How to Migrate Your Website from GoDaddy Website Builder to WordPress (2023 Step-by-Step Guide)

Are you feeling frustrated by the limitations of your GoDaddy Website Builder site? Do you want more control over your site‘s design, functionality, and content?

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You‘re not alone. While drag-and-drop website builders like GoDaddy‘s can seem like an easy solution at first, many users quickly run into restrictions and lack of flexibility.

If you‘re ready to take your site to the next level, it‘s time to consider migrating to WordPress. This powerful content management system now powers over 40% of all websites, including major brands and organizations around the world.[^1]

	GoDaddy Website Builder	WordPress
Ease of Use	Beginner-friendly drag-and-drop builder	Slight learning curve but much more flexibility
Customization	Limited design options and features	Unlimited customization with themes and plugins
Extensibility	Restricted to built-in features	Over 55,000 free plugins for added functionality[^2]
Performance	Decent but generic templates	High performance with the right hosting and optimization
Growth Potential	Difficult to scale or add advanced features	Easily grows with your needs (e-commerce, membership sites, etc.)

Making the switch from GoDaddy Website Builder to WordPress might seem daunting, but it‘s completely doable (even if you‘re not tech-savvy). By following the steps in this guide, you‘ll be up and running with a powerful new WordPress site in no time.

Preparation and Content Migration
Signing Up for WordPress Hosting
Installing WordPress
Choosing a WordPress Theme
Essential WordPress Plugins
Redirecting Your URLs
Launching Your New WordPress Site

Step 1: Preparation and Content Migration {#step1}

Before starting the migration process, it‘s crucial to collect and back up all your content from your existing GoDaddy site. This includes:

Text copy from each page
Images and graphics
Videos and multimedia content
Meta titles and descriptions
URL of each page on your site

Pro Tip: Take screenshots of key pages on your GoDaddy site to use as a reference when recreating the design on WordPress.

The easiest way to gather your text copy is to go through each page on your GoDaddy site and copy/paste the content into a Google Doc or Word file.

For images and videos, right-click on each one and select "Save As" to download them to a folder on your computer. Make sure to name the files descriptively for easy identification.

Finally, it‘s a good idea to create a spreadsheet with all the URLs from your GoDaddy site. You can use a tool like Screaming Frog to automatically generate a list of all your pages and their URLs. This will come in handy when setting up redirects later on.

Step 2: Signing Up for WordPress Hosting {#step2}

To get your WordPress site up and running, you‘ll need to purchase a hosting plan. This is essentially renting space on a web server to store your site files and make them accessible to visitors.

While GoDaddy does offer its own managed WordPress hosting, it‘s not one of our top recommendations. According to Review Signal‘s testing, GoDaddy‘s WordPress hosting falls short on performance compared to other providers.[^3]

For most users, we recommend going with a hosting company that specializes in WordPress. Our top picks are:

Bluehost – Best for beginners, with plans starting at $2.75/month
SiteGround – Excellent performance and customer support
WP Engine – Premium managed WordPress hosting for high-traffic sites
Flywheel – Designer-friendly WordPress hosting with staging sites and collaboration tools

When choosing a hosting plan, look for the following key features:

One-click WordPress installation to get your site set up quickly and easily
Automatic updates and backups to keep your site secure and prevent data loss
24/7 customer support to help troubleshoot any issues that arise
Fast loading speeds for a better user experience (aim for under 2 seconds)

For more guidance, you can check out this in-depth comparison of WordPress hosting providers.

Once you‘ve selected your hosting plan and completed the signup process, you‘re ready to install WordPress!

Step 3: Installing WordPress {#step3}

One of the benefits of using a WordPress-specific host is that most offer "one-click" WordPress installation. This means you can get your site set up without any technical know-how.

Here‘s how the WordPress installation process typically looks:

Log in to your hosting account dashboard
Look for an option labeled "WordPress" or "Website"
Click the installation button and follow the setup wizard
Choose your domain name (use the same one as your GoDaddy site for now)
Enter a username and password for your WordPress admin area
Wait a minute or two for the installation to complete

And that‘s it! You should now have a default WordPress site accessible at yourdomain.com.

Fun Fact: WordPress was first released in 2003 and has since grown to become the world‘s most popular content management system (CMS), with over 60 million websites using it.[^4]

Before you start adding your own content, it‘s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the WordPress dashboard. This is where you‘ll manage all aspects of your site, from creating pages and posts to installing themes and plugins.

You can access your WordPress dashboard at any time by going to yourdomain.com/wp-admin and entering the username and password you chose during installation.

From there, you can start customizing your site to match the content and design of your original GoDaddy site.

