Weebly Website Builder
WEEBLY REVIEW
Weebly is one of the most widely known and extensively used website building platforms in the market today. Here is an in-depth review of how well it performed in our tests.
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY
Weebly is a web hosting and website builder service combined, out of which website building services are the most extensively used and liked. It is one of those projects that were started in a university by three 22-year-old students. They were looking for a solution to comply with the demands of their university. Those demands make it essential for all candidates to maintain an internet portfolio. That was when they came upon the idea of starting Weebly as their own web hosting service to facilitate the university’s students. The beta versions of Weebly were launched in 2006, and in 2007 Weebly was selected for Y Combinator’s winter startup program in Silicon Valley, California. That was when the three founders, namely Dave Rusenko, Chris Fanini, and Dan Veltri, began working on Weebly full-time.
Weebly relaunched in 2007 with its characteristic “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” editing interface as a website builder. It also succeeded in raising a $650,000 financing round from several investors, including Ron Conway, Paul Buchheit, Mike Maples, and Steve Anderson. Weebly added Pro accounts and Google Adsense monetization features in 2007 along with compatibility with Chrome and Safari. Weebly became profitable in 2008 when it reached 1,000,000 users. It also received criticism for its lack of CSS/HTML support in the start. It fixed this issue in 2009 by adding CSS/HTML functionality. In 2013, Weebly had 80 employees, and it was based in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco, in an 11,000 square feet space.
A Berlin office was opened in late 2015 to offer European-based support and marketing. Weebly 4 and Weebly Promote were released in 2016 as integrated marketing tools built into the platform when Weely began to focus on its eCommerce offerings. As more sellers began using the company as the initial entry into their market, the company created many features like one-click taxes. It also created integrations with Shippo to streamline the shipping process, Facebook Ad creator, integrated email marketing and lead capture and abandoned cart features. The release of Mobile 5.0 was made to help sellers run their store from anywhere, and deep integrations were made with Square, the payment processing company.
In early 2018, co-founder Dan Veltri left the company to pursue other interests. In 2018, Square Inc. acquired Weebly for $350 million, and that is the group that presently owns it.
UPTIME PROVIDED BY WEEBLY SITE BUILDER
Weebly website builder also provides free web hosting in all its packages, which adds value and convenience. The uptime provided by the free web hosting is 99.96% on average – out-charting many paid web hosts.
SPEED, SECURITY, AND FUNCTIONALITY
The web hosting services provided by Weebly provide ultra-fast page loading speeds to your site, and an SSL certificate is added to your cart for free. Weebly also protects your website from spam and malware.
PRICING AND PLANS
Weebly offers two kinds of plans, one for websites and one for online stores. Here are the details of the two types of programs and what they include.
Here is a list of the features included in all website builder plans:
WEBSITE THEMES
Weebly provides you with 48 professional website themes created by top designers to make your website look polished and professional without having you go through much effort. The ideas are compatible with all devices, ready to launch immediately, and fully customizable.
DRAG-AND-DROP BUILDER
Weebly provides you with many powerful tools that make website building as easy as a few simple drag-and-drop actions. You will get the perfect look without having to go through any effort.
VIDEO BACKGROUND
Weebly offers a video background as a dynamic design element that will keep your visitors coming back.
SITE SEARCH
A site search option will be added to your website to allow your visitors to navigate your site easily.
CUSTOM FONTS
You can choose from several custom fonts provided by Weebly to present a better and more personalized brand image.
VIDEO AND AUDIO
Everything you upload – be it video or audio – will be presented with clarity and perfection.
PARALLAX REVEAL
Weebly also gives you advanced animation effects to help your website stand out from the crowd.
IMAGE EDITOR
You can create professional photos right on your website without having to consult other tools because Weebly offers an image editor in all website-builder packages.
CUSTOM HTML/CSS AND JAVASCRIPT
Weebly has customized and integrated HTML/CSS and JavaScript to make things easier for you.
INTEGRATED ANALYTICS
You can get a detail of all the sales you make and all your page views through integrated analytics provided by Weebly that offer you all your data in one place.
