Migrate from GoDaddy Website Builder
Airo Plus was retired on 30 September 2026, and sites built in Websites + Marketing do not move to Airo by themselves: they have to be rebuilt. If you are rebuilding anyway, rebuild in Astro or Next.js with Sanity or Payload. Your domain and email can stay at GoDaddy.
Yegparian PLLC (opens in a new tab)Signs it is time to leave GoDaddy Website Builder
GoDaddy makes it quick to get a business online. These are the moments owners tell us it stopped fitting.
Your site was built in Websites + Marketing
Airo Plus accounts moved to Airo AI Builder, but the websites did not. To use the new builder, the site has to be rebuilt in it.
The Airo rebuild is a new site anyway
Airo uses your old site as a guide and makes a fresh design, not an exact copy. Payments, the online store and integrations are reconnected by hand.
Search rankings are left to you
GoDaddy’s support statement for Websites + Marketing lists search ranking, custom code and third-party apps as things it does not support.
The builder decides what a page can do
Pages are stacks of ready-made sections. Anything the sections do not offer, from a custom layout to a calculator, has no clean place to go.
Your business has outgrown a template
More services, more locations, more pages to rank. A site that started as a quick setup now carries the business, and it needs a proper structure.
What happens to your GoDaddy features
Pick what your site uses today. Each feature becomes part of the site itself, moves to a service you choose, or stays where it is.
- Pages and sectionsPage-builder blocksEach section type becomes a block your team composes pages from, built once in code so every page stays on brand.
- BlogPosts in Sanity or PayloadEvery post moves with its images and dates, taken from the live site. Rich text is cleaned up and internal links rewritten.
- Contact formsA form built into the siteValidated on the server, filtered for spam and sent to your inbox, CRM or Slack.
- Online AppointmentsA booking tool you chooseCal.com, Calendly or a scheduling service of your choice, embedded in the new pages. We scope this per project.
- Online StoreCommerce, scoped separatelyProducts come out as a CSV export and move to Shopify or another commerce platform behind the same front end.
- Email marketingYour own email platformSubscribers move to Mailchimp, Resend or another tool you control, with sign-up forms built into the site.
- SEO wizard and settingsSEO fields in the CMSTitles, descriptions, social images, canonicals and structured data are edited next to the content. Sitemaps are generated with every build.
- Domain at GoDaddyStays at GoDaddyYou keep the registration and the renewal. Only the website records change, so the domain points at the new site.
- Email at GoDaddyKeeps workingMail records are left as they are, so inboxes keep working through the switch. Moving email is optional and separate.
What changes when you leave GoDaddy Website Builder
Astro and Next.js decide how pages are built. Sanity and Payload are where your team edits. We recommend a pair after the audit.
| Feature | Astro + Sanity | Next.js + Payload | GoDaddy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ownership | |||
| Code you own and can host anywhere | Airo AI Builder download only | ||
| Full export of your content | Store products as CSV | ||
| Keep your domain and email at GoDaddy | |||
| Hosting, domain and editor on one bill | Separate services | Separate services | |
| SEO and speed | |||
| URLs, canonicals and structured data you control | Set by the builder | ||
| Page titles and descriptions | |||
| Ships only the JavaScript a page needs | Per route | ||
| Editing and logic | |||
| Ready-made sections, no setup | |||
| Structured, reusable content | |||
| Live preview while editing | |||
| Custom server logic and APIs | |||
Sites we've already moved
Different stacks for different jobs: a law firm on Next.js and Payload, a residential launch and our own studio on Astro and Sanity.
Yegparian PLLC
WordPressNext.js + Payload
An Austin trial litigation firm. Practice areas, matters and insights are Payload collections, and every page is pre-rendered and served from the edge.
yegparianpllc.com (opens in a new tab)25 Cuba
WordPressAstro + Sanity
A new residential address in Canary Wharf. Apartments, amenities and galleries are edited in Sanity, and the site ships as static Astro pages.
25cuba.com (opens in a new tab)Celerart
WebflowAstro + Sanity
Our own studio site. Every one of the 164 old URLs was carried over or redirected, and all content is now edited in Sanity.
celerart.com (opens in a new tab)
How we move a GoDaddy site
Your GoDaddy site stays live until the new one is ready. The switch is a DNS change, not a weekend of downtime.
Audit
Audit
We crawl every URL, list every section, form, booking and store feature, record your domain and email settings, and export your rankings, so nothing is lost by accident.
Content model
Content model
Pages, posts, services and products become a clean schema in Sanity or Payload, shaped around how your team actually edits.
Content import
Content import
Pages and posts are taken from a crawl of the live site and store products from the CSV export. Images are re-uploaded and links rewritten.
Front end
Front end
We rebuild the design in Astro or Next.js: the same look, or a refresh if one is due. Every template is checked against the old one.
Redirects and launch
Redirects and launch
Every old URL gets a permanent redirect to its new address. On launch day only the website records at GoDaddy change; mail records stay as they are.
Handover
Handover
Your team gets a walkthrough of the new editor. Then the website plan can be cancelled, while the domain and email stay as they are.
Questions about leaving GoDaddy
Yes. The domain stays registered where it is, and you keep renewing it at GoDaddy. We only change the records that point the website to the new host. If you would rather move the domain later, that is a separate, optional step.
Yes. Email runs on its own DNS records, and we leave them untouched. Before launch we copy every record in your DNS zone, so the mail, verification and email security settings are the same after the switch.
It is a fair option, and the audit will compare both. Airo makes a new design from your old site, and the store, payments and integrations are reconnected by hand. If you are rebuilding anyway, a site in Astro or Next.js gives you full control of URLs and SEO, and code that can move host without another rebuild.
WordPress is a common next step, and for some sites it is the right one. It also brings a server, a theme and a stack of plugins to keep updated. A headless setup serves pages pre-built from a CDN, with no public admin login on your domain. If WordPress fits you better, the audit will say so.
Not if the move is planned. Every URL keeps its address or gets a permanent redirect, and titles, descriptions and social images are carried over and checked before launch. We watch Search Console for the weeks after the switch.
Yes. Editors build pages from approved blocks with live preview, and in Sanity they can click any text on the preview to edit it. Each block is designed once, so new pages stay on brand.
It depends on the number of pages, posts and features such as the store or bookings. After the audit you get a fixed scope and timeline, and the GoDaddy site stays live until launch day.
