Website builders are a great way to get online quickly. But many businesses eventually hit their limits: the site feels slow, the design looks like a template, needed features cost extra or aren't possible, and the monthly subscription keeps rising. Worst of all, you can't simply take your site with you. Most builders don't let you export a working website.
That doesn't mean you're stuck. It means moving takes a little planning.
I'm Aldrian, an independent developer. I migrate websites from Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, GoDaddy Website Builder, Weebly, Google Sites and similar platforms onto fast sites you fully own.
Why businesses move
- Speed. Builder sites load code for features you don't use.
- Ownership. You rent the platform. Stop paying and the site goes.
- Cost over time. Subscriptions, premium plans and app add-ons add up.
- Flexibility. Custom features, integrations and layouts that the builder can't handle.
- SEO control. Fine control over URLs, structured data, redirects and performance.
- Professional growth. A site that looks like your brand, not a template.
More on why ownership matters on my own your website page.
Where you can move to
Hand-coded or static site
Fast, secure and very cheap to host. Great for service businesses and portfolios. See hand-coded websites.
Lean WordPress
If you want to edit pages and write blog posts yourself, a clean custom WordPress theme gives you a familiar editor without builder bloat.
Headless CMS
A friendly editing dashboard with a fast modern front end. Good for structured content and growing teams.
Shopify or WooCommerce
If you're moving a builder store, I'll help you pick the right e-commerce platform and move products, customers and order history where the platforms allow it.
How I migrate a builder site
1. Full inventory
I list every page, blog post, image, form, product and URL. I also note your current page titles, descriptions, analytics, connected domains and email settings. Builders often hide things in unexpected places, so this step matters.
2. Plan the new structure
Keep what works, fix what doesn't. This is a good time to tidy navigation, improve pages that underperform and remove outdated content.
3. Rebuild the design
Either a faithful recreation of your current look, or a refreshed design. Built as clean, fast code.
4. Move the content
Text, images, blog posts and products. Builders rarely offer clean exports, so some content is extracted manually or with careful scripts. Images are optimized during the move.
5. Rebuild forms and features
Contact forms, booking widgets, newsletter sign-ups, galleries and integrations are rebuilt and tested.
6. Protect your SEO
Builders often use their own URL patterns, like /blog-1/post-title or /product-page/item. On a new site, URLs may change. Every old URL gets a permanent redirect to its new home, so links and rankings carry over. More on migrating without losing SEO.
7. Switch the domain carefully
Your domain is pointed to the new site with minimal downtime. Email records are preserved so your business email keeps working. This is where many DIY migrations go wrong.
8. Cancel the subscription
Only after everything is confirmed working, and after you've downloaded anything you want to keep from the builder.
What about my domain?
If your domain was registered through the builder, it can usually be transferred to a registrar in your name. If it's already with a separate registrar, we just update the DNS records. Either way, I'll guide you through it and make sure email isn't interrupted.
What about my email?
If your email runs on Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 or another provider, its DNS records must be kept when the domain moves. I check these before changing anything.
Common migration mistakes
Cancelling the builder first. Content and images disappear before they're moved.
Forgetting redirects. Old URLs break and rankings drop.
Breaking email. Changing DNS without keeping mail records can stop business email.
Copying the bloat. Recreating every builder animation and widget brings back the slowness you were trying to escape.
No analytics on the new site. Tracking needs to be set up and tested again.
A note on Webflow
Webflow is different from most builders. On some plans it can export HTML, CSS and JavaScript. That export is a useful starting point, but it doesn't include the CMS content, forms or hosting features, and the exported code is often heavier than it needs to be. I use what's helpful from the export and rebuild the rest cleanly.
What it usually costs
It depends on the number of pages, blog posts and products, whether you want a redesign and which platform you're moving to. You'll get a fixed quote after I've reviewed your current site.
How we'd work
- Send me your site and tell me what you want to improve.
- I review and recommend where to move.
- You get a quote with scope, timeline and fixed price.
- I build the new site and share a preview.
- We test everything, including redirects and email.
- We switch the domain and cancel the old plan.
Let's move you to a site you own
Send me your current website address. I'll reply with a plan and a fixed quote.
