Moving a GoDaddy Website Builder site to WordPress

Collecting a site that cannot be exported

Start from the builder's own sitemap. /sitemap.xml is an index pointing at sitemap.website.xml for pages, sitemap.blog.xml for posts and sitemap.ols.xml for the online store, so between them you get a complete URL list without crawling. Save it; it becomes column A of the redirect sheet.

Then gather the content:

• Pages: copy the text section by section into WordPress. Builder layouts are sections (hero, gallery, contact form), so rebuild them with blocks or patterns rather than trying to paste HTML.
• Blog posts: the blog publishes an RSS feed. On the sites we checked it lived at /blog/f.rss and each item's content held only an image and an excerpt, so treat it as a list of titles, dates and links rather than a full import source. Posts themselves are copy and paste.
• Images: GoDaddy serves them from img1.wsimg.com. Save the originals, or re-upload your own source files, because those URLs are not yours to rely on after the plan ends.
• Store items: products, prices and options have to be re-entered in WooCommerce or loaded through its CSV importer from a spreadsheet you build.

While you are in each page's settings, write down its SEO title and description. Nothing else will carry them over.

From /blog/f/ to WordPress

The odd-looking /f/ segment is fixed by the builder, and WordPress can reproduce it. With a custom permalink of /blog/f/%postname%/ and each post given its old slug, every post URL survives with only the trailing slash added, which WordPress handles itself. Many people prefer a cleaner /blog/%postname%/; that is fine, but then each post needs a redirect, which Hydrogen SEO's Redirection Manager handles as Exact Match 301s.

Pages are simpler. /services on the builder becomes /services/ on WordPress if you keep the slug, and the trailing-slash redirect is automatic. Only renamed pages need a rule.

Store URLs change shape completely. /ols/products/handmade-mug (or /shop/ols/products/... when the store sits on a page named shop) moves to WooCommerce's /product/handmade-mug/, and category listings move similarly. Add one redirect per product that has search traffic or links, and send the /ols/products listing itself to the new shop page.

Where the redirects go, and when to flip DNS

While the builder serves the domain, nothing you configure on WordPress is reachable, and once DNS points at WordPress, the builder no longer answers. So the redirects must be entered on WordPress before the switch, tested on a staging URL, and live the moment DNS changes. Do not rely on GoDaddy's domain forwarding for this: forwarding sends a domain to one destination and is not a per-page redirect map.

When everything tests clean, edit the domain's A record (and the www record) in GoDaddy's DNS settings to point at your new host, or change nameservers if the host manages DNS. Keep the Websites + Marketing plan until the new site is serving and checked, then cancel it. If you use GoDaddy email on the same domain, leave the MX records alone during the edit.

Rankings and the first month

Small builder sites usually move with only a brief wobble, because most of their traffic lands on a handful of pages whose URLs you can keep. Ranking losses come from rebuilt pages that lost text, headings or the local details (address, service area, phone) that earned the traffic, so match the old content before you improve it. Once the move is stable, improvements are safe to make one at a time.

• Test every sitemap URL for a 200 or a single 301.
• Submit the WordPress sitemap in Search Console.
• Replace any wsimg.com image links in pasted content.
• Re-enter titles and descriptions, then check the site audit for any still missing.
• If you have a Google Business Profile, update the website link only if the homepage URL changed.