GoDaddy website builder: when it's time to move on
GoDaddy's website builder is a quick way to get a simple site online, and many owners started there because they bought their domain from GoDaddy. It is time to move on when the site looks like everyone else's, you cannot make it do what you need, or you are paying for upgrades that feel like patches. The good news: you can replace the website and still keep your domain and email exactly where they are at GoDaddy.
What the GoDaddy builder is good at
It is fair to start with what works. GoDaddy's builder (sold as Websites + Marketing) is:
- Fast to set up. A few answers and a template, and something is online the same day.
- Tied in with your domain. If the domain is at GoDaddy, connecting it is nearly automatic.
- Simple to edit. Sections stack top to bottom, and editing text is straightforward.
For a business that needs one page with a phone number and hours, it can be enough.
Signs it is time to move on
It looks like a template
The builder works by stacking pre-made sections. You can change colors, fonts and photos, but the layouts are limited, so many GoDaddy sites look alike. If customers cannot tell your site from a competitor's at a glance, the site is not doing its job.
You keep hitting walls
Common frustrations owners describe:
- You cannot place two things side by side the way you want.
- A page for each service ends up looking like a copy of every other page.
- You want a proper photo gallery with captions, a menu with sections, or a price list, and the available sections do not quite fit.
- Custom code is limited to an embed box, and a designer you ask may decline to work inside it.
The bill keeps growing
The builder has several plan levels, and features like appointments, marketing email or selling online sit on the higher ones. Add business email, domain privacy and the domain renewal, and the yearly total can surprise you. Look at your last few GoDaddy invoices line by line. Hidden website costs owners miss shows the usual suspects.
It works poorly on phones
Open your site on your phone. Is the phone number at the top and tappable? Is the text readable without zooming? Does the menu open and close properly? Builders handle phones automatically, which also means you have little control when something does not fit.
You cannot take it with you
The GoDaddy builder does not export your site to another platform. Whatever you choose next will be a rebuild. That is not a reason to stay; it is a reason to keep a copy of your text and photos before you go.
Your alternatives
- Another builder such as Wix or Squarespace, if you want to keep doing it yourself with more design freedom. Wix vs Squarespace vs a done-for-you site compares them.
- WordPress, set up by a designer, if you need many features and have someone to maintain it.
- A designer or freelancer, if you want a site made specifically for your business.
- A done-for-you rebuild from your current site, if your text and photos are fine and you mainly want it to look and work better.
How to move without losing your domain or email
The domain, the website and the email are three separate products at GoDaddy, even if they show up in one dashboard. You can replace one and keep the other two.
1. Save what you have
Before anything else, open every page of your current site and save the text and photos. Note each page's address (for example /services or /contact-us). What to save before you replace your old website has a full checklist.
2. Build the new site somewhere else
Get it finished and checked on a temporary address before touching your domain.
3. Point the domain at the new site
In GoDaddy, go to your domain's DNS settings and change the records the new site provider gives you, usually one A record and one www record. Leave every email record alone. If GoDaddy shows the domain as connected to the builder, you may need to disconnect it there first. Our step-by-step notes for this are at connecting a GoDaddy domain, and pointing a GoDaddy domain at a new website explains the reasoning behind each step.
4. Keep old page addresses working
Your old GoDaddy pages had addresses that Google and customers know. The new site should either use the same addresses or forward each old one to its new match.
5. Check email
If you have Microsoft 365 email through GoDaddy, it keeps working as long as its records stay in place. Send and receive a test message after the switch.
6. Cancel only the builder plan
Once the new site has been live for a week or two and everything works, cancel the Websites + Marketing subscription. Do not cancel the domain or the email. Read the cancellation screen carefully, since bundles sometimes list them together.
Should you move the domain too?
You do not have to. Pointing the domain at a new site works perfectly well while it stays registered at GoDaddy. Moving it to another registrar is a separate decision, usually about renewal price or wanting fewer upsells. If you do want to, moving a domain away from GoDaddy covers it. Many owners move the website first and decide about the domain later.
This week
- Look at your site on your phone and list three things that bother you.
- Pull up your GoDaddy billing and list every product and its yearly price.
- Save the text, photos and page addresses of your current site.
- Confirm you can log in to GoDaddy and see the domain's DNS page.
If the words and photos on your GoDaddy site are fine and the problem is how it looks and works, you can see your site rebuilt first and keep your domain and email where they are.