Webs.com Review: Our take on the Swiss army knife of website builders
With more than 40 million websites hosted on their servers, we are talking about one of the largest site building companies worldwide.
In mid 2012 they launched a completely new version of their product called SiteBuilder 3. Most notably they have introduced a range of new and very modern designs and added full drag and drop support to their editor. The basic version of this website builder is free and already includes a variety of apps such as an online store and an option to manage membership accounts for your audience.
So let's check if the inside looks are just as promising as the outside!
> To try Webs.com yourself, click here (link opens in a new window)
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. However, not all bugs have been ironed out (see comments below). |
| Choice and flexibility of design (templates) |  |
The designs have a modern look and it is possible to adjust colors and styles but not the source code (yet). Features a mobile website version as well. |
| Advertisement- free | Yes, but... | Free version only features a small footer text link. The ads in the backend are annoying as they continue to show in premium plans. Your mobile website will also show a small ad if you don't upgrade to Pro or pay an additional fee. |
| Languages |  |
The interface is available in English and Spanish. No special feature to create multi-lingual sites. |
| Features | ||
| -Proper domain name (e.g. mysite.com) | Yes | Re-direct your existing domain or register a domain via Webs.com (included in the Enhanced Package). Domains with a country-code can't be connected at this time. |
| - Depth of navigation | |
Two sub-levels, with a drop-down menu. |
| - Widgets (small tools to add extra functionality) |  |
Video tool and nice photo gallery options are included. It even has its own app library with third party widgets. |
| - Monetization | Yes | Using Google AdSense or other banner ads. |
| - e-Commerce |  |
Online store with many options. More payment methods are needed however (PayPal and Google Checkout are the 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). The URL is generated from the name of the menu item. More details. |
| - Blog | |
Very basic: no option to moderate comments before they're published. No HTML widgets apart from YouTube videos. It's 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 with different field types |
| - Password protection | Yes | Allows you to set up protected areas with individual user logins. Users can communicate with each other like in a social network, e.g. Facebook. |
| - 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 | Self-help, ticketing system 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. However, their ad-policy is annoying (see "Advertisment-free" at the top of the table). The whole interface looks very cluttered. |
| Overall rating | |
A versatile website builder with a huge range of features and beautiful designs. The downsides are numerous bugs that leave a lot of users frustrated as you can see in the comments below. |
Conclusion:
Webs.com is a good website builder with a rich set of features that can't be found anywhere else. The way you can organize your site's design stands out. The carousel image slider is pretty unique and will make your website look very professional.
However, at this time some parts of the user interface feel a bit inconsistent as they've been taken over from the old site builder version. Let's hope Webs will polish everything out in the future.
Next to their free plan they currently offer three different paid plans. The Enhanced and Pro plans also include email accounts. When comparing prices with other providers you have to be a bit careful: by default they show you prices for 2-year plans.
> Click here to try Webs.com for free
Updates
14 Mar 2013 - We've added information about password protection.
05 Dec 2012 - We downgraded Webs' rating again as our readers pointed us to a couple of major and minor bugs (see comments).
06 Nov 2012 - There are a still a couple of bugs in Webs' new editor. That's why we decided to downgrade the overall rating from 4.5 to 4 stars. Please check our comments section and this thread for details.
05 Oct 2012 - We downgraded the blogging feature from 4 to 3 stars (see comments for details).
23 July 2012 - Review of Webs' new SiteBuilder 3.
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: 14 Mar 2013 | Robert Brandl
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