracking to work. As the website owner, you determine if this tracking should be enabled.
  8. Your changes are saved automatically. Use Preview to see the results and when you’re ready to make the changes public, publish your site.

Next step

More info

  • Consult your own legal counsel to determine if a tracking and alert section is necessary for your business or website, and what it should say.
  • In California, the European Union and other jurisdictions (depending on applicable law), websites are required to provide visitors with the option of having their data tracked or not. Adding a cookie banner gives your visitors control over their own privacy and protects you from potentially being fined if you aren’t following the law.
  • What does GDPR mean for my business?
  • Visit GoDaddy's Trust Center to see how we use your data and your choices about the data we collect.