JouwWeb Website Builder Review 2024

JouwWeb Visit Site

What is JouwWeb?

JouwWeb was established in the Netherlands in 2010 to provide beginner-friendly website-building solutions to European customers. It has grown from strength to strength since, adding ecommerce functionality in 2018, and it currently claims to service 100,000 business owners. 

The thing that makes JouwWeb stand out from the competition is its simplicity. Everything from its price structure to its user interface is designed to provide you with a streamlined experience, and it succeeds at this goal. 

There are self-help resources, including a Youtube Channel and a simple getting-started guide, but don’t expect too much assistance building your website. The good news is that the builder is designed to be intuitive enough that you shouldn’t need assistance. 

Overall, JouwWeb is a decent option for anyone looking for an affordable, beginner-friendly website builder. 

Using JouwWeb

Creating a new JouwWeb account is a very straightforward process. When you hit the signup button, you will be asked to enter an email address and password before being taken to the template selection page. After selecting a template, you will have the option to upgrade to a premium plan (with a simple, hassle-free checkout process) or stick with a free subscription. 

On top of this, everything about JouwWeb is intuitive and user-friendly. The main management dashboard enables you to view your websites (you can add more than one if required), and the editor contains loads of tools for customizing and configuring your site. Overall, you shouldn’t have any issues getting your new website online.

JouwWeb  Features and Tools

JouwWeb is a basic website builder, but it offers a number of noteworthy tools that are worth being aware of. 

Integrated Business Listings

JouwWeb enables you to add a custom business listing to Google and Google Maps. This is an excellent way to gain visibility for your business, and it’s especially important for small, locally oriented companies. 

Free Domain 

All premium plans come with a free domain name. You can also import your own custom domain and link it to your website if required. Or, if you’re looking for a budget-friendly option, you can use the free plan with a free JouwWeb-branded subdomain. 

No Commission Fees

JouwWeb offers 0% commission on all sales that are made through its Webshop online store interface. This is particularly attractive for small stores with low profit margins, as it takes away one of the costs you’d otherwise have to worry about. 

Custom HTML

You can add custom HTML code to your JouwWeb website. This enables you to embed custom elements, adjust your site design, and add your own code where required. Most people using JouwWeb won’t have to worry about adding HTML snippets, but it’s a useful tool nonetheless. 

How to Create a Website with JouwWeb

During the account creation process, you will be asked to select a template to start your new JouwWeb website. There are 42 pre-designed layouts to choose from, or you can start with a blank canvas and build your site from the ground up.   

One thing we liked was that JouwWeb clearly states that it enables you to change your template at any point in time. All designs are fully responsive on mobile, and you can view and edit both mobile and desktop versions of your site.  

The JouwWeb editor uses a section-based approach. This is a little inflexible, but it’s also pretty much foolproof, which makes it perfect for anyone without much design knowledge or experience. 

To add new elements to your website, simply drag them from the menu on the left of the screen and drop them into an available position. It’s super easy to customize different elements—simply click them and follow the prompts—and global features can be personalized via the Design menu. 

A small feature, but one that really makes a difference, is the small informational popups that appear when you hold your mouse over an editing tool or page element. You can preview your site before it goes live, and making it live is as simple as hitting the publish button. 

On the downside, there are no design assistants or keyboard shortcuts. You also can’t migrate your site to another platform without completely rebuilding it. But overall, JouwWeb performs admirably. It’s not the most powerful website builder on the market, but it’s a leading option for those looking for a fast, beginner-friendly solution.

Adding Multimedia to Your JouwWeb Website

The JouwWeb multimedia manager supports the upload of multiple files at a time. Most popular file formats are supported, including JPG, PNG, and GIF, and you can also upload files from a URL. Stock media is available through the Unsplash media library, but there’s no way to import images directly from social media or any other third-party platform. 

