Web.com is one of the largest and oldest website builders and web hosting solutions on the market today, with over 3 million customers worldwide and 9 million domain names under management. When compared to other leading website builders, Web.com ranks as one of the quickest ways to create and launch a website. Is it, however, all that it’s cracked up to be? Let’s look to see if Web.com is the right platform for you.
Here at the Web.com hosting review, we put their claims to the test. We will put their product through our extensive tests and analysis in the following categories:
Reliability: Will your website be available at all times, with no downtime, and in a reliable manner?
Speed: I was wondering how quickly pages loaded and how well Web.com dealt with unexpectedly high volumes of visitors.
Features: Do they offer all of the functions and tools that you will require to complete your task?
Customer Support: Is it simple to get assistance whenever you require it?
Pricing: How much would it cost, and are there any discounts or deals offered by Web.com that could save you money?
This is going to be an in-depth review of Web.com, including a comprehensive analysis of the hosting offered by Web.com.
If you do not wish to read the comprehensive review of the hosting service, the summary scorecard is provided below, along with our conclusion.
Performance Grade A
Average Load Time 759ms
Average response time 523ms
Free domain Yes
Free SSL Yes
Support Phone/Chat/knowledge Based
About Web.com
Web.com is a website and online marketing solution for companies of all sizes. All Web.com web builder accounts include a free domain, SSL certificate (valid for one year), and free private domain registration. While Web.com has low introductory rates ranging from $4.95 to $19.95 per month, these are only valid for one billing cycle. They then increase significantly from $9.99 to $39.99.
Pros and Cons for Web.com
It is important to consider both the benefits and the drawbacks of the services provided by each hosting company before you sign up for an account with one of those companies. Some of these drawbacks might be deal-breakers for your company, while others might be ones that can be tolerated in the interim while alternative solutions are being sought.
The selection of Web.com managed WordPress hosting for your website comes with a number of benefits as well as drawbacks, which are outlined in the following paragraphs.
Pros of Web.com
- Easy to build: The best part about using Web.com is how simple it is to create a website from scratch. With Web.com’s DIY website builder, you get access to all of the tools you need to start and finish a project quickly and efficiently. What’s particularly appealing about the DIY website builder is the layout, which is simple and sleek, allowing you to manage your websites without clutter.
Web.com also makes it simple to find what you’re looking for, as the website builder allows you to view any websites you’ve created alongside analytics, templates, and files for management purposes. You can create your website in just a few clicks-just click Create Site, select a template, add content, and you’re done-that it’s simple.
- Advanced features for Ecommerce: If you want to build an online store, Web.com’s advanced ecommerce features and functionalities are perfect for you. Web.com provides a robust set of features such as an online store builder, marketplace selling, and simple shipping solutions. You’ll have your store up and running in no time thanks to drag-and-drop features, pre-designed building blocks, custom code blocks, and over 2 million stock photos.
Web.com also provides advanced ecommerce reporting, allowing you to see visitors, page views, sales performance, top-selling items, and cost of goods sold. Do you need to make changes to several products? There’s no need to be concerned, because Web.com provides a bulk editing tool that allows you to do just that, allowing you to quickly make changes to your products using pre-built templates and customizable formats. Secure payment methods, purchase order management tools, and advanced SEO tools are also available.
- Maximum Customization Options: When it comes to adding content to your website, Web.com provides maximum customization with tools that are simple to use. You don’t need any prior experience to create a website, and Web.com demonstrates this clearly by offering drag-and-drop functions, block editors, pre-existing templates, and tutorial documentation. Unlike some website builders, Web.com allows you to completely customise the colours, fonts, headings, links, buttons, quotes, and dividers of your template.
Web.com also provides full settings features, which will allow you to enable specific functions, such as the ability to create a “Back To Top” button, which appears automatically when users scroll down your page and is excellent for functionality.
Cons of Web.com Hosting
- Customer Support: Every website builder has drawbacks and falls short somewhere, and Web.com’s first shortcoming is customer support. Website builders should provide adequate support, particularly for technical issues, as the customer support team is in charge of resolving these issues. Unfortunately, Web.com has a high number of negative customer experiences involving a lack of customer support on review sites and customer forums.
Many users reported that the longest wait times for phone calls and web chats ranged from 20 minutes to three hours. Furthermore, many users complained that most calls were repeatedly referred to other staff, leading the customer on a wild goose chase that never resolved the issue. However, Web.com’s help centre still contains a wealth of information on topics such as domains, email, hosting, security, account management, marketing services, and website builders.
- Charges After Cancellation: This disadvantage is more on the niche side of Web.com’s negative aspects, but because there were so many instances of it, we thought it was worth mentioning. Many user reports have mentioned Web.com continuing to charge customers even after they had cancelled their accounts. While we can’t say for certain how widespread this problem is, there was a pattern in the dozens of reviews we read, and it’s something to think about before investing in Web.com.
