Website transfers
How to move a website away from GoDaddy
GoDaddy sells several different website products. The right export depends on whether yours is WordPress, cPanel hosting or Websites + Marketing.
Start by finding the product name
Open My Products in GoDaddy and check what the website sits under. A WordPress site has a different moving route from a site built in Websites + Marketing. Owning a domain at GoDaddy does not tell us where or how the website was built.
If you are unsure, send Lightning the website address and the product name you can see. We can help choose the next step without asking you to guess.
For cPanel hosting, download files and databases
- For an account using GoDaddy Daily Backups, open Web Hosting, choose Manage beside the cPanel account, then Backups and View Backups.
- Choose a recent backup and the types of data you need. Include the website files and its databases, rather than just one of them.
- Choose Download and wait for the completed download to become available. If that backup feature is not in your account, ask about a manual file and database backup instead.
Official instructions: GoDaddy: download a cPanel site backup (opens in a new tab)
For Websites + Marketing, plan a rebuild
The builder’s Site History backup is for restoring within that product. It saves sections, text and settings, and leaves out items such as products, appointments, blogs and images. It is not a complete hosting handover.
We treat this route as a rebuild unless an assessment confirms otherwise. Save the wording, original images and page addresses, and record how bookings or shop features work.
Official instructions: GoDaddy: back up a Websites + Marketing site (opens in a new tab)
For WordPress, a content export is only part of the job
Tools > Export can save WordPress content. GoDaddy’s instructions confirm that themes, plugins and actual media files need a separate download. A complete WordPress move also needs the database and configuration.
Official instructions: GoDaddy: export WordPress pages, posts and media settings (opens in a new tab)
Move the website, then decide about the domain
You can leave your domain registration at GoDaddy while moving the hosting. We check DNS and email before the switch and prepare a private preview first. A domain transfer code is only needed if the registration is moving too.
These guides cover the provider’s published export options. Menus and plan access can change. We assess your particular website before confirming a transfer or rebuild.