Web.com

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This article is about the company Web.com, known as Website Pros from 1999 - 2008. For the former company Web.com, which existed from 1995 - 2007, see Web.com (1995 - 2007).
Web.com, Inc.
Type Public (NASDAQ: WSPI)
Founded Flag of the United States1999
Headquarters 12735 Gran Bay Parkway West, Building 200, Jacksonville, Florida
Key people David L. Brown, Chairman and CEO
Jeff Stibel, President
Industry Internet, Software
Products Web site online services, web design applications
Revenue ▲ $82.5 million USD (2007)[1]
Operating income ▲ $1.4 million USD (2007)[1][2]
Employees 637 (2006)[3]
Website Web.com

Web.com is a name that was handed over several times from acquired companies to their new mother companies. From June 9th, 2008, on, the name "Web.com" is held by a company which called itself "Website Pros" from 1999 to 2008. The following text describes the history of Website Pros. For the history of the ex-Web.com see Web.com (1995 - 2007).

Web.com is a web services and software company founded as "Website Pros" in 1999. It is known for web design services and the NetObjects Fusion web design software bought from NetObjects, Inc. in 2001. Services and products are targeted at small and medium-sized businesses.

The company reached profitability in 2006 (GAAP, non-GAAP: 2004)[4][5]. The revenue growth that the company reports (from $23 million in 2004 over $38 million in 2005, $52 million USD in 2006 and $82.5 million USD in 2007) derives mainly from acquisitions. Website Pros made its biggest step in its strategy of mergers and acquisitions with the purchase of Web.com in 2007. This merger had high impact on revenue but also on related costs.[6]

On June 9th, 2008, Website Pros changed its name to Web.com.[7][8]

Contents

[edit] Company history from 1999 to 2005 (IPO)

Website Pros was founded in 1999 by Darin Brannan. From the foundation until 2004, venture capital partners invested $65 million USD into the company[9], amongst others $10 million from Insight Venture Partners in 2003[10] and $7 million from Insight and Norwest Venture Partners in 2004[11].

As opposed to mere software vendors, the company sees its market not in selling web design applications, but hiring designers to build web sites for customers ("Do-It-For-Me" Web services). A year after the foundation, the first business model - just building web sites - was extended by implementing additional functionalities like online promoting and search engine optimization[12][13]. The basic business of the company is selling their online services with a monthly fee for small businesses.

In 2001, Website Pros acquired NetObjects Fusion, a web design application, along with other applications and assets from the defunct NetObjects, Inc. [14]

Building their projects with NetObjects products, it seemed suitable to Website Pros to buy the whole technology - if only to not have a competitor laying their hands on it. License revenue from the retail version of NetObjects Fusion stayed less than a tenth of the total revenue until 2006 [15], and even less after the merger with Web.com in 2007[2].

In November of 2005, Website Pros went public with Initial Public Offering on NASDAQ (NASDAQ: WSPI), raising $68 million[16][17].

[edit] Acquisitions

With the cash infusion from the Initial Public Offering, Website Pros expanded their acquisition strategy.

From 2005 to 2007 the company purchased LEADS.com, a provider of subscription based online advertising; eBoz, a provider of web marketing[18]; 1ShoppingCart.com, which offers an e-commerce-engine [19]; Renovation Experts, a network of contractors for house renovation[20]; and Submitawebsite, Inc., a search engine optimization company[21].

All these product lines target the small and medium-sized online enterprise market and all acquisitions were allowed to operate with their own brands. Website Pros' strategy is to strengthen the bottom line with other profitable business units and accomplish their own offerings with appropriate single buys. On the other hand the integration of so many bought companies as well as the achievement of synergy and cost effects can be a complex task.

As its largest deal to date Website Pros purchased Atlanta-based Web.com on October 1st, 2007[22] for a total of $129 million, consisting of $25 million in cash and the rest in stock[23][24]. It is expected that the merged company will have "over 234,000 paying subscribers and over $117 million annualized revenue"[23]. Similar to Website Pros, Web.com offered a variety of web hosting and design services, which will continue to be marketed.

As part of the merger, Web.com representatives Jeff Stibel and Gonzalo Troncoso accomplished the board of Website Pros, Vikas Rijsinghani served as the new Chief Technology Officer.[25]

[edit] Main product lines and NetObjects MatrixBuilder

More than 90% of the revenue of Web.com are generated from subscription based services with monthly fees. The basic product line is "eWorks!XL"[26]. This service offers the building of web sites by Website Pros' designers. A typical customer pays between $60 and $100 USD a month[27]. Website Pros has partnered with Microsoft to offer Office Live customers a $80 USD package for design and hosting services.[28].

