Migrating from GoDaddy Website Builder to WooCommerce

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

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

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

Fortunately, WooCommerce makes upgrading easy. You possibly can even maintain your web site hosted with GoDaddy in the event you’d like! 

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

There are a number of causes you may want to maneuver your web site. Just a few indicators embrace:

• Your site visitors, product catalog, or month-to-month order quantity begin to decelerate your web site. When this happens, you’ll need to migrate to a platform like WooCommerce, which positions you for progress.
• You run into performance limitations along with your software program. You may 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 need to supply extra fee strategies or delivery choices. With WooCommerce, there’s always a way.
• You need extra design flexibility. Maybe you need 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 need to attain a global 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 simply accept a variety of currencies, content material translations, and extra.
• You need to improve your advertising and marketing efforts. Your advertising and marketing efforts will change over time. Maybe you want an ecommerce platform that higher integrates with the instruments you need 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’ve gotten, the extra you worth possession. The very last thing you need is to have your website taken down unexpectedly since you violated phrases and situations you won’t have identified about. And web site house owners utilizing platforms like GoDaddy Web site Builder typically discover themselves locked in. They want extra performance or options, however run into partitions time and again, unable to increase their retailer the way in which they’d like.  

In the long run, there are many totally different causes emigrate. And the time is true when your present platform isn’t assembly expectations or doesn’t supply what that you must develop.

WooCommerce is an ecommerce software constructed particularly for WordPress. Briefly, WordPress is the software program that may 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 out there to view or modify nonetheless you want. This not solely offers a ton of transparency, it additionally means that you’ve full management and might create any kind 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 it’s important to do is drag and drop parts — like photographs, paragraphs, movies, and galleries — into place, then modify settings to customise each.

However it’s extra than simply a regular web page builder. You need to use blocks to edit all the things 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 means of sophisticated settings, rent a developer, and even edit a single line of code, you may customise the looks of your whole website. Edit checkout fields. Set a name to motion to robotically seem in the course of every weblog put up. Add an e mail seize into your footer. It’s all attainable with WordPress.

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

While you add the free WooCommerce plugin, you get all the things that you must run an internet retailer — checkout and cart pages, product listings, tax calculations, delivery capabilities, and extra. 

On high of that, you achieve entry to tons of free and premium extensions that you need to use to boost your retailer. With these instruments, you may:

• 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 particular person funds, and fee plans.
• Create customized delivery guidelines based mostly on all the things from weight and dimension to cart complete and site.
• Combine with third-party instruments, together with e mail advertising and marketing suppliers, CRMs, social media platforms, social promoting platforms, ERPs, stock administration instruments, accounting software program, and delivery instruments.

That’s a really condensed checklist. There’s an enormous number of extensions you may select from. And in the event you don’t see one thing that meets your actual wants, you reap the benefits of the open supply nature of WooCommerce and rent a developer to create one thing customized for you.

The brief reply: Each enterprise!

The lengthy reply: It will depend on what the shop wants. If it’ll profit from issues like full-scale customization, limitless flexibility, full management over prices, and an enthusiastic, worldwide neighborhood of useful builders, then a change to WooCommerce can be a terrific 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 time and again is flexibility.

Not like with GoDaddy Web site Builder, you gained’t be held again as you develop. Retailer house owners who switch to WooCommerce typically achieve this as a result of they need to add a selected function to their website, however can’t discover a method to take action with GoDaddy.

While you use WooCommerce, you’ll by no means run into limitations — they merely don’t exist. You possibly can customise your retailer in any method 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 corporation or information, as a result of you personal it. 

Plus, you may take your web site to any host you’d like, all whereas retaining the client expertise constant. You’re not locked in in any respect. 

And in the event 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 house owners.

While you use WooCommerce, you’ll by no means run into limitations. You’ll by no means lose entry to, or management over, your corporation or information, as a result of you personal it. You possibly can customise your retailer in any method 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 client expertise constant.

All of this on high of highly effective performance, a platform constructed to scale, top-notch safety integrations, and an unbelievable, widespread neighborhood able to assist you alongside your journey. Plus, in comparison with GoDaddy, WordPress and WooCommerce offer you all of the necessities you want for free of charge!

There are three main methods emigrate:

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

Irrespective of which possibility you select, you’ll solely be capable of migrate over fundamental order info. You’ll must rebuild your web site design and performance utilizing WordPress and WooCommerce. So, maintain this in thoughts when selecting the route you’d wish to take.

1. Do it your self

Select a bunch

The best possibility 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 various hosts, however here are a few recommended options.  

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

Obtain your website information

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

You’ll additionally need to save any extra info, like weblog posts, photographs, and web page content material. You are able to do this by copying textual content and downloading photographs to your pc.

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 short lived URL (which your host can present) and preserve your unique web site through the growth course of. 

Then, you may comply with 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 be sure you add any content material that you just need to maintain out of your outdated website to your new retailer (utilizing the identical URL construction). That is notably necessary 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 revel 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 may all the time rent a developer to handle issues for you. Since WooCommerce is an open source ecommerce platform, there are a wealth of skilled builders and businesses you may select from. And so they can deal with saving your retailer information and constructing your new website multi function fell swoop. 

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

And in the event you select to go together with WordPress.com, you may reap the benefits of their site development capabilities, which begin at $499 for a WooCommerce website.

3. Rent a Woo Accomplice Company (beneficial)

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

Have particular necessities? Filter by means of the checklist based mostly on time zone, language, trade, providers provided, charges, and finances. You possibly can examine every company, look by means of their work, evaluation testimonials, and navigate to their web site for much more info. 

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

Whether or not you’re able to migrate to WooCommerce from GoDaddy Web site Builder or simply need to study extra, don’t wait. Reach out to our support team to learn more about migration and the way we can assist you obtain your corporation objectives. 

Niall has targeted on WordPress due its open nature and customizability for over 16 years and WooCommerce for nearly 5 years. He is a Woo Buyer Development 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.