Web.com website builder review 2024

Easy website builder for basic websites

screenshot of Web.com homepage
(Image: © Web.com)

TechRadar Verdict

If you want a website builder that will help you get online in almost no time at all, Web.com just might suit your needs. The obvious downside to concocting a website quickly is that it might lack many of the bells and whistles that are commonplace, and indeed expected, in most professional websites. Unlike most other hosting providers and website builders, Web.com doesn’t offer a money back guarantee or a trial period. Perhaps the company believes that $1.95 per month as a starting price for the basic offering is the incentive users need to find out what’s on offer. Unfortunately still, our experience with chat support was also disappointing, which is in stark contrast to other hosting providers such as Bluehost and HostGator.

Pros

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    Easy to use

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    Huge collection of templates

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    SEO friendly

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    Affordable

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    Powerful AI website builder

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    Other helpful AI tools

Cons

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    No free trial

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    Lacks flexibility in website builder services

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    Expensive renewals

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Our Web.com website builder review gives you all the information and insight you need to make an informed decision on whether it is the best website builder for you.

With nearly two decades of catering to businesses and professionals, Web.com is well-versed in the art of getting you online and noticed. Its website builder service includes hosting space, a powerful AI website builder, and generous introductory offers to help you get started.

With the help of its incredibly intuitive UI, you can create stylish, modern pages in minutes with just a few clicks. The builder also offers mobile-friendly designs and ready-made templates to make building a website easier.

Web.com’s plans are simple to understand with entry-level options for creating basic, but powerful websites as well higher tier plans with advanced selling tools for those looking for the best ecommerce platform.

Our experts have extensively tested the Web.com website builder. Now we have written this guide to help you better understand whether it meets your unique needs.

Save 50% on your web.com annual subscription with this code

Save 50% on your web.com annual subscription with this code

You can now save a generous 50% when you subscribe to the web.com website builder on an annual basis. Simply enter the code BUILD50 when you checkout to apply the discount.

Web.com website builder features

The first feature that caught my attention was the super-easy to use AI website builder. It allowed me to quickly and easily create my own website without any coding or design experience whatsoever! Then intuitive drag-and-drop editor made it simple for me to customize my site with different page elements such as text, images, videos, and more.

In fact, Web.com has recently overhauled its AI website builder. Based on customer feedback, Web.com has worked to make it easier and quicker than ever to work through the website building process. With fewer clicks, users can now build and edit websites, place elements, create new sections, and add media. According to Web.com, this update has increased customer satisfaction scores by 12% and increased the overall website publish rate.

Another great feature of Web.com is its ability to register custom domains as well as transfer existing domains from other registrars. This allowed me to choose a domain name that was unique and memorable while still being easy enough for customers to remember when they search for my business online. Plus, transferring existing domains was fast and easy thanks to the automated process provided by Web.com.

Having reliable web hosting is essential if you want your website to stay up and running all the time, that’s why Web.com offers high-performance hosting solutions that are both secure and reliable at an affordable price point.

Web.com also provides access to Google Workspace which allows you to access popular Google products like Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, etc., all under one roof - making it easier than ever before for businesses like mine to stay connected with clients and colleagues while working remotely or on-the-go. It also offers business email services so you can create professional email addresses using your custom domain name which helps make your brand look more legitimate in the eyes of potential customers or partners!

It can happen in an instant - a power outage or server error can wipe away hours of work in just seconds. That’s why one of my favorite features of Web.com is its automatic website backup feature. With this feature, I don’t have to worry about losing any information because all changes are automatically backed up daily, so even if something unexpected happens, my hard work won't be lost forever.

Web.com also offers custom website design services so I can create exactly what I want while still being able to use the tools and templates provided by the platform. Plus, with its ecommerce website design features, setting up an online store has never been easier. Whether I'm selling physical products or digital downloads, the easy-to-use tools make adding items and tracking orders simple and efficient.

Having a unique WordPress theme for your site is key to creating a memorable brand experience for your customers, which is why Web.com offers hundreds of customizable WordPress themes perfect for any business or personal blog. Plus, it also provides search engine optimization (SEO) features so that my content will always show up at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). This helps attract more visitors to my site and increases my traffic over time.

Last but certainly not least is Web.com’s pay-per-click advertising service which allows me to reach more potential customers by targeting specific keywords related to my product or service via Google Ads or Bing Ads campaigns.

Themes and templates Web.com offers

Web.com offers a huge range of professional templates. (Image credit: Web.com)

Web.com website builder tools

The first tool I tried out was the AI business name generator tool. This is a great way to come up with a catchy, memorable name for my business that will help me stand out from the competition. It's easy to use; all you have to do is enter some keywords related to your business and it will generate several potential names for you. You can also customize your search by setting parameters such as length and whether or not you want the name to include a keyword related to your product or service. I was also quite impressed with the platform’s WHOIS lookup tool, which allowed me to easily check if domains were available or not, as well as find out information about who owns them and when they expire.

