Weebly is a very user friendly, robust and reliable website builder.
If you are looking to build a business website or even a personal website to showcase your hobbies or interests, Weebly can help you accomplish your goals with very little technical knowledge on your part – we’ll discuss this in great depth in this Weebly review.
Weebly is a drag and drop website builder, so you literally drag website building blocks (such as a picture or a paragraph) into your screen when you are building a website. Very user friendly and intuitive to use and you don’t have to know codes.
Feedback from Weebly users is that they are very satisfied with building websites with Weebly given it’s comprehensive website building tools, ease of use, at very affordable prices (free for most people).
Weebly currently has over 15 million registered users, and more than 2% (and growing) of the websites on the internet are currently run on Weebly – that’s very impressive considering there are a lot of websites across the entire internet!
Whether people want to do business or sell things online, reach new people and be found, showcase their achievements, or communicate with their friends or family, Weebly is the best way for them to create a high-quality site that meets their goals. – David Rusenko, Weebly CEO & Co-Founder
WEEBLY REVIEW - TOP 3 PROS AND CONS
- One of the easiest and user friendly drag & drop website builder in the market - They don’t overwhelm you excessive number of tools, but all the strong basics to build a functional website. Weebly’s user interface is very intuitive to use, which is good for all levels of users. You can literally build a good website in less than an hour.
- Free to use - Weebly’s free platform provides you enough tools to build a functional website (even when you’re not paying a dime, which is awesome). There is no pressure to upgrade to the paid platform, but only if you want to. No credit card information is required to sign up for a free account, and there is no time limit to the free account – you can use it forever if you want to.
- Broad range of templates allows you to build a professional looking website. You get access to all the templates from Weebly (even with a free account) and they are adding more designs on a regular basis. Weebly also grants you access to their HTML / CSS editor so you can modify the website design as you wish (or hire someone to help you do this). Very flexible indeed.
- Not designed for complex e-commerce needs – If you are looking to build an online shop with a lot of products, Weebly’s e-commerce tools are not advanced enough yet to help you manage your online shop needs (such as multiple product displays, inventory tracking, item options, different payment option other than PayPal, customization of emails to confirm orders). However, there are third party shopping carts that you can integrate into a Weebly website to supplement this – Weebly is flexible enough to support this. [See our Jimdo or Squarespace reviews for more advanced shopping cart functions]
- Limited number of designer-caliber templates – The quality of Weebly’s templates is relatively average when compared to other website builders. However, they are ramping up their designs and are getting much better at this – so they are improving. There are also third party Weebly templates providers which really help (more on this below). [Wix and Squarespace has much more attractive designer templates. See our Wix vs Weebly review as well.]
- Very basic blog functions Weebly’s blogging function gives you the bare basics. However, if you manage a large number of blog posts with a wide range of categories, this is where Weebly falls behind as they currently don’t provide users with an efficient way to organize and manage articles. Further, they only have the basic Twitter share and Facebook share buttons without options to include Google Plus, Pinterest or other social media sharing buttons to promote your blog posts. Weebly could also improve with features such as “Most Popular Posts” or “Related Posts”. These would help improve user experiences as visitors can quickly get to the most popular read articles, or allow visitors to see other related posts which might also interest them. These are features that can be improved, but not detrimental to building a good website.
WEEBLY REVIEW VIDEO
Weebly updated their Editor and created a new Mobile Editor. See our thoughts on them.
WEEBLY IS IDEAL FOR….
Based on our review, Weebly is ideal for small businesses, photographers, designers, personal websites, online stores (but only if you integrate third party shopping cart add-ons).
Basically, if you want to build a good looking and functional website quickly and painlessly so you can focus on other things, Weebly is a good choice for you.
If you are looking to build a very complex or intricate website, there are other more “complicated” website builders.
EASE OF USE
Weebly is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) website builder, meaning you build the entire website right in front of you and what you see when you are building, is what actually shows up after you publish the website.
There is no flipping back and forth between editing mode and preview mode to see how your website will actually look after publishing.