The basic services are extended by hosting, web directory submitting[29], search engine optimization, online promoting, pay-per-click-campaigns[30] and visitors tracking as well as e-commerce or local lead generation.

The Web.com services are sold through partner channels and directly over the web site. Some add-on services like lead generation can be booked separately over the business units mentioned in the list of the acquisitions.

From the 2001 acquisition, NetObjects Fusion is the only packaged software that the company offers. The latest version is release 11 from 2008. License revenue from direct sales of NetObjects Fusion to end-customers reached nearly $3.58 million USD in 2006[15]

The NetObjects technology has yet another importance for Web.com. The production process of the web sites is based on a product called NetObjects MatrixBuilder once belonging to the assets of NetObjects, Inc.[31][32][33].

NetObjects MatrixBuilder is an environment that allows company staff to design customer web sites in a flexible, style- and browser-based process. Designers and end-customers can seamlessly integrate additional online services like e-commerce[34].

The Matrix platform is also marketed by Web.com[35][36].

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Website Pros Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2007 Financial Results. Yahoo!. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
  2. ^ a b Website Pros Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2007 Financial Results. Website Pros. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
  3. ^ WSPI: Profile for WEBSITE PROS, INC.. Yahoo!. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  4. ^ Website Pros Annual Report 2006, pg. 25. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 29, 2007.
  5. ^ SEC Info - Website Pros Inc - 8-K - For 2/7/07 - EX-99.1. Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C.. Retrieved on July 29, 2007.
  6. ^ Merger costs drag down earnings for Website Pros. Jacksonville Business Journal. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
  7. ^ Website Pros Announces Intention to Change Name to Web.com. Website Pros. Retrieved on February 20, 2008.
  8. ^ Website Pros, Inc. (WWWW) Chairman and President to Ring the NASDAQ Stock Market Closing Bell. Website Pros. Retrieved on June 10, 2008.
  9. ^ Investor News Alerts. InvestorNewsAlerts.com. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  10. ^ Website Pros Secures $10 Million in Funding from Insight Venture Partners. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  11. ^ Website Pros Increases Series A Funding Round to $17 Million from Insight Venture Partners and Norwest Venture Partners. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  12. ^ Serving the SMB community, one Web site at a time. The Florida Times Union. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  13. ^ Website Pros Annual Report 2006, pg. 9. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  14. ^ Netobjects Inc · PRE 14C · For 9/30/01. Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, D.C.. Retrieved on October 1, 2006.
  15. ^ a b Website Pros Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2006 Financial Results. Website Pros. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
  16. ^ Website Pros Announces Initial Public Offering of Common Stock. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  17. ^ IPO Company Profile for Website Pros (WSPI). Renaissance Capital. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  18. ^ Website Pros Acquires LEADS.com and eBoz, Inc.. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 26, 2007.
  19. ^ Website Pros Acquires 1ShoppingCart.com. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 26, 2007.
  20. ^ Website Pros Acquires Renovation Experts.com. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 26, 2007.
  21. ^ Website Pros To Acquire Submitawebsite.com. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 26, 2007.
  22. ^ Website Pros Completes Transaction With Web.com. Website Pros. Retrieved on October 1, 2007.
  23. ^ a b Website Pros and Web.com Sign Definitive Merger Agreement. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 26, 2007.
  24. ^ Website Pros to Buy Web.com. AP. Retrieved on July 2, 2007.
  25. ^ Management Team. Website Pros. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
  26. ^ Business Website Design. CorpAmerica. Retrieved on July 29, 2007.
  27. ^ Website Pros Annual Report 2006, pg. 2. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  28. ^ Office Live partners for Web design service. CNET. Retrieved on July 29, 2007.
  29. ^ The value of submission services has been doubted: Microsoft Office Live Teams with Website Pros. IEntry. Retrieved on July 29, 2007.
  30. ^ Website Pros Annual Report 2006, pg. 5. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  31. ^ NetObjects Launches NetObjects Matrix, Next-Generation Online Services for Small Business. Creativepro.com. Retrieved on July 26, 2007.
  32. ^ Learning More About NetObjects Matrix Builder. NetObjects, Inc.. Retrieved on July 26, 2007.
  33. ^ Leading Companies Integrate Small Business Web Services Into NetObjects Matrix Platform. PR Newswire Association LLC.. Retrieved on July 26, 2007.
  34. ^ Website Pros Annual Report 2006, pg. 9. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.
  35. ^ Matrix Online Web Authoring. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 27, 2007.
  36. ^ NetObjects MatrixBuilder Program. Website Pros. Retrieved on July 27, 2007.

[edit] External links