Migrating from GoDaddy Website Builder to WooCommerce

Constructing an internet retailer with GoDaddy Web site Builder is a superb start line for a brand new enterprise. 

However typically, good issues should come to an finish — particularly when your enterprise is pushing on the seams of your software program’s capabilities.

Realizing when it’s time for an improve might be tough, nevertheless it’s higher to behave sooner fairly than later. When an ecommerce enterprise does outgrow its means, the shopper expertise suffers — together with gross sales. 

Fortunately, WooCommerce makes upgrading easy. You possibly can even hold your web site hosted with GoDaddy when you’d like! 

Let’s break down find out how to know when migration is critical, discover the variations between GoDaddy Web site Builder and WooCommerce, and present you find out how to migrate.

There are a selection of causes you would possibly want to maneuver your web site. A couple of indicators embody:

• Your site visitors, product catalog, or month-to-month order quantity begin to decelerate your web site. When this happens, you’ll wish to migrate to a platform like WooCommerce, which positions you for progress.
• You run into performance limitations along with your software program. You would possibly assume, “I’d actually like so as to add this software to my website,” however discover out that the platform you’re utilizing doesn’t enable for that. Or maybe you wish to provide extra fee strategies or delivery choices. With WooCommerce, there’s always a way.
• You need extra design flexibility. Maybe you wish to up the creativity and professionalism of your website or model as an entire. A platform with extra flexibility and intuitive website builder capabilities makes the choices limitless.
• You wish to attain a world viewers. As you scale, you might have considered trying a platform that higher permits for worldwide progress — assume superior delivery strategies, native fee strategies, the flexibility to just accept a variety of currencies, content material translations, and extra.
• You wish to improve your advertising efforts. Your advertising efforts will change over time. Maybe you want an ecommerce platform that higher integrates with the instruments you wish to use, like ERPs, CRMs, and different promoting channels.
• You need extra management and possession over your retailer. The extra content material, merchandise, and gross sales you might have, the extra you worth possession. The very last thing you need is to have your website taken down unexpectedly since you violated phrases and circumstances you may not have recognized about. And web site homeowners utilizing platforms like GoDaddy Web site Builder typically discover themselves locked in. They want further performance or options, however run into partitions again and again, unable to increase their retailer the way in which they’d like.  

Ultimately, there are many totally different causes emigrate. And the time is true when your present platform isn’t assembly expectations or doesn’t provide what you have to develop.

WooCommerce is an ecommerce software constructed particularly for WordPress. In brief, WordPress is the software program that can energy your new website, whereas WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that provides ecommerce performance.

WordPress is an open source website platform, which implies that it makes its supply code publicly accessible to view or modify nonetheless you want. This not solely gives a ton of transparency, it additionally means that you’ve got full management and might create any type of design or performance. 

It additionally consists of the highly effective block editor that you need to use to create customized pages and posts with out having to work with code. All you need to do is drag and drop components — like pictures, paragraphs, movies, and galleries — into place, then modify settings to customise every one.

However it’s extra than simply an ordinary web page builder. You need to use blocks to edit every little thing from headers and footers to templates, together with layouts for weblog posts, product pages, and archives. This opens up an entire world of prospects! 

With out having to muddle by way of difficult settings, rent a developer, and even edit a single line of code, you possibly can customise the looks of your total website. Edit checkout fields. Set a name to motion to mechanically seem in the midst of every weblog submit. Add an e mail seize into your footer. It’s all attainable with WordPress.

It’s no surprise WordPress powers greater than 43% of the net.

Once you add the free WooCommerce plugin, you get every little thing you have to run an internet retailer — checkout and cart pages, product listings, tax calculations, delivery capabilities, and extra. 

On prime of that, you acquire entry to tons of free and premium extensions that you need to use to reinforce your retailer. With these instruments, you possibly can:

• Promote new forms of merchandise like memberships, subscriptions, bookings, wholesale gadgets, and extra.
• Improve the checkout expertise with add-ons, present playing cards, product bundles, and extra.
• Settle for an enormous number of fee sorts, from debit and bank cards to digital wallets, in individual funds, and fee plans.
• Create customized delivery guidelines based mostly on every little thing from weight and measurement to cart whole and placement.
• Combine with third-party instruments, together with e mail advertising suppliers, CRMs, social media platforms, social promoting platforms, ERPs, stock administration instruments, accounting software program, and delivery instruments.

That’s a really condensed record. There’s an enormous number of extensions you possibly can select from. And when you don’t see one thing that meets your precise wants, you benefit from the open supply nature of WooCommerce and rent a developer to create one thing customized for you.

The quick reply: Each enterprise!

The lengthy reply: It is determined by what the shop wants. If it can profit from issues like full-scale customization, limitless flexibility, full management over prices, and an enthusiastic, worldwide group of useful builders, then a change to WooCommerce will likely be an amazing transfer.

We explored a few of the advantages of WooCommerce earlier, and in contrast options within the desk above. However the phrase that retains arising again and again is flexibility.

In contrast to with GoDaddy Web site Builder, you gained’t be held again as you develop. Retailer homeowners who switch to WooCommerce typically achieve this as a result of they wish to add a particular characteristic to their website, however can’t discover a means to take action with GoDaddy.

