just look at the reviews all over the web, I did not and I am sorry. The website they delivered stinks to be polite. Terrible design, cust.serv. takes hours, they are the worst. Save your money.
OK, I have been watching these guys at WEB.COM for a few years, both as an industry observer and then as a customer (when they took over hosting my site when Domain Direct got out of the hosting business). They really stand for everything that is HORRIBLE about a small-biz service provider.
Some of Their Flaws:
- Crappy UX. Stuck in 1999. Seriously.
- Confusing Products. Web Hosting Premium / Supreme / Extra Deluxe / Want Fries With That.
- Antiquated Software. I can't automatically pay and relaunch a domain? I have to file a ticket for the next business day. Have you heard of Paypal?
- Price Gouging. $40 / month for a Facebook fan page. Really?? $37 per year for a simple domain name (vs. $8-12 elsewhere). Want privacy for that domain? They charge $24 per year extra (vs. $2 per year elsewhere).
- Poor Service. E.g., they auto-renewed my hosting but didn't auto-renew my domain name. WTF? Is hosting of any use without a way for the traffic to get there? That's like an auto mechanic fixing my brakes but returning the car to me with no gas in it. THIS HAS HAPPENED TWO YEARS IN A ROW WHERE THEY KNOCK MY SITE OFF THE AIR AND THEN APOLOGIZE.
- Horrible policies. You must cancel any annual service SIXTY DAYS before renewal or you are still charged. WTF.
- Big Company Mentality. Look at their site for about 60 seconds and you will get a sense that you are just part of their big machine.
- Ugly Templates. Also stuck in 1999. Just google for "free CSS templates" and update your offerings, will you?
But other than that, they are a great company. :-) :-)
Some of Their Positives:
- Short domain name.
- Easy to remember name.
- Acquired all the decent hosting providers (Interland, Domain Direct)
Web.com sucks. I had been using them for mail forwarding and thought I'd give them a little more business by hosting my domain. When I email their support to determine HOW I could accomplish this and what the costs would be, I was shocked at the reply. The support staff had renewed my domain for 9 years at $20 and charged the credit card I had on file for the mail forwarding services. I had never authorized them to charge the card. When I contacted their support to rectify the situation, I was told it was a done deal, there were no refunds on domain renewals, and basically I would have to deal with it. I involved my credit card company and the charges were reversed, but then Web.com shut down my domain and the mail forwarding service I had always paid for without notice! When I contacted them again to give them a chance to make things right, they wanted more money to return my domain to functional status. So now, my domain of shockzone3.com will be unused for the next 9 years because Web.com was unwilling to work with me in any capacity.
Web.com is a US based company focused on online marketing, website design and website building. The company was founded in 1997 and is part of a large network of brands providing a wide variety of internet services. (Incidentally, golfing fans will recognise Web.com as a major sponsor of the PGA Tour.)
Web.com’s large network of brands includes Network Solutions, Register.com, 1ShoppingCart.com and more. Whilst its main objective is to help small businesses succeed online with custom made websites, it does offer hosting as well, but this is by no means a primary service.
Web.com Hosting Plans
As website hosting is not the main focus of Web.com’s business model, it doesn’t offer the usual array of hosting plans and special offers, and that’s probably to be expected. As such, it is difficult to compare the company to other hosting companies.
I did manage to discover that Web.com’s hosting plans allow for a choice of Windows or Linux operating systems. Customers can get access to unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited domains.
There does also appear to be a referral programme and a reseller programme, but these are not advertised in detail on the Web.com site.
Web.com Uptime/Downtime
The Web.com website does not make any boasts about uptime, neither does it offer any guarantees. It does indicate that it utilizes a clustered Tier 4 data centre - the top level - and employs backup power supplies, UVAC cooling systems and has onsite security 24 hours a day.
Web.com Support
Web.com customers have access to 24/7 support through a phone line and an email address. There are very active Facebook and Twitter pages, but customers looking for support are usually directed back to the email address.
Other relevant support services include a regular blog and newsletter, and there a number of useful articles for customers to gain insight about website building.
Web.com in the News
Web.com is a large business which has a fairly high profile in the media, perhaps thanks to its golf sponsorship.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20120627/glf-tour-sponsor/
Web.com also often takes the lead in providing surveys and other web based research and analysis.
There are a number of articles going back to 2006 available through the web.com site, but nothing I found was negative or related to a service problem.
Web.com Control Panel
The Web.com website dosen’t make it clear which control panel they offer as part of its web hosting packages. It does confirm that there is a control panel of some sort, but the type or brand isn’t specified. This suggests that its control panel is a custom affair. Given the site’s lack of technical information, this would make sense.
Web.com Extras
Web.com’s hosting packages come with one year free domain name registration. It does not offer any other free Google Adword or Yahoo credits to tempt people to sign up.
Customers do get access to a free site building tool and its hosting supports Perl, Python and PHP. Again, the technical detail is lacking here.
Web.com Money Back Guarantee / Cancellation Policy
There is no obvious money-back guarantee available for unsatisfied customers. Whilst this is pretty unusual for companies offering web hosting, Web.com is not really set up as a web hosting business primarily. As such, it is unsurprising that it does not offer the usual range of competitive hosting features to reassure its customers.
Web.com Summary
As a web hosting business, Web.com to not stand up favourably against their competitors. There’s a lack of information about some of the most important things hosting clients will want to know: specs, limits and control panel capability, to name but three.
Customers looking specifically for web hosting services may want to consider one of Web.com’s other brands, such as Network.com or Register.com. However, if you are a small business looking for a company to build a professional website for you, Web.com may be ideal.
Fast growing shared hosting provider, BlueHost, offers a plan with plenty of features and unlimited domains.
Read our BlueHost Reviews
Web Hosting Hub offer an incredible deal: unlimited bandwidth & disk space, plus phone support, for $4.95/mo. What's not to like?
Read our Web Hosting Hub Reviews
InMotion Hosting was founded in 2001 and is co-owned by Sunil Saxena and Todd Robinson. Today, the company trades under the company name of InMotion Hosting.
Read our InMotion Hosting Reviews
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lousy service -- stay away. They have been charging me for years double for a service i never purchased. Submitting my sites to 200 search engines every month supposedly. I probably kept paying them for no absolute reason this whole time.