Moving from a free website builder to your own hosting

Find out what the builder lets you export

Export options vary widely. You may be able to download content, images or structured data while the actual page design remains proprietary to the builder.

Before cancelling anything, create an inventory of pages, images, forms, downloads, blog posts and SEO metadata you need to preserve.

Register or secure the domain you want to keep

If you have been using a builder subdomain, choose a domain you control before launching the replacement. If you already have a custom domain, confirm the registrar account and DNS access before the move.

Do not cancel the old site until the new domain path is tested.

Rebuild on the new hosting environment

WordPress is one option, but the right platform depends on what the site does. Recreate the page structure, upload optimized images, rebuild forms, and test any integrations.

Keep important URLs the same where practical so existing links and bookmarks continue to work.

Use redirects when URLs must change

If the old custom-domain URLs can be controlled, map changed pages to their closest new equivalents with permanent redirects. Avoid sending every old URL to the homepage.

If the original site lived only on a builder-owned subdomain you cannot control, your redirect options may be limited.

Keep the old service long enough to verify the move

After changing DNS, test the website, forms, HTTPS, analytics and email. Keep a copy of the old content until you are confident nothing important was missed.

Then cancel the old service only after the replacement is stable and account ownership is documented.

Common questions