Videos can be embedded from YouTube, and there’s a built-in YouTube search tool. You can only upload your own videos with a Pro subscription, and there’s a 5GB limit. 

Overall, JouwWeb doesn’t do badly on the multimedia front, but we would have liked to see the ability to import photos from a few more third-party sources.

Marketing Functionality With JouwWeb Websites

JouwWeb has no email marketing or newsletter functionality, but it does enable you to add a simple blog to your website. However, the blog manager is quite basic. You can add social media icons to your site, but there are no more advanced integrations. Simple blog analytics are available but don’t expect anything too fancy. 

SEO Functionality & Add-Ons With JouwWeb Websites

JouwWeb has an excellent reputation as a website builder that’s great for search engine optimization (SEO). Websites built with it are fast and responsive, which are two major search engine ranking factors. You can also configure SEO settings for each page, blog post, and image. The built-in analytics are quite basic, but you can integrate Google Analytics and link to your Google Search Console to track the effectiveness of your SEO efforts. 

Ecommerce

With a paid subscription, JouwWeb enables you to create your own simple online store. There are a number of templates, and you can make basic customizations to its style and appearance. The native Webshop tool enables you to list products, accept online payments, and sell digital items. JouwWeb does have basic inventory management and analytics tools, but it just can’t compare to ecommerce leaders like Shopify or Weebly. 

How Much Does JouwWeb Cost? 

JouwWeb has a very clear price structure, with two premium subscription options and a free-forever plan. The free-forever plan comes with a branded Jouwweb.nl subdomain and limited extras, but it enables you to create a fully-functional website. 

A Pro plan is free for the first three months and €7.50 per month after this (with an annual subscription). It comes with a free domain name, support for an online store with up to 10 products, and a suite of extra tools like password protection and customizable forms. 

The high-end Business plan also is free for the first three months, but it increases to €15 per month after this ($0 and $16 with an annual subscription). This adds selling support for unlimited products and the ability to upload HD videos. 

JouwWeb Help and Support 

JouwWeb only offers email support, which means that replies can be slightly slow. The team is responsive, but the nature of email means that you may have to wait a few hours or even a day before you get an answer to your question. 

There is a fully searchable help center, but this is also somewhat limited. There’s only a small number of articles, and these are a little basic. On the plus side, there is a complete getting-started guide, along with a video that outlines the steps involved in creating your first website. There’s also a small number of FAQs answering simple questions. 

How JouwWeb Compares to Other Website Builders

JouwWeb vs HubSpot

HubSpot’s CMS Hub offers streamlined website-building solutions that integrate seamlessly with the rest of the HubSpot ecosystem. It’s a little more confusing to use and much more expensive than JouwWeb, but it offers much better email marketing, SEO, and ecommerce functionality. All in all, CMS Hub is perfect for those already using other HubSpot products, along with anyone else looking for a marketing-focused website builder. 

JouwWeb vs 123 Reg

Like JouwWeb, 123 Reg is a popular option among website-building newbies who want to get online fast. It’s also quite intuitive and easy to use, and it’s based in Europe. 123 Reg is slightly lower-priced than JouwWeb, but JouwWeb’s editor performed better during our testing. 

JouwWeb vs Jimdo

Jimdo is also a beginner-friendly website builder that’s designed for those with little experience. It uses AI design tools to deliver a custom template for your business, and it has decent SEO tools. At the end of the day, Jimdo is a decent option. However, JouwWeb is still our choice for anyone looking for a beginner-friendly, intuitive website building solution.  

JouwWeb Visit Site

Bottom Line

All things considered, JouwWeb offers streamlined website building solutions that are intuitive and require no prior tech experience. Its editor is very easy to use, and it enables you to add a simple blog and online store to your site. 

JouwWeb is also known for its decent SEO, and its prices are clear and quite competitive. If you’re looking for a website builder to create a new site for your small business or next project, we’d suggest signing up for JouwWeb’s free plan and giving it a try.