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Web.com – What’s the Catch?
So I am sure you are wondering – why would we put a discussion on our news section about a major web development competitor? Well the answer is simple… Giving them the benefit of the doubt is equal and fair play when a business is out there searching for a business website solution for their company…. So…..
After watching commercial after commercial about web.com™ and their advertised, “we will build your custom website for free to get you started… and we will even post your website to the major search engines….and if you are happy with your website, we will continue to provide promotion, hosting, support and maintenance all for just one low monthly fee… If not cancel and pay nothing.” So with this, being in the industry – I decided to find out what the deal really was…


Here is what I experienced after reviewing their website… filling out the ‘Get Your Free Marketing Guide‘ which was sub-sectioned on the front page under (“Saw our TV Offer – Show me”)….and then receiving a call the next day by a very helpful web.com™ sales rep…. Be warned now… The old saying goes… “If something seems too good to be true, it probably, and most likely, is.” Well read on for the facts – I went through the lengthy process so you can make an educated decision for yourself…. have the real costs and breakdown of this process…… or you will go through the same thing I did.
Here is the process (in a nutshell):
If you take the time to seriously review web.com™’s website you will find a lot of misdirection and most of their ‘up-front’ pricing is obscured… well for the most part… So after digging I found an pieced together this puzzle way before I received that very nice call from one of their sales associates…
First you have 3 choices… in reality there are actually 4, but I will get into that in a little bit…..

First Category:
In the first Category… under ‘Do it yourself’ has a few layers of services that are currently under promotion…..
* this pricing is for the First Month Only and is based on the web.com™ public website and is supported by their pricing policy and is subject to change per their terms of service agreement (Last Updated: February 27, 2012). Such terms are subject to change per their internal pricing policy as of the date of this published review. EP System Technologies makes no claims to the validity of pricing other than that which was published by web.com™ and is held without liability as such to this review.

Sounds simple right? Well be warned… that introductory price sounds wonderful… but in order to get the full jist of your ‘Do-It-Yourself’ can be a bit pricey on a monthly basis…
First Category: Monthly/Annual Breakdown:
* this pricing is based on the web.com terms of service agreement for promotional pricing page which also included all web.com™'s standard terms of service agreement (Last Updated: February 27, 2012). Noting this information was found on one of web.com™'s service webpages and also the 'Website, Marketing & Store' section was not listed (such page has been removed as of 12/21/2013 - which we deduced was a result of our inquiry to said web.com™ public webpage that displayed this information). Now, currently, the only terms of service agreement (Last Updated: February 27, 2012), viewable to the public, is here. This was a reference to be discussed with the web.com™ sales associate and was confirmed as such to be their current rates as of December 20, 2013. Such terms are subject to change per their internal pricing policy as noted in their terms of service agreement. EP System Technologies makes no claims to the validity of pricing other than that which was published by web.com™ and is held without liability as such to this review.

