There are many important factors to consider when building a successful B2B website, but “Should I use a page builder for my WordPress website?” and “Which page builder should I use?” are probably not the first questions that came to mind.
Nevertheless, learning the benefits and drawbacks of page builders and what each product offers can change how you approach building your B2B WordPress website and how effective it will be for your needs.
What Is a WordPress Page Builder?
Firstly, if you are not familiar with page builders, they essentially do the heavy lifting for creating and editing your B2B website – from the content, photos, images, and videos on the page, to the layout and user experience. Technically, you can build an entire website with nothing more than a page builder, but there are other essential tools and plugins you need to truly create a successful B2B website.
What Are the Benefits of Using a Page Builder for My Website?
There are dozens of options for page builders, but the best ones give you full control over the look and feel of your B2B website design.
- Adding, removing, or editing any aspect of your website is an easy process, including making those changes work for mobile phones and other devices.
- No coding knowledge is required (though it does help) – High-fidelity designs and advanced features or animations can be created without touching any HTML, CSS, or JavaScript.
- Continuous support – many page builders have an ongoing support system to troubleshoot any issues, as well as communities of experts available for inspiration, insight, and assistance. They also regularly release security updates to ensure your website stays in your control.
- (Almost) everything is faster! You don’t have to call a marketing or tech team just to make some minor changes like adding new events, adding to your staff/leadership page, or keeping your audience updated on the latest news for your business and industry.
Read more: Theme optimization tips from a web developer.
What Are Some Drawbacks of Using a Page Builder?
Nothing is flawless, especially when advanced, custom solutions are required to bring your mission to the forefront of your peers.
- “With great power comes great responsibility” – With all this customization and all these features available in just a few clicks at your fingertips, there is a much greater chance of making a mistake or breaking something.
- Most page builders are bloated and slow, and this hurts both user experience and SEO efforts. Even for some of the “heavier” page builders, that can be worked around, but it gets challenging and can start limiting your options.
Pros and Cons of Some Popular Page Builders
Now that we have a brief overview of page builders as a whole, let’s explore what options are out there and why you might choose one over the other. Ultimately, you should always do your own research for each product to learn exactly how well each option may fit your needs.
Pros & Cons of Elementor
Pros:
- Very popular (many add-ons, support, and experts)
- Many features, including a popup builder and over 100 widgets/modules
- Drag and drop functionality with a WYSIWYG window that updates as you are making edits
- Right-click functionalities that let you copy and paste elements across pages, or just their styles
Cons:
- Difficult to optimize, requiring an expert to ensure it will meet UX and SEO standards
- You will only get the most out of Elementor if you know some CSS
Pros and Cons of Divi
Pros:
- Another popular choice
- More features out-of-the-box than any other builder
Cons:
- Very slow, it is nearly impossible to meet UX and SEO standards.
- The drag and drop interface is not very intuitive, the alternative option does not have a WYSIWYG window
Pros and Cons of Beaver Builder
Pros:
- Good balance of features/performance
- An average builder that doesn’t do a lot extremely well or poorly
Cons:
- The clunky interface can be difficult or confusing to work with at times
Pros and Cons of WP Bakery
Pros:
- One of the most popular builders that has been on the market the longest
Cons:
- The interface can be difficult to work with
- Requires an expert to optimize for UX and SEO standards
Pros and Cons of Oxygen
Pros:
- An extremely fast builder that adheres to SEO and UX standards
- Access to some of the greatest WordPress experts
Cons:
- Essentially requires a developer’s skillset to utilize its full potential
- The lifetime license model means lackluster official support and slower updates, and not guaranteed long-term
Pros and Cons of Gutenburg
Pros:
- Developed by WordPress and works intuitively with ACF
- Easy to optimize, adhering to SEO & UX standards,
- Copy/paste tools that work across pages and installs
Cons:
- Lacking in features and flexibility without ACF
- No true WYSIWYG editor
