Webs.com (a Vistaprint company) is a 15-year website builder that is popular with business owners, nonprofits, and web designers. Webs is the platform behind 55 million websites. Webs offers a free-for-life option or competitive pricing for business owners that need more features. This company is growing in popularity among other major website builders. Read our Webs.com review below.
OverviewWith over 3.3 million subscribers, 2,200 employees, and over 20 physical locations, Web.com is in a class of its own. Web.com shares a supportive company culture, values, and teamwork and discloses this information on the website. There are advantages and disadvantages in a company with such a long and large standing.
Web.com offers one of the largest, most versatile products and services portfolios of any website builder. While the templates are traditional, designed for function, Web.com is more than a DIY shop. Web.com also provides full-service website design. Either of these options can produce favorable results for individuals or business owners who need to establish and maintain a website. Expect to pay a bit higher rates for Web.com’s extensive features and services.
Who Is Web.com Recommended For?
Web.com’s website builder is recommended for business owners, store owners, bloggers, and others who need a functional, active site. It suits those who wish to build a basic site or those who need someone to create a more complex site for them.
Web.com’s Area of Focus / Specialties
Web.com is focused on functional, no-frills websites that meet individual or business needs. With an increased template set, Web.com offers over 2,500 templates that can easily be swapped out after the content is added. The templates appear a bit dated, but owners can get a customized website that meets their particular design needs. Unix, Linux, and Windows hosting packages are available. Web.com does a good job of eCommerce, with great add-on and plugin capabilities.
Web.com’s Technical Specs / Limitations
Web.com offers the standard DIY website builder features for a successful website along with the option to let someone do the work for you. It is a functional, well-designed platform for eCommerce with built-in solutions and interactive dashboard options.
Regarding limitations, the user interface is not as user-friendly some of Web.com’s new competitors, and it does not appear that Web.com offers a free trial. The monthly pricing options are a bit higher for this seasoned, highly evolved the platform.
Is There Adequate Scalability / Room To Grow?
While the pricing plans are not clearly stated up front on the Web.com website, there seems to be a decent set of comprehensive monthly payment plans for a full hosting solution, and successful marketing needed to promote a business. It will not be inexpensive, but Web.com offers real marketing that is required for online success.
What is the MoneyBack Guarantee Policy?
Web.com offers a 30-day money back guarantee, but you won’t find easily find this information on the website. Users complain about the difficulty in canceling once you’ve signed up.
What is Web.com’s Reputation?
After a long history in the website space, it appears that Web.com has taken a back seat with new do-it-yourself clients. Once the most powerful and successful website building solutions, it seems that Web.com has failed to keep up in some ways.
While the company has a huge following and one of the broadest ranges of services, it has undergone numerous transformations and must stack up against new outperformers for efficient website building. For those who still prefer to have a web designer to do the job for them, Web.com fairs well in the industry. Recent reviews show Web.com with a good reputation among full-service designers and only fair reputation among do-it-yourself site owners.
Why Choose Web.com?
Web.com site builder has a following, a huge feature set, multiple options for website design and development, and is worthy of supporting large enterprises and advanced eCommerce. This company does everything.
The question is, do they do it well? If you want a seasoned, rich company with history and the capability to provide extensive website design services, spend the money and invest with Web.com. If you are a small business that needs a basic do-it-yourself website, there are dozens of cost-effective website builder alternatives, such as Squarespace and Weebly to suit your needs.
Key FeaturesThe experts do have some kind words for Webs.com, but they are also quick to recommend better alternatives. When it comes to the free version, it is tough to offer much criticism. Considering the price, Webs.com is a relatively easy to use program that will allow anyone to build and publish a website. The drag and drop editor eliminates the need for any coding experience and is very beginner friendly.
The main problem, with both the free and paid packages, is that the interface is simply out of date and contains too many bugs. In fact, Webs.com hasn’t undergone a major update since 2012. With the rate at which technology advances, that can end up feeling more like decades than years.
Ultimately, if you are looking for an affordable, reliable, customizable and easy to use website builder, there are better options. Webs.com simply hasn’t managed to stay competitive.
Despite a flood of negative consumer feedback regarding Webs.com, I did manage to find some positive reviews. Unfortunately, most of them sound like spam. The authors don’t give much detail and are quick to include a link to their own website. If anything, users are happy that they can build a website for free.
Another problem that puts the accuracy of consumer reviews into question is the existence of very similar “Web.com.” As I conducted my own searches, the results were evenly split between displaying information for Web.com and Webs.com. It may be that Webs.com is the unfortunate recipient of criticism that should be aimed at Web.com. Given the small difference in domain names and search results, it’s hard to gauge truly how users feel.