First Category - Summary:
If you they type of person who has time or wishes to transfer the time to ‘Do-It-Yourself’… this would be the best plan available to you to get your website up and running…… However, web.com™ states, in their advertisement, “We will build it for you“, which is pretty much what every business owner surely wants, since, in reality… Who has time to build their own website? Most business owners we have encountered have no clue on the first thing to do for placing their business online. Not to mention the First Category comes with ZERO design support or assistance. Basically you are on your own with their claimed 9500+ Templates (noting we found an area on their website that claimed over 25,000 Design Layouts is listed in the image above). Hmmm… which is it? 9500+ Design Layouts or is it 25,000?
Confusing to say the least and the term ‘Design Layouts’ is a fancy word for simple generic templates (which most hosting companies provides with their server hosting solutions and that would only cost you as low as $2.95 a month). All you have to do is purchase your own domain name – unless you have one already and build it yourself…. That is far less expensive that what web.com™ is offering. [Minimally $275.40/year with web.com™ versus minimally $35.40/year]. That’s a tough decision)
So let’s explore their next two categories, which is what web.com™ is advertising…….. and see what that is actually going to cost you, the small business owner…. and what you actually get for that “one low monthly fee“.
"We will build your custom website for free to get you started..." (Category 2)
So is free… really free? Well sadly know. We discovered that first hand when we received that phone call from web.com™’s sales department. We had already searched their site for pricing information and found in these two sections some simple pricing, but it took the sales pitch to bring it all into reality.
We came to realize there is a “catch”, especially if you don’t want to ‘Do-It-Yourself’, but still even in this section (‘Our Do-It-All-Solution)…there are many confusing and price variable options tied to this Category 2. Let me explain further….
So after a lengthy discussion with the web.com™ sales associate probing me with question after questions so that they can get a feel for what I was looking to do with my company online… I got straight to the point and asked him about the ‘as advertised’ commercial for their company and what that entailed.
I pointed to the ‘eWorks XL’ section of their site (see image) and asked, “what do I get for $114.95/mo?“… I was quickly answered with:
“That is a Tier 1 website package and included you get hosting, domain name, email, maintenance, marketing, 1800 number, scorecard, mobile version of the site and ecommerce including an ssl certificate, merchant account and product optimization.
For marketing we submit you to 100 search engines, 6 dozen directories and do social network and background linking. Really based on what you want for a site it is perfect not too big and not too small for what you need right now with the perfect room to grow!
Month to month with no contract, set-up fee or cancellation fee. We even give you the whole 1st month to make unlimited modifications so you get it how you like it. If for whatever reason you do not like it (which we think you will :)) you can get a full refund in the first month.
For the complete online package, which will include a shopping cart to this package. That would be $55 more a month. So you pay only $169.95/month with no contract. No one else offers such a complete package, risk free, at such an affordable price.”
Well the $114.95/mo did sound like the commercial, but If I wanted to sell anything online that would be only $55 more a month…. So I asked about the ‘Social network and Background Linking’ that was mentioned and what that entailed….
The Up-Sale on this Tier 1 package……
The web.com™ representative stated, “now we also have a facebook boost program that is an additional $189.95 a month…. but let me tell you why it is important.:
- The design team will create the Facebook Business Profile. The Social Media Analyst will monitor your profile and encourage posters through engaging content. The SMA will know your business. Through this knowledge they will create advertisement(s) to ensure that we are driving NEW customers to your profile on a regular basis. They will manage your advertising effectiveness. They will post sponsored links and stories to your profile to ensure you remain relevant to your client base. Our goal is to drive new clients to your profile each month.
- A Fan following is important, it is more important is that your fans are actually engaging with you. We focus on a mix of business-related and socially relevant posts so your fans will like, comment, and share the posts we create on your behalf creating visibility on Facebook for your business amongst everyone’s friend network. This builds a strong connection between your business, your fans, and your fans entire network!
- You will receive access to a valuable scorecard so you can track your results. See who is following you, how many people saw your page, what your fans like on your page, and how your fan count grows! Not only do you receive effective marketing on Facebook every month, but you’re assured month after month we manage your page to build the best results for your business and target audience.”
So I asked if there were any set-up fees with all this magic and I was told: “there are no set up fee’s with these products. But with the ecommerence we charge a 1.5% transaction fee (per transaction) on the $169.95 package.”
Let’s do the Math on this Tier 1 package…
- $114.95*/mo for 5 Pages and no Shopping Cart ($1379.40/yr)
- $169.95*/mo for 5 Pages + Shopping Cart (500 Items) – Plus 1.5% transaction fee. ($2039.40/yr + 1.5% of all your sales)
- $189.95**/mo (optional) for a Social Media Page to be built and Monitored ($2279.40/yr + additional for that year)
*Note: Overall, per this review, this is just a calculated cost for the year and prices are subject to change for the second year according to the web.com™ terms of service agreement. – **depending if you opt-in for this recommended option.

So with this Tier 1 Package if you opt-in for the Social Network Aspect (Facebook), which is optional, but highly recommended and since there are no set-up fees (at this time) you can pay a potential month/yearly:
- $304.90*/mo (5 Pages + No Shopping Cart + Facebook) or ($3658.80/yr)
- $359.90*/mo (5 Pages + Shopping Cart (500 Items) + Facebook) or ($4318.80/yr)
*depending if you opt-in for this recommended option – Note: Overall, per this review, this is just a calculated cost per year and prices are subject to change the second year according to the web.com™ terms of service agreement.

Second Category - Summary:
So what is advertised on the web.com™ Television/Radio commercials is the $114.95/mo – $1379.40/yr package. Everything else is discretionary and a choice based on what you, the potential customer may actually need to have your website professionally designed and to get you started.
Here's where it gets interesting...... (Category 3)
So now you are in deep at this point and possibly confused, like i was, and proceeded to allow this sales rep to explain what “Tier 2” was. He explained that this was their ‘A-La-Cart‘ package and probably would suit my business model the best.

