Network Solutions offers a basic drag-and-drop website builder that lets you get your store online in minutes. It comes with over 150 professionally designed templates, a free domain, and a low initial price. However, the website builder is very limited, and the regular prices can be prohibitive. Overall, we think competing website builders offer better value, even if you only need a basic website for your store.

PROS

• Very easy to use
• Excellent technical support
• Competitive pricing

CONS

• Editor is somewhat limited
• Can’t add custom code

Overview

Founded in 1979, Network Solutions is recognized as the world’s first domain registrar. With over four decades of experience, the company has adapted to the changing internet landscape and now operates as a comprehensive e-commerce platform. Offering web hosting, domain services, and an easy-to-use website builder, Network Solutions caters to a variety of online needs.

While Network Solutions’ website builder is suitable for basic websites, its pricing structure may be a deterrent for users looking for more advanced design and marketing tools. Competitors like GoDaddy, WordPress.com, and iPage offer a wider range of features at a competitive price. However, Network Solutions remains a solid option for those looking for reliable domain registration and web hosting services.

How Network Solutions Works

One of the first issues we encountered with Network Solutions was the lack of transparency in the pricing structure. The website only displays the initial price for the first month. For the regular price, please see Network Solutions’ terms of service.

However, when we used the drag-and-drop editor, we found the interface to be easy to use. Network Solutions uses a content editing panel that is similar to that offered by other website builders. Adding and moving content is intuitive, and once we’ve designed the site, we can publish it with a single click.

Free Domain

All Network Solutions website builder plans include a free domain for one year. That’s a good deal, although it’s worth noting that most other builders also offer it.

Professional Design Service

If you don’t want to spend time creating your own website, you can hire Network Solutions developers to do it for you. The company will create a website according to your requirements, and you’ll have access to Network Solutions’ standard website building tool to make changes and maintain your site over time.

How to Create a Website with Network Solutions

The first step in creating a website with Network Solutions is choosing a template. The platform offers over 150 professionally designed templates in the most popular business categories. In fact, the templates were one of our favorite aspects of Network Solutions’ Builder. The only downside is that if you want to change the templates later, you’ll have to start over from scratch.

Once you choose a template, you’ll be taken to the drag-and-drop site editor. It’s pretty intuitive to use, with a panel of content elements that you can drag and drop onto your site. Content elements include basic elements like text fields, images, videos, forms, and buttons, as well as more advanced elements like HTML snippets and image sliders. You can also change the fonts and background colors of your template, although there aren’t many customization options.

It’s worth noting that the Network Solutions builder also offers pre-designed blocks. These are full-width panels that contain multiple content elements. Blocks allow you to design your site without having to organize individual content elements, making them a great option for novice designers.

Network Solutions doesn’t have a mobile editing interface, but all of its sites are mobile-friendly. When you’re creating your site, you can easily preview how it will look on a computer, tablet, or mobile device.

Overall, we found the process of creating a simple site with Network Solutions to be fairly straightforward. The site builder doesn’t offer a lot of customization options, but it’s easy to use, and the presence of pre-designed blocks is a big plus for beginners. However, if you’re looking to create a more complex site, the editor may not offer the flexibility you need.

Adding Multimedia to Your Network Solutions Website

Network Solutions allows you to instantly add photos and videos to your site. You can also embed audio files, PDF files, and other file types using the HTML snippet content element. Adding files is easy, although you can only upload one image at a time when creating galleries. The builder also includes access to over 2 million free images from Unsplash. Overall, the multimedia capabilities are average but sufficient.

Marketing Functionality with Network Solutions Websites

Network Solutions doesn’t offer many marketing features. For example, it doesn’t include email marketing tools. You can create a blog, but there are no options for scheduling posts or posting to social media. Network Solutions offers social media icons so you can connect with your accounts, but there’s no full integration with Facebook or Instagram.

SEO Functionality & Add-Ons with Network Solutions Websites

The amount of SEO functionality your website will have depends on the hosting plan you choose. The basic website builder plan lets you add a meta title and description to each of your pages, but doesn’t offer much else. However, if you upgrade to the Website and Online Marketing plan, Network Solutions will automatically list your site in search engines and local directories like Yellow Pages, Yelp, and more.

Network Solutions doesn’t offer built-in traffic analytics, but it can easily integrate with Google Analytics.

Ecommerce

Network Solutions offers a comprehensive e-commerce solution that combines store design, secure order processing, inventory management, marketing tools, training, and support. It’s ideal for new or growing businesses that have a small to medium-sized inventory and want to expand online. The service offers fully customizable storefronts, social media integration, SEO marketing tools, and mobile-optimized design templates.

Payment Processing

Network Solutions offers a secure payment processing system that easily integrates with a wide range of credit card processing companies, including merchant accounts and payment gateways, as well as PayPal. The service is fully compliant with the Visa Certified Cardholder Information Security program and all PCI data standards. Customer transaction data is never stored on the site for added protection.

Scalability

Network Solutions offers scalable hosting and storage options that ensure stability regardless of the plan you choose. The downside is that Network Solutions doesn’t offer many advanced inventory or shipping management tools. This platform may be suitable for small businesses with a few products, but it probably won’t be powerful enough to keep up with the growth of your online business.

Network Solutions Customer Support

Network Solutions offers customer support via phone, email, and live chat. Phone support is available 7 days a week from 7:00 AM to 12:00 PM (EST), while live chat is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 11:00 PM.

The company also has an online knowledge base, although we had to search for it with some links. However, once you find it, the tutorials are fairly easy to follow and include plenty of screenshots.

Pricing & Special Offers

The price of Network Solutions’ website building plan is the main reason we don’t recommend this platform. It’s too expensive, especially considering the lack of tools.

Network Solutions offers three plans: Website Builder, Website & Online Marketing, and Website, Marketing & Store. All plans include access to the builder and a free domain for one year. The Online Marketing plan adds the SEO features described above, while the Website, Marketing & Store plan lets you sell up to 500 products.

Network Solutions doesn’t offer a free trial, but you can get a refund if you cancel within the first 30 days.

Network Solutions vs GoDaddy

We think GoDaddy offers better value than Network Solutions, especially if you’re building a website for a small business. GoDaddy offers email marketing and online appointment booking tools, as well as more advanced traffic analytics.

Network Solutions vs WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a great alternative to Network Solutions for blogging. With WordPress.com, you can schedule posts and share them on social media. You can also monetize your blog through ads, which is not possible with Network Solutions.

Network Solutions vs iPage

The iPage website builder is similar to Network Solutions in many ways, but much more affordable. SEO tools come standard with iPage, and the builder is free with any iPage hosting plan. We think that for basic websites, iPage offers better value than Network Solutions.

Bottom Line

Network Solutions offers a good website builder for creating basic websites, with well-designed templates and an easy-to-use web editor. It’s worth noting that the pre-built content blocks allow for quick customization, allowing users to create a unique website in minutes.

However, Network Solutions’ pricing is a concern. Compared to other builders, it’s significantly more expensive without offering many additional features. Especially for e-commerce, running an online store with social media is prohibitively expensive without the tools you need to grow your business.

Overall, we recommend considering alternatives like GoDaddy, WordPress.com, or iPage, which offer more affordable options and a wider range of features.