How to move your website off GoDaddy
Keep the domain at GoDaddy if you want. Leave the builder. Do not let a website change take the email with it.
GoDaddy is often where the domain was bought, and the website builder came along because it was the next screen. Those are two products. You can keep the registration and still stop using the builder. You can also move the registration later. Mixing those decisions is how a simple redesign turns into a weekend without mail.
A replacement small-business site from us is $0 down and $249/mo hosting, live in less than a week. The product comparison, including why we do not quote a GoDaddy dollar amount, is in Artol vs GoDaddy. This page is only the move.
When to leave the builder
Leave the builder when you want the site written for you, when the AI draft no longer matches the business, or when you are paying for a tool you do not open. Stay if you are comfortable editing and the pages are true. Keeping the domain registered at GoDaddy is a separate, often sensible choice. The builder does not have to stay just because the name does.
If GoDaddy also sold you a done-for-you design, read that contract before you assume the pages are yours to lift. This guide is about the builder and the domain, not about a custom project agreement we have not seen.
Leave the builder, keep the name
- Separate the domain login from the website
Confirm you can manage the domain. Write down whether email for that domain is GoDaddy mail, Microsoft 365, or something else. The website is the thing you are replacing.
- Copy what the builder is currently showing
Save the text and download your photos. A builder site is not a folder you upload somewhere else and keep the same design.
- List addresses that are already public
Include the home page and any service pages on cards, ads, or the Google Business Profile. Those get redirects.
- Photograph the email records before anyone edits DNS
You do not need to understand every record. You need a record of them, and a rule: the website change must not delete mail settings. If you are unsure, stop and ask before you click.
- Build the new site in parallel
The GoDaddy site stays up until the new one is approved. Then the domain points at the new host. Pointing the name is not the same as transferring the registration away from GoDaddy.
- Add redirects on the new site
Old builder addresses should land on the closest new page. That protects visitors and helps rankings as far as a redirect can. It is not a promise that positions stay put.
- Change the website link on the Google Business Profile
Do this the day the new site is the one the domain opens. A profile that still sends people to a retired builder page undoes the move.
- Test mail, then cancel only the builder
Send an email to the domain. Submit the new form. If mail works, you can drop the website product and leave the domain and the mailbox alone.
What we take on
We build a new site. We do not rehost the GoDaddy builder project. The work is fully turnkey: we write, design, build, launch, and host it, after a deep business audit and competitive market research. You pay $0 down and $249/mo hosting. 12-month ownership terms: 12 months of hosting at $249/mo, then month to month. Leave earlier and the remaining hosting or a buyout of the build is due.
We will point a domain you already own, including one that stays registered at GoDaddy, and we will set redirects from the list you give us. Google Business Profile setup is included. We do not move your mailbox or promise a particular email product. Hosting includes SSL and daily backups. Two small content updates a month are included. We are 100% US-based, made in the USA, in Yardley, PA, and we reply within one business day.
A shop inside the builder is not this offer. Say so early. Stores and custom apps are on packages. If you are also comparing a freelancer who would keep editing GoDaddy for you, the money models are in the cost guide.
Questions we get asked
Do I have to transfer my domain away from GoDaddy?
No. You can keep the registration there and point the domain at the new site. Transferring the name is optional and separate.
Will my email break?
It can, if website DNS changes wipe mail records. The move should leave those records in place unless you are deliberately changing email.
Can you import the GoDaddy builder site as-is?
No. We rebuild the site and reuse the text and photos that are still true.
What does Artol charge for the replacement?
$0 down and $249/mo hosting, live in less than a week. 12-month ownership terms: 12 months of hosting at $249/mo, then month to month. Leave earlier and the remaining hosting or a buyout of the build is due.