Plus, once I had my name ready to go, I could use the AI logo generator to quickly develop some great logo ideas for my business.

For busy businesses, especially those with a large volume of pages such as online store, the AI writer tool is a huge time saver. It can help you create copy for everything from your about us section to your product pages. Although you will likely have to tweak the results to make them perfect.

The Business listing tool is another great inclusion in Web.com's builder tools. This feature allowed me to create profiles for my website on popular business listing sites like Yelp and Google My Business so that customers can easily find my website online. It also allowed me to track customer reviews so that I can get feedback on how well my website business is performing and make adjustments accordingly if necessary. Also, I found the Appointment scheduler very helpful in managing bookings and appointments without any additional hassle or cost.

I was especially pleased with the stock images & videos tool since it made finding high-quality images and videos easy, without having to pay for expensive stock photos or footage. Another great thing was the connected social media tool that allowed me to add links to all of my social media channels on my website quickly and easily. With this tool, I could also track how many people visited my website from each one of these channels separately.

Finally, its contact & maps tool allowed me to add contact information along with a map showing where my business is located on my website in just a few clicks; this way customers can quickly get in touch with me or find directions to visit my store if needed. Additionally, Web.com also had options for shipping software, inventory & stock tools that helped me manage these aspects of running a website right from within the platform as well.

Getting started with Web.com website builder

Having bought your first month and hooked up your account to a domain name, the next stage is to choose the template you’d like to work with. There are plenty to choose from, all broken down by categories such as “Business”, “Services”, “Health”, and “Portfolio”, among others. ‘Blank’ is also available should you prefer to start from scratch.

Alternatively, you can use the AI website builder to help you create a bespoke template based on your inputs.

Once you your template, you’re then introduced to the website builder proper, with a few handy tool tips. You have the option of switching between Desktop, Tablet and Mobile thanks to icons at the top of the page, to see what your creation looks like on various devices.

Blocks on Web.com's dashboard

Editing your template is a simple process, anyone can do it. (Image credit: Web.com)

The whole concept of web.com’s website creation process is centred around dragging and dropping ‘features’ or ‘blocks’. The Features’ titles are pretty self explanatory: Heading, Text, Button, Icon, Slider, etc. Just drag them onto the page, as the right section turns red, release the mouse button to insert that feature there.

Blocks behave in the same way, but come more pre-assembled, with placeholder text and images in various location. This is a great and easy way to add what could be seen as more complex parts of a website - like a navigation menu - in seconds. It’s also great to quickly generate sections which you can easily customise, such as Testimonials, a Call to Action, Galleries, etc.

screenshot of web.com pricing page

Web.com offers 4 packages, each one offering tools to help you achieve online success. (Image credit: Web.com)

Web.com website builder pricing and plans

Swipe to scroll horizontally
PlanPaid annually (intro rate)Paid annually (after renewal)Paid monthly (intro rate) Paid monthly (after renewal)
Website$4.95/mo$15.99/mo$1.95/mo$19.99/mo
Website + Marketing $7.95/mo$21.99/mo$3.95/mo$24.99/mo
Online Store $13.95/mo$29.99/mo$9.95/mo$34.99/mo
Online Marketplaces$19.95/mo$44.99/mo$13.95/mo$49.99/mo

Decoding costs

You can subscribe to all the Web.com website builder plans either on a monthly or annual basis. Whichever you choose, you will get a discounted introductory rate to get you started. This will last the initial term of the option you take - 12 months on annual plans, 1 month on monthly plans.

Take time to consider each option and which rate is best for you. Even though the intro rate on annual plans offers a substantial saving in the first year, once you are up for renewal, you will only save around $5/mo compared to paying monthly. To put this in context, the Website plan will cost you a total of $59.40 in the first year when paid annually compared to $221.84 if you opt for the monthly plan, saving you a generous $162.44. But in your second year (and beyond) the annual plan will cost $263.88 in total compared to $299.88 when paid monthly, saving you just $36.

However, if you know you will be using Web.com in the long term, you may as well pay annually and save a little cash.

What the plans include

The entry-level ‘Website’ plan gives you all the basic tools you need to get your website online including access to the AI website builder, a free domain for the first year, an SSL certificate, and even 1 hour of expert design support. But if you want social and email marketing tools and the ability to sell services through your website you will need to opt for the The Website + Marketing plan.

To sell products online you will want to go for the Online Store plan. This gives you everything from the Website + Marketing plan along with the ability to set up an online store and to sell via Facebook and Instagram.

The final option is the Online Marketplace plan. This gives you everything from the Online Store plan plus tools for selling on marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, and Etsy, as well as bulk editing and automation tools.

