Homestead Unveils Next Generation of Award-Winning Small Business and Consumer Web Site Building Service

Market Wire, 20050229

Homestead Technologies, Inc., the leading provider of Web site building services, today unveiled a beta release of Homestead SiteBuilder LPX, the next generation of the company's award-winning Web site building service.

Available immediately, the public beta of Homestead SiteBuilder LPX represents a major product redesign of Homestead's acclaimed combination software and Web hosting service, which allows consumers and small businesses to build fully functional, powerful Web sites and online stores without having any technical skills whatsoever. The Homestead software platform was rewritten from the ground up and now includes extensive new features and an improved user interface, allowing customers to build robust, full-featured Web sites and storefronts quickly and easily.

The introduction of SiteBuilder LPX caps a year of gains for Homestead. The company moved to a subscription model 18 months ago, and has tripled its subscription revenue in the last 12 months. During the same timeframe, the annual average selling price (ASP) for new subscriptions has doubled, now topping $165.

"We've seen spectacular growth in our subscription services in the last year. Since moving from a free to a fee-based product, we have been able to make huge strides in the services that we offer our customers and the success we have had with our business. With SiteBuilder LPX, we've rebuilt the entire platform to provide even greater functionality and ease of use," said Justin Kitch, Founder and CEO, Homestead. "As most technology available for building Web sites has become more complex, we have actually made it simpler for our customers while increasing the power and functionality. Our members have shown us that they are willing to pay for value, which has allowed us to make a successful transition to a fee-based business."

SiteBuilder LPX is the first application built on Homestead's new LaunchPad platform. This XML based application platform allows the company to quickly and easily create and launch new Web services and applications.

Homestead SiteBuilder LPX is faster, easier and more powerful because of the following new and improved features*:

- Allows editing of multiple pages at once rather than one page at a time - Keeps a history of the last 30 edits so unwanted changes can be quickly undone - Includes a Windows-style File Manager in the application, which allows users to drag and drop images, sounds, HTML and other files from their computer into their site - Allows quick editing, grouping and aligning of elements - Has an updated, professional interface - Uses common right-click Windows commands, such as "copy," "cut," and "paste" - Uses an improved site navigation wizard, which allows navigation elements to be viewed directly within the editor instead of through the preview function - Adds new formatting options, including additional fonts, bulleted lists, and a custom color chooser - Allows users to view account information such as used disk space from within the application - Integrates context sensitive help information throughout the application - Allows HTML and JavaScript to be inserted into the HEAD and BODY tags for dynamic page effects

The public beta of Homestead SiteBuilder LPX is available to all Homestead subscribers. The Homestead service starts at $6 per month and includes unlimited use of SiteBuilder and SiteBuilder LPX beta as well as all product updates. Homestead also offers a free 30-day trial with no credit card required.

System Requirements for Homestead SiteBuilder LPX

- Intel Pentium II processor or other comparable speed processor - Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, NT or XT Home/Pro - Internet Explorer 4.x or later - 64MB RAM, 50MB of available hard disk space - 56 kbps modem or faster

About Homestead

Homestead Technologies Inc. offers the leading Web site building service that provides consumers with a complete, non-technical way to build and maintain an Internet presence on their own. Homestead offers a complete package of Web site creation software, ad-free world-class hosting, extensive e-commerce capabilities, and comprehensive marketing services to professionals, small businesses, non-profits, clubs, families and hobbyists. Homestead's award-winning SiteBuilder software, included with every Homestead membership, has remained the industry leader and one of the Internet's most popular software offerings by combining tremendous ease-of-use with unlimited power, functionality, flexibility and scalability. More than 12 million registered members have built customizable Web sites using Homestead's services, with hundreds more joining each day. The company is based in Menlo Park, California and its services are available at www.homestead.com.

*Please see latest release notes for up to date information on beta functionality.

Homestead is a registered trademark of Homestead Technologies Inc., Menlo Park, CA. All other product or company names are used for information or identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.