Nearly four years ago, GoDaddy was an Internet registration company with a history of risqué advertising.

Now, as it prepares for new life on the public stock markets, the company is eager to let everyone know that it does a lot more than register website addresses — and does not rely on racy commercials with scantily clad spokeswomen, either.

That new vision of GoDaddy appeared to resonate with investors. The company raised $440 million after pricing its initial public offering at $20 a share late Tuesday, above its expected range of $17 to $19 a share, according to a person close to the transaction. At that price, the company has a market value of just more than $3 billion.

A representative for GoDaddy was not immediately available to comment.

When it begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange today, under the ticker symbol GDDY, GoDaddy will not only be in public investors’ hands for the first time but will also seek to demonstrate how much it has evolved.

Executives have described the IPO as less an occasion to raise money than an opportunity to rebrand the company. Among its changes: Though GoDaddy remains based in Scottsdale, Arizona, it has expanded its presence in more traditional technology hubs, such as Silicon Valley and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Internet site registration remains GoDaddy’s biggest source of revenue, accounting for just more than half its sales last year. According to the prospectus, the company oversees 59 million domains, or about 21 percent of those worldwide.

— From wire reports