Web.com website builder security

SSL stands for secure socket layer and is an encryption technology that helps protect your data from being intercepted and stolen by hackers or cyber criminals. It also helps verify your website's identity and authenticity, which is important for establishing trust with customers. Web.com offers SSL certificates for every website on its platform making sure that websites are secure and data are encrypted.

Another way that Web.com helps me keep my website safe is by providing comprehensive security monitoring services that scan incoming web traffic for malicious activity 24/7. The service also provides regular updates on the status of my site security so that I can stay informed about any potential threats or issues as they arise. Additionally, when there are issues identified, the team at Web.com is always available to help me address them quickly and efficiently so I don’t have to worry about losing any critical data or information due to cyberattacks or other security threats.

Web.com also provides automatic daily backups of my entire website so that if something goes wrong, all of my content is safely stored away offsite and can be restored quickly without any loss of data or functionality.

Screenshot of Web.com ecommerce dashboard with items of clothing and prices below

With dedicated ecommerce plans, Web.com is a smart choice for online stores. (Image credit: Web.com)

Web.com website builder ecommerce

Web.com now has a more advanced ecommerce website builder platform with more layout designs for product and category listing pages. There are more options for customization on the product details pages within the store.

The product is really easy to use and needs no technical skills. Web.com offers a single place where you can manage all the day-to-day tasks of running an online business with its ecommerce software.

On testing out the ecommerce platform, I was able to list products for sale on my test website and on marketplaces like Etsy, Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Bonanza, and Google, managing all customer orders in one place. You can also manage fulfillment, product listing updates, restocking, reporting and more.

Web.com also offers 24/7 automated inventory sync technology - your product quantities will show accurately everywhere they sell. You can also connect to suppliers via Web.com’s feed management system to automatically sync product data, order data and tracking details when suppliers fulfills an order.

The SEO tool integrated in Web.com’s ecommerce product offers monthly health checks, tracks keyword rankings, and creates a custom action plan to improve site visibility. Payment gateways offered include Paypal, Stripe and Web.com also offer the option for your customers to pay by cash on delivery.

Web.com website builder support

The first thing that impressed me was the availability of customer support options. Web.com offers a wide range of ways to get in touch with its team, including an online chat feature, phone support, and email support. This was great because it meant I could reach out at any time of the day or night if I had an issue or question related to my website build.

Another great thing about its customer support is the knowledge base articles. These resources are incredibly helpful, especially for newbies who don't know much about building websites from scratch. There are step-by-step tutorials for setting up your account, as well as more general advice on topics such as SEO optimization and social media marketing.

Web.com website builder alternatives

WordPress.com is one of the most popular website building tools in the world today, and for good reason. It's easy to use and completely customizable, making it ideal for businesses of all sizes and types. The platform also comes with plenty of features, including customizable themes and plugins that can help you create an effective and attractive website in no time at all.

Wix is another great alternative to Web.com website builder if you are looking for something that's easy to use while still providing plenty of features and customization options. With Wix, you can create a professional-looking site without any coding knowledge or technical skills at all—all you need is a drag-and-drop interface and a few clicks of the mouse.

Squarespace is another excellent alternative to Web.com if you want something that's both powerful and easy to use at the same time. Squarespace lets users customize their websites quickly and easily with its intuitive drag-and-drop editor as well as dozens of templates designed specifically for businesses in mind.

Is Web.com’s website builder right for you? Summary

I found web.com to be a very good website builder. Its features and blocks allow you to create a unique and visually interesting page (or series of pages) in minutes. Beefing up the blogging, and offer bulk product imports for the online store, would make it even better. It’s a simple, and affordable solution.

Web.com website builder review: FAQs

How do I create a website on Web.com?

Creating a website on Web.com is easy and straightforward. All you need to do is sign up for an account, select the type of website you want to create (such as an e-commerce store or portfolio site), and then customize it with your own design elements and content.

You can even add features like contact forms, galleries, blogs, and more. Once you’re happy with the design of your site, click “Publish” and your new website will be live for everyone to see.

Can I build an online store with Web.com?

Yes, Web.com offers a dedicated plan for those who want to build an online store. The plan comes with a host of dedicated ecommerce features including secure online payments, the ability to sell via platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and marketplaces, as well as promotional tools such as discount codes and abandoned cart delivery.

Does Web.com offer a free trial?

Unfortunately, Web.com does not offer a free trial of its website builder service at this time. However, they do offer several different pricing plans to suit any budget, so if you have some money saved up you can try out its service without breaking the bank.

Can I create a web page with Web.com?

Yes. With Web.com’s easy-to-use tools, you can create a basic web page in no time at all - no coding experience required.

Ruby has been a freelance technology writer for over four years and has a passion for information technology and the Internet in its entirety. She has a wide range of specialities including web hosting, streaming (Firestick, Kodi, and APKs), VPN, information technology, and affiliate marketing. Ruby is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the University of the Philippines, and regularly codes in her free time.

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