Based no our review, Weebly is one of the most intuitive and easy to use website builders we’ve tested. As mentioned, they don’t offer you all sorts of bells and whistles to try to impress you. They keep it simple, minimalistic and effective, that’s why we like Weebly.
TEMPLATE DESIGN OPTIONS
Weebly started off with mediocre design templates a few years ago, and users have consistently requested that Weebly “upgrade” the quality of their templates.
Since then, Weebly has been creating more and more template designs that are much better than the previous templates – so they are improving (click here to see their template designs).
Weebly also gives you access to their HTML / CSS editor so if you want, you can also customize the website’s design there (or hire someone to help you). It’s a very nice option to have if you really want a customized design.
There are also third party templates providers out there that give you more design options and choices at affordable prices - here is one that provides premium Weebly templates.
Overall, there are plenty of good quality options for designing your Weebly website.
SUPPORT / TUTORIALS / COMMUNITY RESOURCES
Weebly Customer Support
Based on our experiences and users feedback, Weebly’s support team is responsive and will answer all emails. They have a small team that is servicing a very large group of users, so be patient on the response time. Additional support channels include posting your questions on their Facebook page or even contacting them via Twitter.
Unfortunately, Weebly does not offer phone support which would be nice for extra support . But this is understandable especially that Weebly is powering over 2% of all the websites across the entire internet – imagining how big their call center needs to be is scary enough. Having said that, Webs.com and Bluehost do offer phone support for their website builders.
Based on or experiences and review, Weebly is responsive when it comes to supporting their users. They don’t have the capacity to handhold each person (such as one-on-one phone calls), but given Weebly’s friendly and intuitive user interface, you really don’t have to be a rocket scientist to use Weebly proficiently.
Weebly Tutorial Resources
Weebly also has an online Support Center which is basically a “How To Guide” to use their tools to build your website.
They also host live free webinars which covers topics such as “Beginner’s guide to Weebly” and “Advanced Website Editing”. You have to register for these live webinars but they’re very helpful.
If you want to learn a few more advanced tips and tricks, DivTag Templates has interesting Weebly tutorials which you can receive for free. DivTag Templates is a premium Weebly designer templates provider (they’re one of the third party independent Weebly templates provider we mentioned above).
Weebly Community Forum
One of the things that some other website builders have is a community forum, where users can exchange ideas, post questions and find answers to questions that have already been asked. Weebly does not have such a forum yet. It’s a “nice to have”, but not absolutely important when it comes to influencing how good of a website you can build.
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WEEBLY MOBILE DISPLAY
Weebly offers a “Mobile Optimization” function where it takes your website, and automatically compresses it to fit into a mobile phone display. You get to preview your mobile optimized site so you know what your visitors will see, and you also get to drag and drop elements into the mobile editor which is pretty cool.
We have a dedicated full review of Weebly’s Mobile Editor here. In the review, we’ll also compare it to the mobile editor of other website builders to see how Weebly stands.
WEEBLY SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
We’ve seen arguments that website builders perform very poorly in search engine rankings. However, we have also seen many Weebly websites rank very well in Google (first page rankings) and we have personally built Weebly websites that have also ranked on first pages of search results.
So don’t let others discourage you – just because they can’t do it, doesn’t mean you can’t either! SEO is about planning, technique and persistence, but that’s beyond the scope of this review.
Weebly allows you to insert all the basic SEO functions, such as descriptions, titles and keywords for each web page.
You can also insert Google Analytics to start tracking your website visitor statistics as well. Alternatively, Weebly also provides a website statistics dashboard which tracks page views and unique visitors on your behalf from the past 30 days.
Weebly Pro users also get important information such as most visited pages, search terms (what keywords your visitors used to discover your website) and referring sites (which website referred your visitor to you).
We recommend using a combination of Google Analytics and Weebly’s own tracking to maximize the usefulness of the information.
HOSTING AND EXPORT OPTIONS
Weebly hosts all the websites for you, even if you are using their free platform, so you do not have to pay for hosting separately.