- Upselling: Many users have reported that Web.com’s customer service representatives are constantly upselling products, even when they are unrelated to their inquiry. Again, this is all hearsay, but when a product or service receives overwhelmingly negative customer feedback, it’s best to pay attention. When it comes to Web.com’s outdated system, many users feel compelled to call customer service for seemingly simple tasks like cancelling an account and customer onboarding-which is neither user-friendly nor sustainable for users who want to get things done quickly.
Web.com Speed Test
Every hosting company claims that their servers are the fastest, that they have the best customer service, and that their clients have the best possible experience when using their services.
We concluded that it would be in our best interests to conduct our own extensive testing on Web.com’s claims in order to determine how well they perform in comparison to the criteria that we use when conducting tests.
Web.com Hosting Speed Test Results
We used Pingdom speed test tool for Web.com testing and here are the results.
It took less than a second for our test site to load, which is an excellent result.
Web.com Hosting Plans and Features
Web.com has a pricing plan for everyone, whether you’re creating an online store or a basic website. There are currently four pricing options to choose from: Website Essentials, Business Essentials, Ecommerce Essentials, and Ecommerce Premium.
You will save 60% on all plans billed yearly for the first time, which will then automatically renew at the current monthly rate.
To assist you in making your decision, here is a general overview of each plan:
- Website essential: $4.95 per month for the first billing cycle, then $9.99 per month thereafter. The Website Essentials pricing plan is ideal for anyone looking for the fundamentals of website creation. You get everything you need, including a free domain and secure website hosting, as well as 150 mobile-optimized templates and free expert design support.
This package also includes social media tools and Google site verification, so you can quickly increase your page views. Basic website analytics, Google analytics and tag manager setup, customer support, and five professional email inboxes are also included.
- Business essentials: $7.95 per month for the first billing cycle, $14.99 per month thereafter. The Website Essentials plan and the Business Essentials plan are very similar. The only real difference is that Web.com’s full suite of marketing tools is included in the Business Essentials plan. If you run a website with a blog, these features are critical to your success and may be worth investigating.
You can use its logo builder to create a unique logo, advertise your business profile in local directories, and receive monthly SEO health checks to ensure your content is ranking well.
- Ecommerce essentials: The first billing cycle costs $13.95 per month and then increases to $25.99 per month. Web.com’s most popular package is the Ecommerce Essentials plan, which includes everything you need to get started selling online. This plan is notable for its appointment scheduling capabilities, which allow your customers to book an unlimited number of appointments, group events, classes, or workshops. The appointment scheduling feature also includes a reminders feature, which sends out automatic emails to remind your customers of their appointments.
You gain access to powerful ecommerce reporting, allowing you to delve deep into your analytics and determine what is and isn’t working. You can also get unlimited products and categories, secure online payment options, automated sync technology that works around the clock, and real-time shipping rates.
- Ecommerce premium: $19.95 per month for the first billing cycle, $39.99 per month thereafter. The Ecommerce Premium plan is Web.com’s most comprehensive package and is an excellent choice for anyone selling a high volume of products. You can not only create custom discount codes, sell on Facebook and Instagram, and have an unlimited number of inventory locations, but you can also automate sales tax, edit in bulk, and use quick-fill listing templates.
$19.95 per month for the first billing cycle, $39.99 per month thereafter.
The Ecommerce Premium plan is Web.com’s most comprehensive package and is an excellent choice for anyone selling a high volume of products. You can not only create custom discount codes, sell on Facebook and Instagram, and have an unlimited number of inventory locations, but you can also automate sales tax, edit in bulk, and use quick-fill listing templates.
You can also create custom barcodes and manage all of your restock needs, which allows you to send purchase orders to your supplier and receive notifications when more products are needed.
Web.com Customer Service
If you get stuck, you can contact Web.com through email, live chat, or phone support. The 24/7 phone line is, in our opinion, the best option of the three.
The live chat tool is also extremely useful, especially if you dislike speaking with people over the phone. However, the answers can be a little hazy when compared to the help you get if you speak to someone directly.
If you’d rather a third option, you can raise a support ticket, but when we tried this, we hit a brick wall when the system asked us to log in with a ‘Secret Word’.
Bottom Line
When compared to other website builders on the market today, Web.com clearly ranks higher. With its advanced ecommerce features and customizable platform for building, it stands to reason that Web.com is one of the quickest ways to create a new website.
Overall, Web.com is an excellent website builder for customization and speed, and it would be ideal for anyone looking to sell online due to its extensive ecommerce features.
You would be able to successfully build a website while managing and protecting it at an affordable price, especially with additional product offerings.