Reading the user reviews for Webs.com is almost painful. While practically every website builder has received some criticism, it usually takes on a more effective form. However, the complaints from Webs.com users are downright angry. People aren’t writing to make helpful suggestions about how to improve the service; they are out for blood.
It appears that most of the problems occur with the free version of the program. There are many reports of people losing access to their site even after putting years of work into creating and publishing content. The fact that customer service representatives seem to be elusive certainly doesn’t help to dampen tempers. Overall, Webs.com received a one-star rating. Based on user reviews, it sounds like you should run the other way.
Design & CustomizationThe design and customization options on Webs.com are more than adequate, from templates to usability. Below are some of Webs’ design and customization strongpoints.
| Feature | Overview |
| Website Templates | Webs went from 40 to 450 mobile-friendly and modern templates for business sites. Users select from these templates for the free service, or for a minimal price that includes some added features. If you need eCommerce solutions for your business, Webs offers some advanced templates as well.
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| Website Builder Interface | Webs is best at providing clients an intuitive website builder interface. Working with colors, content, and images is simple for a novice or average computer users. In a secure account login from the Webs website, you access your pages, make changes, and see instant updates on your site./td> |
| Page Style Customization` | Page style customization refers to your ability to personalize your website, modify content and components, and change HTML/CSS code if desired. Webs is great at page style customization except for tweaking code.
Once you decide to try Webs.com, you choose a design template and then proceed to customize your pages to align with your business needs. You can set up your site for free and enjoy more features in one of the low-cost pricing models. |
| Site Navigation | Site navigation is built into the templates and can be customized to match your company’s products and services. Webs offers unlimited pages for any of the three pricing plans. Your mobile customers will be able to navigate your pages as long as you select the right template. |
| Content Management | Content on Webs website builder is easy to change, style, and move. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can log in to your account and access your content at any time. Changes are smooth, and the upload to your web site is immediate. |
| Photos and Galleries | Whether you have your product photos, or you require images from Webs’ photo gallery, you have options. Alongside your images, you can insert product descriptions, prices, tax and shipping, a product status, and more. |
| Mobile Site Building | Webs now offers hundred of mobile friendly templates so your customers can navigate your website on their mobile devices. If you are on a 30-dahy free trial or one of Webs’ three reasonably priced plans, mobile site building is included. |
| Social Sharing Integration | Webs is fully loaded with social media integration options. You can include some or all of the main social networking platforms to your website for the benefit of your customers. Google+, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Vimeo, and more. |
| Design Services | Webs doesn’t offer to design a website for you. This do-it-yourself platform is just easy enough that you don’t require a website designer and developer. If you are a big business with unique development needs, other companies do this well. |
Features & Tools Webs is full of customer-facing features, and thousands of small businesses are selling their products and services through a Webs website. You won’t be disappointed in the features list at Webs.com.
| Feature | Overview |
| Website Setup | Webs offers four easy steps for getting an excellent website. The process is as simple as setup, add content, publish, and optimize for visitors. Webs walks you through the process online for your website pages and navigation, apps, branding, publishing, and sharing. Users report a positive and intuitive experience. |
| Web Design | The first step in Webs’ web design process is to scroll through thousands of business templates. You select the style, color scheme, and page layout that meets with your business culture and needs. Webs has 450 templates to choose from including mobile options. Then you count on a “builder bar” on each page to help you drag and drop elements, insert components, and make edits. |
| Custom Domain Name | |
| The depth of Navigation: | Your customers navigate to unlimited pages in all of Webs’ plans. Whatever the size of your small business, you get the pages you need to share your products. There are hundreds of template designs to choose from for your structure. |
| Widgets and Apps | Unlike some website builders, Webs offer both home screen widgets for customer interaction and apps for customer engagement and loyalty. Webs also partners with Pagemodo for social marketing and ContactMe for contact management. |
| Monetization | Webs offers fairly robust eCommerce solutions that have been working for thousands of online sales-based companies. You get standard payment and invoicing integration options on PayPal, Etsy, and Stripe. |
| Visitor Statistics | Webs offers advanced web analytics through Stats. You learn more about your website traffic and take actions based on the statistics you generate. |
| Photo,Video,and Audio | With massive online competition, audio, photos, and videos, are essential to the success of small businesses. Webs’ interface for inserting these components is straightforward and manageable through the builder bar. Select Image, Photo Gallery, Video, Button, and more. |
| Blogging | A blog site can be added using a blog app. You can include automatic posts. Webs blogging is not quite as easy and robust as some other website builders. You may need to rely on Webs’ help page to set it up. Some other website builders offer more flexibility in the value of blogging. |
| Google Maps | Webs lets you quickly and easily insert Google maps. |
| HTML Editor | An HTML editor is not supported on Webs; however a code box can be included on a page. |