I could already tell, by this point, this is where the proverbial, barrel of money was going to be necessary was about to begin. So I listened, with great earnest, while this guy began telling me that everything I was told about the ‘Tier 1 Package‘ was included in the ‘Tier 2 Package‘, but there was a lot more features.
First it was it would take me from 5 custom built pages up to 15 custom built pages. E-commerce was included, but only up to 500 items. If I wanted to go beyond the 500 items there was a package, he stated, “We call it the “Pro E-commerce Package“, it has many features not available in the entry level product.” and it was, “only an extra $50 per month to lift the product limit, and to add multilevel logins (for other employees,) affiliate management features etc.” Plus they only charge 1% transaction fee (per transaction) through the shopping cart (instead of the 1.5% in the Tier 1 Package).
He told me that this cost was only $219.95 a month (500 Products) and stated there was a build fee of $999.00 to do the build of this package.
Let's do the Math on this Tier 2 package...
- $999.00* Build Fee (Must be paid upfront and is non-refundable – So add that to the initial first year cost cost below)
- $219.95*/mo for 15 Pages + Shopping Cart (500 Items) – Plus 1.0% transaction fee. ($2639.40/yr + 1.0% of all your sales)
- $269.95*/mo for 15 Pages + Shopping Cart (Unlimited) – Plus 1.0% transaction fee. ($3239.40/yr + 1.0% of all your sales)
- $189.95**/mo (optional) for a Social Media Page to be built and Monitored ($2279.40/yr + additional for that year)
*Note: Overall, per this review, this is just a calculated cost for the year and prices are subject to change for the second year according to the web.com™ terms of service agreement. – **depending if you opt-in for this recommended option.

So with this Tier 2 Package if you, again, opt-in for the Social Network Aspect (Facebook), which is optional, but highly recommended and since there are no set-up fees (at this time) you can pay a potential month/yearly:
- $409.90*/mo (15 Pages + Shopping Cart (500 Items) + Facebook) or ($4918.80/yr)
- $459.90*/mo (15 Pages + Shopping Cart (Unlimited) + Facebook) or ($5518.80/yr)
- $999.00 One-Time Build Fee – Upfront (So add that to the initial first year cost cost above).
*depending if you opt-in for this recommended option – Note: Overall, per this review, this is just a calculated cost per year and prices are subject to change the second year according to the web.com™ terms of service agreement.

Third Category - Summary:
So if you want more than the basic 5 Pages… Tier 2 is going to be your only route. Actually 5 pages normally won’t cut it for most business websites if you want to be descriptive to your potential client. This doesn’t mean it is impossible, but the basics are:
- Home page (Introduction Page)
- Services page (Tells Potential Clients What Services you Offer)
- About Us page (Tells Potential Clients why they should do business with your company)
- FAQs page (Answers Common Questions asked by Previous Clients – generally questions Potential Clients may have).
- Testimonial page (Let’s Potential Clients see what other existing clients have to say – A reinforcement element to purchase).
- Portfolio Page (To show off who are your current customers – Gives Potential Clients an opportunity to contact them about you).
- Blog page (This is optional, but a way to keep clients and Potential Clients informed – relating to your products and services).
- Support page (Let’s Potential Clients know your business cares about its products and services).
- Contact page (Gives Potential Clients opportunity to get a hold of your business anytime – other than your Phone Number).
- Shop page (Links to shopping cart – if you have one)
So with the basics for a well structured business website… the above count is 10 pages right out of the gate. For consideration, a general rule of thumb, There are variables, which can add more pages, which generally fall under the Services page. Reasoning? Well, if you choose to explain each of the services individually it might be in your company’s favor these Potential Clients. Because most, Potential Clients, want to know more about ‘EXACTLY’ what each service entails then just a brief statement. Also you do not want to flood one page with numerous service brief descriptions because this may cause the Potential Client(s) to scroll down, needlessly, forever. This long-list structure (Splash-Page Approach), which a lot of designers employ in their designs, generally causes the Potential Client to get distracted and potentially leave your site (something No Business owner wants whatsoever). Noting that this does not happen all the time, but, again, overall, it is a general rule of thumb in the industry not to do this long-list structure to save pages.
So 10 pages can easily turn into 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 or even more pages (depending on how big your company may be or what you want to sell to your Potential clients – the website visitor)…..
In this case (Tier 2 Package), the 15 pages is a safe bet to focus your design aspect.
But again…. what is advertised on the web.com™ Television/Radio commercials is the “One Low Monthly Fee”. This is hardly the case…. Since everything else is discretionary and a choice based on what you, the potential customer may actually need to have your website professionally designed and to get you started.
So here is the overal Catch:
Taking everything into account, web.com™ falls short on the ‘as-advertised’ element on the aspect of affordability and design quality, since their ‘custom designed’ websites all look pretty much like a cookie-cutter template. And yes even the ones that are given at the Tier 2 & Tier 3 Level (view web.com™ custom Tier 1 and Tier 2 designs).
It all boils down to your budget and what you are willing to spend on your business and what you get out from your expenditure. You get what you pay for is a coined phrase, but oh so very true.
- You Can pay as little as $1379.40/yr (for a website with no e-commerce and only 5 pages)
- You Can pay up to $5518.80/yr for a marketable website that will do the right job
- If you opt in for the Tier 2 Package you can add $999.00 to your overall cost (remembering this is a one-time build fee and upfront - Your monthly fees are still the same the following years thereafter)
- You can pay whatever dollar package you choose every year. Year after year and if you choose to stop paying, your website disappears.
- Your Support is limited to 60 minutes a month for changes (which you will have to do yourself - most of the time)
- You can lease a website from a service company with No Guarantees that your site will be successful nor be backed by the workmanship you pay money for upfront and monthly/yearly (Section 10 - terms of service agreement)