MOBILE APPS MANAGEMENT
Weebly provides cutting edge mobile apps that make it easy to track performance, interact with visitors, and manage your site from anywhere.
MANAGEMENT OF WEBSITES
You can rest easy as Weebly takes care of security and infrastructure, so your website always runs fast, stays online, and looks great.
WEB HOSTING
Enjoy exceptional site speed and reliability with Weebly’s free website hosting service. Best part? You don’t have to do anything; it’s free.
SSL SECURITY
One-click SSL certificates, DDoS Mitigation, and a support team available 24/7 to keep your site safe.
DOMAIN MANAGEMENT
Buy a domain directly from Weebly. Manage your website and domain all in one dashboard. If you already have a domain, domain transfer is secure.
EMAIL MARKETING
Build newsletters, abandoned cart emails, and custom lifecycle marketing programs through Weebly’s free email marketing feature.
DIGITAL MARKETING
You can drive traffic to your site with integrated social media marketing, SEO tools, and AdWords credit through Weebly.
BLOGGING PLATFORM
With Weebly, you can quickly build beautiful posts with drag and drop, manage comments, and also schedule future content.
WEEBLY COMMUNITY
Weebly provides 24/7 exceptional customer support through email and chats for all customers and phone also for pro, business, and business plus customers. Weebly community publishes new content every week to back up your big ideas.
WEBSITE BUILDER PLANS
Under this heading, you will find the details for all the website builder plans offered by Weebly.
FOR WEBSITES
These four plans are specifically designed for websites.
FREE ($0.00)
This plan is for basic use if you don’t mind using a subdomain provided by Weebly, it is fit for temporary sites, especially. It provides you with an absolutely free website built with the following features:
Site Features
- Free SSL Security
- 500 MB Storage
- Domain with Weebly branding
eCommerce
No eCommerce functionality.
Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Lead Capture and Contact Forms
Support
- Community Forum
- Chat and Email Support
CONNECT ($5/mo) when paid annually
This plan allows you to connect a custom domain with basic functionality. It includes the following features:
Site Features
- Free SSL Security
- 500 MB Storage
- Connect a custom domain
eCommerce
No eCommerce functionality.
Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Lead Capture and Contact Forms
Support
- Community Forum
- Chat and Email Support
PRO ($12/mo) when paid annually
This plan is designed to support websites run by groups and organizations. It includes the following features:
- Free Domain ($20 Value)
- Google Ads ($100 Credit)
Site Features
- Free SSL Security
- Unlimited Storage
- Connect a Custom Domain
- Remove Weebly Ads
- Site Search
eCommerce
- Shopping Cart
- Accept Payments through Square
- Accept Payments through 3rd Party Providers
Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Lead Capture and Contact Forms
- Advanced Site Stats
Support
- Community Forum
- Chat and Email Support
- Phone Support
BUSINESS ($25/mo) when paid annually
This plan is designed for small businesses and stores. It has the following features:
- Free Domain ($20 Value)
- Google Ads ($100 Credit)
Site Features
- Free SSL Security
- Unlimited Storage
- Connect a Custom Domain
- Remove Weebly Ads
- Site Search
eCommerce
- Shopping Cart
- Accept Payments through Square
- Accept Payments through 3rd Party Providers
- Item badges
- Item Options
- Inventory management
- Automatic tax calculator
- Coupon codes
- Square gift cards
- Item reviews
- Shipping calculator
- Integrated shipping labels
- Good shipping discounts
Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Lead Capture and Contact Forms
- Advanced Site Stats
- Pop-up notifications
- Advanced eCommerce statistics
Support
- Community Forum
- Chat and Email Support
- Phone Support
FOR ONLINE STORES
These plans are specifically meant to support online stores completely.