| Social Media Integration | |
| Forms and surveys | It is possible to embed forms and surveys using the HTML code box on a page. This feature may require some research on Webs help page unless you are computer savvy. |
| Storage Space | Users receive 500MB for the free service, 1GB for the Starter plan, 5GB for the Enhanced Plan, and unlimited storage for the Pro plan. |
| Newsletter Tool | Webs partners with ContactMe to do email capture for newsletters and mailers. Expect an added charge of $5/month. Another option is to embed an HTML capture in a code box on the page. |
| Forum Support | Webs provides forum support for free subscribers while paying subscribers to receive both forum support and live chat support. For phone support, subscribers must enroll in the Pro plan. |
| E-Commerce / Online Store | You will need Webs Enhanced or Pro plan for a 20-item or more store. The cost is reasonable, and the Pro plan includes search engine submission and optimization, Google advertising, email, live chat, and phone support. Webs eCommerce solutions are suitable for small to medium sized businesses. |
| Gateway Integration | Unlike some website builders in its class, Webs offers membership gateway services that can be extended to your customers. This helps you market directly and lock down page viewing by the member. |
| SEO Friendly | Webs offers SEO tools through an app store. The Pro plan offers some marketing tools including SEO Booster to help you find web customers. As well, Webs submits listings to local online directories including Google, YP.com, and Yahoo. |
| Site Limited Access (Password Protection) | Webs users establish a password-protected account for login and editing of their site at any time. |
| Google® Analytics | Webs integrates with the Google App Suite (this may take a bit more understanding and some help files to get started). Webs uses Stats by default for analytics. |
| Website Builder Security | Webs, like all site builders, takes security seriously and uses leading customer password protection options. With the history and size of this company, security takes priority. |
| Multiple Languages | The Webs website supports 13 languages. It would seem that Webs is offering website building for these languages and increasing to include more. |
| Mobile Optimization | Webs 450 new templates include mobile optimization so your customers can peruse and purchase your products and services on a mobile device. The mobile templates are included in the free service and Webs three pricing plans as well. |
| CDN Technology | Webs has a similar platform called Network Solutions for Enhanced DNS services, high availability, and high performance. |
Plans & Pricing Webs offers customers a free ongoing website and hosting! For websites that require eCommerce features, one free and three pricing plans are more than generous. The company displays their pricing plans and options on the site. You can get established for free or select from three competitive monthly pricing plans based on your business needs. All three paid plans offer:
Pricing Plans Offered
Webs offers very competitive plans to accommodate every small business owner or nonprofit. The all-inclusive options are more generous than many web builders in their class.
Consider the following factors regarding pricing:
Customer Support With over 15 years in the website building business, Webs has established good customer support options and customers appear to be quite satisfied. Since Webs setup is pretty simple, this do-it-yourself platform is designed for minimal support. From the Help and Contact web page, Webs uses Zendesk to support clients.
Overall, Webs provides some customer support options. A phone call is possibly discouraged unless you subscribe to the Pro plan, as no number appears on Webs pages. At some level of help, a phone number is offered.
Ease of Use Users find Webs easy to get started, quick to set up, and simple to maintain. You build your website as you go, using a design template and six layout options. Webs offers an excellent DIY experience for novice and advanced users.
While skill levels vary by those who need a new website and want to create their own, the ease or difficulty varies for each person as well. Because Webs offers a free website, there is nothing to lose in taking the time to work through the process and find out if you want to come a subscriber. Users find Webs intuitive, user-friendly, and easy to set up and manage.
The simplicity of Interface. The interface is both visual and interactive, suited for most any user, any type of website.
Suitable for Beginners / Advanced Users. The Webs website builder is perfect for beginners and advanced users alike. While there are more advanced site builders and web designers on the market, Webs offers just about everything a small business owner needs, at an affordable cost.
Retain Control Over The Website At All Times. Webs uptime is excellent as are most site builders in today’s market, and you have full control of your site.
In-Editor Help Provided. Webs offers some online help options including in-editor help, live chat, phone support, and a regular blog.
Webs provides a scalable solution that adapts well to your changing business. As you decide on a template and pricing plan, it helps to consider the state of your business and the potential future of your website options.
Conclusion The Webs website builder has a strong following. Webs provides a free plan or three reasonable pricing plans for individuals, small business owners, and nonprofits. The plans are more than generous and include some features that many other site builders expect you to pay for.
The interface is easy to work with, and there are only a few limitations around coding and direct phone support. The overall pros are extensive, and the cons are few in selecting Webs to build your business website.
Webs is a relatively robust website builder for many small and medium-sized eCommerce or non-eCommerce businesses. The features are extensive, with only a few concerns. Webs offers free or competitive pricing. For expanding companies that require modern template designs, mobility options, and scalability, Webs website builder has what you need. The best choice is to test it for free and find out for yourself.
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