Once you use WooCommerce, you’ll by no means run into limitations — they merely don’t exist. You possibly can customise your retailer in any means you’d like because of the WordPress website editor, extension library, and open supply code. And also you’ll by no means lose entry to, or management over, your enterprise or knowledge, as a result of you personal it. 

Plus, you possibly can take your web site to any host you’d like, all whereas retaining the shopper expertise constant. You’re not locked in in any way. 

And when you began utilizing GoDaddy Web site Builder for its ease of use, don’t fear! The WordPress block editor simplifies the web site creation course of, permitting you to edit completely each side of your design and structure with out having to work with code. It’s extra highly effective and versatile than GoDaddy’s, however remains to be extraordinarily accessible for non-technical website homeowners.

Once you use WooCommerce, you’ll by no means run into limitations. You’ll by no means lose entry to, or management over, your enterprise or knowledge, as a result of you personal it. You possibly can customise your retailer in any means you’d like because of the WordPress website editor, extension library, and open supply code.

And you’ll take your web site to any host you’d like, all whereas retaining the shopper expertise constant.

All of this on prime of highly effective performance, a platform constructed to scale, top-notch safety integrations, and an unimaginable, widespread group able to assist you alongside your journey. Plus, in comparison with GoDaddy, WordPress and WooCommerce offer you all of the necessities you want without charge!

There are three main methods emigrate:

1. Do it your self
2. Rent a developer
3. Rent a WooExpert (really helpful)

Irrespective of which choice you select, you’ll solely have the ability to migrate over primary order info. You’ll must rebuild your web site design and performance utilizing WordPress and WooCommerce. So, hold this in thoughts when selecting the route you’d prefer to take.

1. Do it your self

Select a number

The best choice right here is to make use of GoDaddy for internet hosting, however migrate your retailer to WooCommerce. You possibly can merely attain out to GoDaddy assist and request to maneuver from GoDaddy Web site Builder to their managed WooCommerce hosting plan. 

For those who’d like to alter each your internet hosting and your ecommerce platform, we’re right here to assist. WooCommerce works with many alternative hosts, however here are a few recommended options.  

For those who’d prefer to hold web site administration easy, however nonetheless get all the pliability WooCommerce has to supply, the Entrepreneur plan on WordPress.com is ideal for you.

Obtain your website knowledge

Now’s the time to obtain and save info out of your present retailer. Whereas the info you possibly can obtain is restricted, it can save you orders using this tutorial.

You’ll additionally wish to save any further info, like weblog posts, pictures, and web page content material. You are able to do this by copying textual content and downloading pictures to your laptop.

Rebuild your web site

Now you’ll must construct your web site on WordPress and WooCommerce. To get rid of downtime, it’s finest to begin constructing your ecommerce website on a brief URL (which your host can present) and preserve your unique web site in the course of the improvement course of. 

Then, you possibly can observe our five step getting started guide, which walks you thru putting in WordPress and WooCommerce, selecting a theme, including merchandise, putting in any extensions you want, and extra.

Just remember to add any content material that you just wish to hold out of your previous website to your new retailer (utilizing the identical URL construction). That is notably vital for sustaining your search engine rankings after your migration.

As soon as your website is prepared, merely level your area title to your new host (if relevant) and luxuriate in your new, extra versatile and highly effective retailer.

2. Rent a developer

For those who don’t have the expertise, need, or time to finish your website migration by yourself, you possibly can at all times rent a developer to deal with issues for you. Since WooCommerce is an open source ecommerce platform, there are a wealth of skilled builders and businesses you possibly can select from. They usually can deal with saving your retailer knowledge and constructing your new website multi functional fell swoop. 

Simply take the time to decide on a vetted developer with wonderful evaluations, a strong portfolio, and expertise in migrating from GoDaddy Web site Builder to WooCommerce. There are a selection of platforms you need to use to discover a developer, together with Upwork, Fiverr, and Codeable. 

And when you select to go along with WordPress.com, you possibly can benefit from their site development capabilities, which begin at $499 for a WooCommerce website.

3. Rent a Woo Associate Company (really helpful)

For essentially the most seamless migration, hiring a Woo Associate Company is the way in which to go. Woo Associate Businesses are thoroughly-vetted businesses focusing on WooCommerce. There’s an entire directory that you may look by way of to search out the right match for your enterprise.

Have particular necessities? Filter by way of the record based mostly on time zone, language, business, providers supplied, charges, and price range. You possibly can examine every company, look by way of their work, overview testimonials, and navigate to their web site for much more info. 

And since each WooExpert is, nicely, an knowledgeable, you possibly can belief that the migration and website construct course of will likely be top-notch and environment friendly.  

Whether or not you’re able to migrate to WooCommerce from GoDaddy Web site Builder or simply wish to be taught extra, don’t wait. Reach out to our support team to learn more about migration and the way we may help you obtain your enterprise objectives. 

Niall has centered on WordPress due its open nature and customizability for over 16 years and WooCommerce for nearly 5 years. He is a Woo Buyer Progress Happiness Engineer serving to Woo retailers and businesses get essentially the most out of WooCommerce by consulting on finest practices, website optimization, checkout move enhancements, and extra. In his free time, Niall tinkers with {hardware} and software program from Linux distros to gaming gadgets and stays an avid lifetime gamer and member of the PCMR.