The advantage is that they manage the entire process for you so you can concentrate on building your website and focusing on other more important things (such as life!) Weebly takes care of all the security upgrades for hosts and do all the techie stuff to ensure your website is always up and running, and doesn’t get hacked.
One important benefit that makes Weebly stands out is that they allow you to export / archive your website. So if you ever want to export your website to another host, you can be free to do so.
It’s nice when a website builder doesn’t hold you hostage – that’s a nice touch. Here is a quick video tutorial on how to export a Weebly website and import it into another host.
PRICING – IS IT WORTH THE INVESTMENT?
You can use Weebly for free, and have access to all the basic tools you will need to build a website. They don’t impose a time limit if you sign up for a free website, so you can build and have a free website for as long as Weebly is still around!
But if you want to upgrade to Weebly Pro or Weebly Starter plan, which gives you access to more features and tools, you have that option as well (click here to see what’s included with Weebly Pro).
Currently, you can sign up for Weebly Pro for as low as $6.63 per month or Weebly Starter plan for as low as $3.29 per month, which is about 22 cents per day or 11 cents per day, respectively. Not bad considering most people probably spend way more than that on a cup of coffee or chocolate bar everyday.
(Click here to see our full analysis and breakdown of Weebly pricing for the Weebly Pro and Weebly Starter plans.)
WEEBLY REVIEW – CONCLUSION / RECOMMENDATION
Weebly’s difficulty level is rated as “Low” - it is suitable for users of all technical skill levels (even if you are an absolute beginner).
A good approach is to start with a free website, familiarize yourself with their tools and how easy or difficult it is for you to use Weebly, then make your decision to upgrade or not.
Keep in mind that there is no time limit to use their free services.
HELPFUL TIP: See our expert analysis on Weebly Pro and Weebly Starter Plans, and how to get them for free.
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Great reviews! I just tried Wix, and didn’t realize you couldn’t export it. That said, the website was super easy to create, and looks beautiful. The only thing is there aren’t a lot of calendar and event builder options other than google calendar and one simple Wix event page. I’m going to try Weebly as well and see which one is better.
Yes, Wix is pretty easy to use once you give it a good try. But its lack of ability to export your website is indeed a drawback…. but most website builders share the same issue.
I believe it has to do with the fact that because Wix doesn’t have any “structure” in that you can literally drag and drop any elements into pretty much anywhere in its website, this makes exporting not very realistic as other external hosts may have issues adapting.
Further, there are a lot of Wix functions that simply won’t “survive” outside of its own environment.
Having said that, it is still a very solid website builder. But as I mentioned in my reviews, make sure you give several website builders a good try before committing, which sounds like exactly what you’re doing!
hey i made my site from weebly and bought a domain for it. this morning i tried to edit the site but now the changes do not appear even when i changed the settings and put the domain i bought on that site i need your help please
Hi Joseph – if you need any technical support for Weebly, you can reach out to their support team at support@weebly.com, or leave a message on their Facebook page which they do respond to fairly quickly.
Hope that helps – Jeremy
in your dashboard go to domain tab. change the destination..
choose:
—Assign to one of my Weebly sites—-
go to your assigned website and republish it.
Thanks for contributing Micah
I truly appreciate the reviews that you have written recently, especially in regards to WIX vs. Weebly, as I am new to website building. I used to work as a graphic designer through a large format printing company, and have been a freelance graphic artist for some time now, but coding, website maintenance, etc, are all new to me.
I have a quick question… forgive my confusion, but I have been put in charge of developing a website for a new company that I currently work for. I’ve been informed that we have already purchased a domain name and a server, but are still lacking a physical site. As a designer, I’ve been set as the point person for this project. After reading Weebly’s review, I gather that I would lean more towards using them versus WIX, as I can back-up and move the site at any time.
My question is this: If I build a website for free on Weebly, am I able to then export it and easily transfer it to our already purchased domain, or can I use said domain in conjunction with Weebly without having to export/move what I create within their system. I suppose I’m a bit confused on how the server, domain name, website builder, etc. all link up. I hate to bother you with such questions, but after reading your articles, it’s clear that you would be someone who may be able to help determine my next step.
