Quick Disclaimer! There’s a lot to like about GoDaddy, but there are also more than a couple of cons, including hidden costs, an unwieldy user experience, and past privacy concerns. If you’re looking for a responsive builder with tons of creative freedom, elegant designs, and advanced SEO features, try Squarespace instead.
Unlike GoDaddy, it offers simple website building, clear pricing, and excellent customer support. Also, Squarespace has a 14-day free trial so you can try all of its features before you decide if it’s good for you.
So, you’ve decided that Wix isn’t quite right for you, and the GoDaddy Website Builder’s simpler user experience is what you need. Or maybe you bought a domain name with GoDaddy, and now you’d like to keep your domain and hosting services in one place. (I’ve done that one myself. Feels more organized.)
Well, there’s no export tool that will just move your site from Wix to GoDaddy for you.
You’re going to have to do this the not-that-hard way and copy your content over manually. It’s actually pretty simple – in theory, you can get it done in minutes.
I actually moved my own site over to GoDaddy for this article so you can see exactly how I did it. Here’s my step-by-step guide to help you transfer from Wix to GoDaddy.
What You’ll Need
Well, first you’ll need a site that you’ve already built in Wix. Since you’re here, I’ll assume you’ve got one of those lying around, as I do. Mine is a one-page demo site that I built when I was testing all of the best site builders for 2023.
Here’s what my demo page (and my cat) looks like on Wix.Another thing is that you should have all the images you used for your original website stored in a folder somewhere. Trust me, this makes the whole process a lot easier.
With those two things, a coffee, and a little time on your hands, you’re ready to get started.
Starting a GoDaddy Site
GoDaddy’s Website Builder has a free plan nowadays, so you don’t even need a credit card to get up and running. Just go to the home page and click on either of the Start for Free buttons.
You really can create a website for free with GoDaddy.Next, you’ll either have to create an account or log in to your existing account. Use your Google or Facebook account if you want to keep things simple, or use the old email/username combo if you want to keep your corporate-owned data as separate as you can.
You know, make the advertisers work harder for your information.
I signed in with my Google account. It’s just easier.
Next, you’ll need to choose what type of website you want to make. Just select one of the top categories, or type in the exact category you want in the search bar.
Typing in a category shows you more options from a drop-down list.Then you’ll need to name your site. For the purposes of this guide, I’ve chosen a name so unoriginal it literally has the word “copy” in it. Don’t worry, you can always go back and change this later; you’re not stuck with the first name you think of.
You can change the name of your site later…probably to something without the word “copy” in it.
And that’s it! No more setup, no more fuss. You’ll be taken straight to the site editor, where you can change your website’s layout, colors, typography, and (of course) the content.
Click around the site editor and have fun with your design, or start copying over your content.
Copying Your Wix Site Over to GoDaddy
To add content to your website, hover your mouse between the content sections until you see a plus-sign icon. That’s what you need to click to add more content blocks.
Click on the plus-sign icon to add more content in between sections.
Next, you choose the type of content block you need. The layout for the template I chose already had the main “text-on-a-picture” block I wanted, so I just added some text-and-image columns and a newsletter form below that, plus some more text at the bottom for my disclaimer.
You can use the search bar at the top to find different types of content blocks.
From there, adding in the content from your old website is simple. If you see a spot with text in it, you can just copy and paste your text directly in there. You can also paste in content and change some content-block settings in the sidebar on the right.
When you click on a block or section of content, you’ll see a green menu bar on top. You can click on the different menu options to move blocks of content around, or delete them if you want to.
Use the green menu bar to move content blocks around or delete them.
Now for the images. You can’t just copy and paste them from your Wix site like you can with text, so I hope you set up that folder full of images I mentioned earlier.
To replace the template’s stock images with your own images, start by clicking on the image you want to change. In the sidebar on the right, click the link that says Change image.
It should be a button, but it’s a link for some reason.
You’ll be taken to a screen that gives you the option to choose from some already-uploaded images or upload an image from your old website by dragging it onto the light-green area of the screen. Upload and select the right image, click Insert, and you’re good to go.
Drag and drop your image into the box, then click on the Insert button.
Wrapping Up
Note: if you need to transfer a domain from Wix to GoDaddy, that’s entirely possible. Just go to your Wix domain manager, unlock the domain, and copy the authorization code you’re given. Then go to GoDaddy and follow their steps for transferring a domain into GoDaddy’s system.
The whole process is (mostly) self-explanatory, and pretty standard. Then you’ll need to wait a little bit – usually no more than a few days – to see your domain active in your GoDaddy account.
Overall, the process is simple and fast. If I hadn’t been taking screenshots for this tutorial, I would’ve been done in about 10-15 minutes.
Speaking of finishing up, here’s the final product of my website transfer from Wix to GoDaddy:
The new GoDaddy website: a little monochromatic, but it looks good.
FAQ
Can I move my website from GoDaddy to Wix?
Yep! The process is quite similar to the one I outlined in this guide.Mostly, you’ll just copy and paste your text from one site builder to the other, then upload your images into the Wix page editor.
You can also transfer your domain from GoDaddy to Wix if you want to. Just keep in mind that GoDaddy is all about domain names, so it has lots of advanced domain name-related features. If you want to link your GoDaddy domain to your Wix site but keep it on GoDaddy, that’s entirely possible. And sometimes preferable.
Is Wix better than GoDaddy?
In my personal opinion, yes.Wix has far more features, and the features that it shares with GoDaddy, well… Wix does them better in most cases, I think. Plus, Wix has far more flexibility in terms of customizing your site’s design and layout.
On the other hand, the GoDaddy Website Builder is a lot simpler to use, so it’s faster to learn. That ease of use, paired with GoDaddy’s long experience in the domain name industry, is certainly something to consider.
Is Wix free?
There is a free plan which I think is perfectly usable for smaller sites. If you just need to get a quick site up for your business, local club, or awesome pet pictures, it’ll work fine.
However, if you want advanced features, more storage, and all sorts of other benefits, you’ll have to pay for a subscription. Also, you can’t connect a domain name to your Wix site without buying at least the cheapest plan. If you do decide to go with Wix, make sure you take advantage of any current coupons or discounts.
What is the cheapest website builder?
I mean…technically? WordPress.com is very cheap indeed. The cheapest I’ve found, anyway.
Between GoDaddy and Wix, though, the answer is Wix. Wix’s two cheapest plans cost less than GoDaddy’s cheapest site builder plan. The Combo plan also includes a free domain name for the first year. Plus, Wix has a free plan.
Ezequiel Bruni is biologically Canadian, legally Mexican, and self identifies as a total nerd. He’s been a web and experience designer off and on since he was a teenager, and loves sharing the kind of beginner’s advice he really wishes he’d had when he first started. He also loves video games, tacos, open source software, video games, sci-fi and fantasy in all their forms, and video games. He does not love writing in the third person.
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