Step 4: Choosing a WordPress Theme {#step4}

One of the great things about WordPress is that it keeps your site‘s content separate from the design. This means you can easily change the entire look and feel of your site just by installing a new theme — without having to manually edit each page.

WordPress has a huge library of free and paid themes to choose from. To find a theme, head to Appearance > Themes in your WordPress dashboard.

If you‘re migrating an existing site, you‘ll want to choose a theme that closely matches your original design or branding. Some things to look for:

Clean, professional layouts that match your site‘s aesthetic
Responsive design that looks great on mobile devices
Customization options for colors, fonts, backgrounds, etc.
Compatible with popular page builders like Elementor or Beaver Builder
Positive reviews and ratings from other users

A few of our favorite WordPress themes for business websites include:

Astra – Lightweight multipurpose theme with tons of customization options
GeneratePress – Flexible theme optimized for speed and usability
OceanWP – Multipurpose theme with built-in page builder integration
Divi – Popular all-in-one theme and visual page builder

Once you‘ve found a theme you like, install it by clicking the "Install" button, followed by "Activate."

You can then customize your theme‘s settings by going to Appearance > Customize. Depending on the theme, you may be able to change things like the colors, fonts, header, logo, menus, sidebars, and more.

To add your GoDaddy site content to your new WordPress site, you‘ll need to create pages and paste in the text and images you gathered in Step 1. Aim to keep the page titles and hierarchy the same for consistency.

Step 5: Essential WordPress Plugins {#step5}

Plugins are what make WordPress so extensible and powerful. Think of them like apps for your website — there are over 55,000 free plugins in the WordPress directory that can add all kinds of features and functionality to your site.[^2]

As a first step, we recommend installing a few essential plugins:

Yoast SEO – Helps optimize your site for search engines with meta titles/descriptions, XML sitemaps, and keyword analysis
WPForms – Drag-and-drop form builder for contact forms, surveys, payment forms, and more
MonsterInsights – Connects your site with Google Analytics for easy traffic tracking and reporting
UpdraftPlus – Automated backup and restore solution to safeguard your site

To install a plugin, go to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress dashboard and search for the plugin by name. Click "Install Now" followed by "Activate."

Step 6: Redirecting Your URLs {#step6}

One crucial step in the migration process is setting up 301 redirects from your old GoDaddy URLs to the equivalent pages on your new WordPress site.

This ensures that any visitors (or search engines) trying to access your old URLs will get automatically redirected to the right place. It also helps maintain your search engine rankings.

To set up redirects, we recommend using the Redirection plugin:

Install and activate the plugin in WordPress
Go to Tools > Redirection to access the plugin settings
Click "Add New" to create a new redirect
Enter the old GoDaddy URL in the "Source URL" field
Enter the new WordPress URL in the "Target URL" field
Select "Redirections" as the group
Click "Add Redirect"

Repeat this process for all the key pages on your site using the spreadsheet of URLs you created in Step 1. The pro version of the Redirection plugin also allows you to import redirects in bulk using a CSV file.

Step 7: Launching Your New WordPress Site {#step7}

After you‘ve migrated your content, chosen a theme, installed key plugins, and set up your redirects, you‘re almost ready to launch your WordPress site!

But first, it‘s a good idea to double-check a few key elements:

Proofread all your content for any typos or formatting issues
Test your contact forms to make sure they‘re working and sending notifications
Check your site on different devices and browsers to ensure a consistent experience
Install an SSL certificate for security (most WordPress hosts offer free SSLs)
Set up Google Analytics and Search Console to track your site‘s traffic and performance
Optimize your images and run a speed test to improve loading times
Create an XML sitemap and submit it to search engines

Once you‘re confident that everything is working smoothly, you can update your domain‘s DNS settings to point to your new WordPress hosting provider. Most hosts will provide detailed instructions on how to do this.

After the DNS changes propagate (usually within 24-48 hours), your WordPress site will be live at your domain! Make sure to test the redirects from your old GoDaddy URLs to confirm they‘re working correctly.

Conclusion

Migrating your site from GoDaddy Website Builder to WordPress is a smart investment in your online presence. While it does require some work upfront, the long-term benefits are well worth it:

Full control over your site‘s design and functionality
Access to a massive library of plugins and themes
Better performance and SEO compared to website builders
No more restrictions or limitations on customization
A future-proof platform that grows with your needs

For more helpful tips and tutorials, check out the WPBeginner blog or the official WordPress Codex.

With a little patience and persistence, you‘ll soon be enjoying all the benefits of a powerful WordPress site!

[^1]: WordPress market share stats from W3Techs
[^2]: WordPress plugin stats from WordPress.org
[^3]: GoDaddy WordPress hosting review from Review Signal
[^4]: History of WordPress from Wikipedia