Noting, throughout this web.com™ process breakdown, there are some key elements to further consider: (which is not disclosed up-front, but is written in their terms of agreement):
- (Section 6): You are solely responsible for your site (unless expressly stated) this covers: “you will be solely responsible for the development, maintenance and operation of the Website” and further…”You will be solely responsible for creating, managing, editing, reviewing, deleting and otherwise controlling the Content on the Website, regardless of whether Web.com provides any design or customization Services to you under this Agreement, including all descriptions of the products and services you offer to customers of your Website and user-generated content on and related to your Website.”, ,Basically you are paying a lot of money every month for your site.
- (Section 7): You, the unknowing potential client, NEVER own any rights to your design.
That’s right…. You don’t own your website. You are just renting it on a month-to-month basis. Web.com™ is a service provider and nothing more than that. None of the images, graphics and logos that they provide are yours and you are explicitly forbidden to use any such materials as your own. You do own your Customer Content – the stuff you put into your website (section 6 Paragraph 4). - (Section 8): Is another element, that is not discussed upfront, but is allocated in web.com™’s terms of service agreement, is a fact that your website collects ‘Visitor Data’ whether it is to view your website or use your shop. You, the client, are the sole owner of the data, but that data can be collectively viewed by web.com™ and falls under their Privacy Policy terms. So what does that mean? For their described purposes of Monitoring and Improving Performance they can collectively use such data for internal purposes per their privacy policy since you, the client, must post that your website is hosted by and product property of web.com™.
Conclusion
The choice is always up to the consumer on what they feel is the correct course of action for their business and its welfare of operation. The purpose of this review was to take the hassle out of the sales pitch element and confusing terms that are generally know to those in the industry and converting it into a simple format of the whole perspective to educate the public.
All businesses that provide website development have various components that, much like buying a car, has its good points and bad. However, when you are basing your decision off of advertising that ends up being more than what is claimed… well if you want to spend more money and never own what you paid for… then, again, that is your right to do so with your hard-earned money. But their advertisement stated, “For one low monthly fee” and it is definitely not low when you have to have what is necessary to be successful…
So here are the Pro and Con of web.com™:
Pro:
- National Company based out of Jacksonville, Florida
- Very friendly sales team associates
- If you want to build it yourself or have them do it – their services are comparable to most in the industry
- Search Engine Submissions done monthly (another standard of the industry)
Con:
- Websites are not utilizing Responsive Technology (Adaptive website to Smart Phones, Tablets). They have a separate mobile design (basically two site design instead of one) and is on upgrade option.
- You never own the design (if you want to take your business elsewhere – you will have to potentially start over)
- Most packages are do-it-yourself, but for a fee they can design it (design), but you have to maintain it (update content)
- SEO (Organically) only 3-5 pages. (If you have more than 5(max) then there is a fee and they call this ‘Copyrighting a Page‘)
- Numerous customer complaints – (Relating to billing practices and products and services) on some of a few Blogs, and other resources. You can Google™ or Bing™ it yourself.
- They have no disclaimer about credit card needed in the commercial. (You will actually have to give them a Credit Card to try out their services and you are charged immediately)
- When you have that many customers you are getting duplicate content and same thing thousands of other people have, so nothing web.com™ is going to set you apart or get you ranked on search engines.
- Cookie cutter website designs
- Extremely Costly (even on a monthly basis)
You be the judge… Do your homework before committing to any company and putting your business in their hands, so to speak… That just makes sense right?
Feel Free to comment below if you wish to do so…..
Interesting investigation. Also being in the industry I have seen clients misunderstanding of is actually involved in a cost of well designed website. It’s good to see someone took time to debunk web.com “business model”