PRO ($12/mo) when paid annually
This plan is designed to benefit groups and organizations. It includes the following features:
- Free Domain ($20 Value)
- Google Ads ($100 Credit)
Site Features
- Free SSL Security
- Unlimited Storage
- Connect a Custom Domain
- Remove Weebly Ads
- Site Search
eCommerce
- Shopping Cart
- Accept Payments through Square
- Accept Payments through 3rd Party Providers
Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Lead Capture and Contact Forms
- Advanced Site Stats
Support
- Community Forum
- Chat and Email Support
- Phone Support
BUSINESS ($25/mo) when paid annually
This plan is designed for small businesses and stores. It has the following features:
- Free Domain ($20 Value)
- Google Ads ($100 Credit)
Site Features
- Free SSL Security
- Unlimited Storage
- Connect a Custom Domain
- Remove Weebly Ads
- Site Search
eCommerce
- Shopping Cart
- Accept Payments through Square
- Accept Payments through 3rd Party Providers
- Item badges
- Item Options
- Inventory management
- Automatic tax calculator
- Coupon codes
- Square gift cards
- Item reviews
- Shipping calculator
- Integrated shipping labels
- Good shipping discounts
Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Lead Capture and Contact Forms
- Advanced Site Stats
- Pop-up notifications
- Advanced eCommerce statistics
Support
- Community Forum
- Chat and Email Support
- Phone Support
BUSINESS PLUS ($38/mo) when paid annually
This plan is designed for power sellers. It has the following features:
- Free Domain ($20 Value)
- Google Ads ($100 Credit)
- Email marketing ($96 Value)
Site Features
- Free SSL Security
- Unlimited Storage
- Connect a Custom Domain
- Remove Weebly Ads
- Site Search
eCommerce
- Shopping Cart
- Accept Payments through Square
- Accept Payments through 3rd Party Providers
- Item badges
- Item Options
- Inventory management
- Automatic tax calculator
- Coupon codes
- Square gift cards
- Item reviews
- Shipping calculator
- Integrated shipping labels
- Best shipping discounts
- Abandoned cart emails
- Real-time Shipping
Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Lead Capture and Contact Forms
- Advanced Site Stats
- Pop-up notifications
- Advanced eCommerce statistics
Support
- Community Forum
- Chat and Email Support
- Phone Support
PROS OF WEEBLY WEBSITE BUILDER
Here is a list of all the advantageous features of Weebly website builder that will significantly support your website in the long run.
EASE-OF-USE AND CONVENIENCE
Like other drag-and-drop builders, ease-of-use and convenience are the strong suits of Weebly website builder. You can trade a little control over your site to make it much easier to build your website with this website builder if you don’t have a technical background.
99.96% UPTIME
Weebly performs very well in all uptime tests and provides an average of 99.96% of uptime – one of the best uptime provisions available in the industry.
WELL-MAINTAINED SPEED AND SECURITY
Weebly also provides free web hosting in all its packages with superb speeds and free SSL security.
48 GORGEOUS THEMES
Weebly has 48 designer-picked important and customizable themes that will give your website the best look without much tweaking from you.
COMPLETELY FUNCTIONAL APPLICATIONS
The mobile applications provided by Weebly are entirely functional and top-notch so that you can manage your website from across devices.
SOLID E-COMMERCE OPTIONS
Weebly also has some reliable e-commerce and marketing options to help your business grow.
BUILT-IN FEATURE SET AND EXTENSIONS
Many things like threaded social comments, Google AdSense integration, and analytics come as additional perks with all packages.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
The customer support provided by Weebly is up to the mark, and they provide phone support with pro packages and above.
CONS OF WEEBLY WEBSITE BUILDER
- Lack of Control over your Website
- Industry-standard Pricing Upsells
MARK’S VERDICT
Powering over 45 million websites, this website builder is one of those popular drag-and-drop options that let you trade a bit of control for ease-of-use. With Weebly, website building, as well as hosting has always been a cakewalk, and I think it is just the thing for you if you want to open a small store online without having to use much technical knowledge. Your website will have a 99.96% uptime average, fast load speeds, a custom domain, free SSL and security, analytics, and loads of customizable themes to choose from. This is what makes Weebly one of the most popular tools available for website builders.