Thanks so much!
/Steve
Hi Steve,
Yes, Weebly does allow you to export your Weebly website so you can use it to either create a backup copy on a regular basis (just to be safe), or export and import it into another host. However, as mentioned in our Wix vs Weebly article (http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/wix-vs-weebly-which-website-builder-is-better/), once your website is outside of Weebly’s operating / hosting environment, you will no longer be able to use Weebly tools to make edits. You will need to be able to edit the codes in order to make modifications. One workaround is to make your changes in Weebly, export again,and import again into your own host.
For your latter question, about how server, domain name and website builder link up, they are 3 different things.
Weebly is the website builder that provides you with the tools to build a website. At the same time, they also provide hosting for you (the server). Domain name is your URL (e.g. http://www.yourdomain.com). When you purchase a domain name, you own it.
So when you set up a website with Weebly, you can follow their instructions on how to point your domain name to Weebly (see this – http://help.weebly.com/domains–email.html)
The same as when you export the Weebly website and import it into another host, you can just follow instructions provided by that host to point your domain name away from Weebly, and to your new host.
Hope this helps!
Jeremy
Thank you so much for all of your help, Jeremy!
I did not expect this task to feel so daunting, especially coming from a background in graphic design, but there was (and still is) a lot of vocabulary that I was not familiar with, and it was hard to find a real person, with actual “on-the-job” learning experience who was able/willing to help. I truly appreciate your reply, and after reading your “About Us” section, want to congratulate you two on your accomplishments.
I’ll be sure to refer anyone who may be interested in site building to your page. May you two continue to enjoy a successful and prosperous future.
Thanks again for all of your help!
/Steve
It’s our pleasure Steve. It could be a bit daunting at the beginning, but keep at it and things will start to make sense. To be honest we didn’t have a website building background but just through pure trial & error and committing hundreds of hours into testing different website builders for our various projects, we started building up our expertise.
All the best to your journey!
Jeremy
Fantastic review and very helpful thanks.
I’m looking to build a website for my business and i’ve been quoted extremely high prices from freelance designers and website designing agencies so would love to be able to try and put something together myself.
Weebly sounds great but i just wondered a couple of things:
1) is there a limit on how many HD videos you can have on your site?
2) is there a way to make the website protected so only paid members can view the content?
Would really appreciate any information you have regarding these two queries.
Thanks
Paul
Hi Paul,
Here are my thoughts:
1) I believe you can upload as many HD videos as you want, as long as you are a Weebly Pro subscriber and that each video is under 1 GB in size.
2) Currently there is no membership gateway for Weebly. You can either:
i) Check out Sentry Login which is compatible with Weebly (DivTag Templates talk about them here – http://divtagtemplates.com/resource/members-login/)
ii) Check out Webs.com (our review here – http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/webs-com-review-membership-website-builders/) as they have a membership function built in.
Hope this helps!
- Jeremy
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.
Sorry to be a pain but I have a couple more queries:
1) I plan on having lots of short HD clips will this slow down the running of the site? Will it also effect the building of the site? I know it takes time to upload videos but once uploaded will that still slow down how everything else runs while building?
2) Sentrylogin looks perfect for what I’m making. Will this prevent members from downloading my videos? Or does Weebly prevent this? Obviously i don’t want paid members taking the content.
I’m sure I’ll probably think of more questions to ask you in the future. Once again I really appreciate any help you can give me.
Thanks
Paul
Paul
1) I’m not entirely sure about this but just be aware that Weebly is a shared host so it won’t be as fast as a dedicated host (which is very expensive on a monthly basis). I “suspect” it won’t affect your site that much as long as your HD videos are not all loading and playing at the same time.
2) I think you should contact Sentry Login directly as they will be able to give you an accurate answer there
Thanks!
- Jeremy
Can you tell me how I can embed externel commenting systems like Discuss, on weebly?
Hi Jermy – DivTag Templates who create premium Weebly templates has a short video tutorial on how to do this. It’s a bit outdated but the idea is still there – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiRE9PuJsDs
You can probably find a few other tutorials out there that relates to Disqus on YouTube as well. Good luck!
