Webs.com Review: Our take on Webs.com

Webs.com in detail

Criterion	Rating	Comments
Ease of use		Intuitive, but the number of features makes it a little tricky to use in places.
Choice and flexibility of design (templates)		Finding a design you like from the limited number of templates will be a matter of personal preference, but unfortunately, they're not so easy to customize. Read a discussion about Webs.com's templates here. Features a mobile website version as well.
Advertisement- free	Paid version only	Free version is covered with banner ads. The ads on the back-end can be a little bit annoying.
Languages		The editor seems to have problems with special characters, which could be quite an issue if you plan to use a language other than English. The interface is available in English only.
Features
- Top-level domain (e.g. .com or .net)	Yes	Re-direct your existing domain or register a domain via Webs.com (included in the Enhanced Package).
- Depth of navigation		Two sub-levels (only), with a classy drop-down menu.
- Widgets (small tools to add extra functionality)		Video tool and photo gallery included. Even has its own widget shop.
- Monetization	Yes	Using Google AdSense or other banner ads.
- e-Commerce		Nicely integrated store with many options. More payment methods needed however (PayPal and Google Checkout only ones available).
- Search-engine optimization (SEO)		Meta tags, meta descriptions and page titles can all be edited (for some SEO features you need a paid plan). URL is generated from the name of the menu item. More details.
- Blog		All the usual features, but no option to moderate comments before they're published. Also possible to assign categories and schedule posts for future publication.
- Visitor statistics		Clicky is the default tracking tool, but you can also add Google Analytics. More info.
- Contact form	Yes	Easily customizable, but the editor seems a bit clunky.
- Add HTML Code	Yes	Allows you to add other widgets and tools.
- Storage space	from 40 MB	You can get up to 5 GB in their PRO plan.
- Forum	Yes	Looks good.
Support	Public Forums and Live Chat	Responsive Live Chat for premium users, available 24/7. More details.
Fun factor		Plenty of features make it fun to play around with Webs.
Overall rating		A versatile website builder with a huge range of features, but not enough (flexible) templates.

Conclusion:

Webs.com is a good website builder with nice features that can't be found anywhere else - in particular the option to manage members, which allows you to gradually build your own community. Costs for the paid versions are about average, and include 24-hour technical support. Next to their free plan they currently offer three different paid plans.

There is also a huge variety of 3rd party apps in their app store. These widgets can be enabled with a simple click. However, we've had to remove two different apps from our website already as the developers discontinued their support.

Webs.com is constantly working to improve its offering. It listens to its customers and encourages them to leave feedback in this forum. For example, they greatly improved their page-level search-engine optimization on the basis of this feedback.
 

> Click here to try Webs.com for free

Updates

22 Nov 2011 - Check out the results of our Webs' server performance test.
30 Aug 2011 - Webs has added an integrated mobile website builder
17 Mar 2011 - General update: Webs has added a couple of well-designed templates.
12 Jan 2011 - General update, but support was not reviewed at this time.

 

Last updated: 30 Aug 2011 | Robert Brandl