How to put your new site live on GoDaddy

A 5-minute walkthrough for non-technical customers. No FTP, no SSH, no command line.

🆘 Want us to do it for you? Just reply to your delivery email or write to hello@yoursaas.diy — we'll install it for free, usually within a few hours.

Before you start

You'll need three things:

  1. The ZIP file we emailed you (look for the purple "Download editor" button in your delivery email).
  2. Your GoDaddy login (the same one you use to renew your domain).
  3. A GoDaddy "Web Hosting" plan — the kind that includes cPanel.
⚠️ If you only have "Websites + Marketing" from GoDaddy, that's a different product and these instructions won't work. Two options: ask GoDaddy to switch you to "Linux Web Hosting" (about $9/month), or have us host you for $9/month and we'll handle everything. Email us.

1Save the ZIP file

In your delivery email, click the purple "Download editor" button. The file lands in your Downloads folder. Don't unzip it — GoDaddy will do that part.

2Open GoDaddy cPanel

  1. Go to godaddy.com and click Sign In (top right).
  2. Click your name → My Products.
  3. Find your Web Hosting plan and click Manage.
  4. On the next page, click the big cPanel Admin button.

A new tab opens showing cPanel. It looks busy, but you only need one button.

[GoDaddy "My Products" → Web Hosting → cPanel Admin button]

3Find File Manager

In cPanel, scroll to the Files section and click File Manager. On the left, click public_html — that's the folder your website lives in.

[cPanel "Files" panel showing the File Manager icon]

4Upload your ZIP

  1. At the top of File Manager, click Upload (the green up-arrow icon).
  2. Drag your ZIP from Downloads into the big drop zone. Wait for the bar to fill to 100%.
  3. Close that tab and go back to File Manager.
  4. Press F5 (or click the refresh icon) — your ZIP is now in the file list.

5Unzip it

  1. Right-click on the ZIP file you just uploaded.
  2. Choose Extract.
  3. A small window pops up. Just click Extract Files — the default location /public_html is correct.
  4. When it says it's done, click Close.
📂 What just happened: The ZIP unpacked your index.html, an admin/ folder, and a .htaccess file directly into public_html. Your site is now live.

6Visit your site

Open a new tab and type your domain (for example yourbusiness.com). Your new site appears. 🎉

7Edit your site, any time, free

To make changes, type your domain followed by /admin/login.php:

yourbusiness.com/admin/login.php

Sign in with the email + temporary password from your delivery email. You'll be asked to pick a real password the first time. Then click any text or image on your site to change it. That's the whole thing.

You're done.

Forever-free editing. No subscription. No monthly fee.
Squarespace charges $20/month for less.

Stuck?

Email hello@yoursaas.diy with what step you're on and we'll write back. We also offer free white-glove installs — say "please install it for me" and we'll handle every step above.