- Jeremy
I have built Recruitment website through weebly . Like other recruitment sites i want that candidates /employers should be able to get themself register . how can i do it ?
Hi Farina – I don’t think Weebly has a registration function. However, they do have a Forum element that you can try to see if you like it. There are also membership login functions that are compatible with Weebly. The one that I know is Sentry Login which DivTag Templates talk about here – http://divtagtemplates.com/resource/members-login/
Hope this helps!
- Jeremy
Your website has really helped me narrow down my choices as to which web builder I will choose. Thank you for all your effort and hard work. You website is so informative.
Hey Sam – glad you found our reviews helpful. Thanks!
- Jeremy
Is there a charge for a search engine or can people get to site throught the site address registered with weebly?
This site looks great. I have a web site but am thinkong about changing due to cost and non corresponing sales
Hi Della,
If you are referring to Weebly’s free subdomain address (such as della.weebly.com), most people prefer to get their own domain address (through GoDaddy, for example) so they can brand their own website accordingly.
I’m not entirely sure if using your own domain name or Weebly’s subdomain will have any search engine results impact, but we’ve seen Weebly websites using Weebly’s subdomain name (so they didn’t have their own domain address) rank very well for specific keywords – so it’s possible to do well in search engines. It all comes down to creating really good content, and promoting these content to other people / websites.
- Jeremy
I switched to Weebly Pro…from a WP Blog….I’m thrilled with the ease of use and then there is the learning curve when you want to add a widget like rafflecopter…not sure how to proceed…but I’m much happier with WeeblyPro than WP…I’m a busy, small business owner….I don’t have the time or resources for an IT department….Thank for your thorough review~
Hello, just stumbled on your very informative website.
On a budget, and would like to build my own website (I have used blogger & WordPress).
This is a website mainly photos with links, where registered users can submit their photo w/links.
Just like: http://www.tastespotting.com – this is a food submission site.
Which one do you think I should try – Weebly vs. WordPress?
Thank you!
Hi Fides – if you want the function where people can register and submit photos, then Weebly probably won’t have the right tools for you. Weebly is great for setting up basic websites, but if you want more functionality, you’ll have to look for external widgets.
The downside of WordPress, is although it is a much more flexible and powerful platform for building websites, the learning curve is much higher. Also, if you want the WordPress website to look a certain way, you’ll have to know how to modify codes to adjust the design. With Weebly, you can drag and drop elements to re-arrange content very quickly and you can do it yourself.
So both WordPress and Weebly have their own pros and cons. It all depends on how much time and resources you want to commit to the website. We have an article comparing WordPress and Weebly here – http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/weebly-vs-wordpress-whats-the-difference/
- Jeremy
how do I now how many people went to my website
Hi Ana – you can either:
1) Use Weebly’s stats which is part of the tools available for you when you sign up with Weebly
2) Use Google Analytics, which is relatively easy to set up – just set up an account with Google and copy and paste a short snippet of code into Weebly Editor.
Weebly provides all these instructions in their Support Center.
- Jeremy
This information is very helpful, I’m looking for a website that is easy to build, and this seems to be a good choice. However, I do need a shopping cart on it that’s also easy to use. Is there something you can recommend that’s as easy to build as Weebly, but maybe has a better shopping cart system built in? Thanks.
Hi Lorraine,
We don’t have any reviews of shopping cart plugins, but if you just Google “Weebly Shopping Carts” you’ll find a few that works (compatible with Weebly). I haven’t used them before, but I’ve seen some of them in action and they appear to provide a lot more e-commerce functions than what Weebly offer at the moment. The drawback is that the shopping cart is a 3rd party plugin and so not fully integrated with Weebly.
Alternatively, check out Squarespace as they have a pretty comprehensive set of e-commerce tools that are fully integrated with the website builder. Squarespace also offers you a drag and drop builder. Here’s our review on their e-commerce tools – http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/squarespace-e-commerce-business-review/
Good luck!
- Jeremy