The optical properties of gold nanoshell formed through random growth process were numerically investigated by employing finite-difference time-domain method. The growth process can be divided approximately into four stages according to the optical spectra and 3D morphology. The incomplete nanoshell with surface coverage ratio (R) around 70% was found to form surface 'hot spots' with high field enhancement, which are useful for surface enhanced Raman scattering. Additionally, high Purcell factor and quantum efficiency at the core center for the nanoshells with R similar to 90% are suitable for encapsulated fluorescent probe that can exploit the high surface plasmonic enhancement effect. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.