PowWeb Review

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PowWeb is one of many website hosts that are owned by the Endurance International Group. They were founded in 1999 and actually had a pretty strong run of satisfying their customers before being taken over by the EIG in 2006.

If you are not aware, the EIG is known to be a customer support killer in the industry. Just about every host that they own focuses on providing users with self-help guides and a strong knowledge base, while downgrading their customer support and technical experts.

Anyhow, let’s take a look at what PowWeb has to offer so you can get a better idea about whether they meet your unique needs:

Features & Benefits

While PowWeb certainly does not go out of their way to create a ton of appealing features to provide to users, they seem to have covered all of the basics. On top of that, the simplicity of their features and options make them one of the more user-friendly website hosts on the market.

Here is a further look at some of the main features and benefits that PowWeb provides:

Site Builder

The click and point site builder that PowWeb offers is probably their most intriguing feature. It is incredibly easy-to-use and is perfect for beginner website owners that are looking for a simple way to create a professional looking website.

No Confusion

If there is one thing that separates PowWeb from their competitors it is the fact that they do not really allow for confusion on their page. They only offer one plan and users that choose that plan then have access to everything that they offer. This can be refreshing for users that have spent hours researching different plans from other website hosts.

Analytics

The analytical tools provided by PowWeb are definitely on par with what is provided by many other website hosts throughout the industry. They give you access to Webalizer and Awstats web statistics as well as providing you with a bandwidth report and real-time logging. Overall, the analytic tools that they offer cover all of the basics that you will want to know to continually improve and optimize your website.

Email

The email feature that they offer is also pretty standard for the industry, although it should be noted that they allow users to create unlimited mailboxes. There are spam filters attached to all mailboxes and all accounts can be accessed through webmail. They also have an email forwarding option for users that want to build an email list to more efficiently distribute content and information.

E-Commerce

While they do only offer one plan, that package does come with everything you will need to get a small online store up and running. They have a built-in osCommerce shopping cart and there is a shared SSL certificate included for security purposes. It should also be noted that you can accept PayPal payments immediately upon opening your store.

Reliability

Unfortunately this is where PowWeb seems to really be lagging behind their competition. While they do not display data about their uptime nor do they offer an uptime guarantee of any kind, many users have complained regularly about mysterious email and server outages that can last for several hours. This is really not something that most website owners can take a risk on and may be a deal breaker for some.

Customer Support

As with almost all of the website hosts owned by Endurance International Group, the customer support mostly revolves around an abundance of self-help information. They have an extensive knowledge base and user guide for finding plenty of solid information and also provide the typical live chat, email, and phone support.

While they do not display the response times for their support staff publicly, the opinion from most users is that it is fairly pathetic. Even long time users have complained that there is very little technical support and most of the customer service agents point you towards guides or how-tos instead of walking you through how to fix different issues.

Cons

Obviously the customer support is a major concern for any user that does not already have a lot of technical skills. Unless you are well-hearsed in solving problems on your own, there is little doubt that you will become frustrated by the overall customer service experience.

Another con is the fact that there are very few options available to users in order to better customize their websites. While using the website builder or control panel is a fairly simple process, experienced website owners will probably not be satisfied with the customizable features that are available.

Pricing

As has been mentioned, PowWeb only offers one plan to their user. While the plan is regularly priced at $11.95/month, they regularly run discount offerings for as low as $3.88/month. You can even save a few hundred dollars over the long term if you make the decision to commit for two or three years.

The Final Word

Overall, the lack of strong customer support and reliability make PowWeb nothing more than a budget based option for website owners. If you are looking for something that is affordable and allows you to quickly and easily create a professional looking website, they may have what you are looking for. If, on the other hand, you are looking to create a business that you can continually improve and grow, they probably are not your best option.

It should be noted that they do feature a 30-day money back guarantee, so it may be worth giving their website builder a try if you are looking for something that is cheap and easy-to-use. Otherwise, your best bet is to steer clear of these guys.