In the context of WordPress, page builders are plugins (add-ons) that provide an alternative interface for creating and laying out web pages. The idea behind them is to make working with content a more visual, drag and drop type of experience. Page builders have exploded in popularity since the first page builder, Visual Composer, was released in 2011. These days popular page builders include:
- Visual Composer
- WPBakery
- Elementor
- Divi Builder
- Beaver Builder
- WP Page Builder
- SiteOrigin Page Builder
- Themify Builder
- Cornerstone
- and many more
Here’s the reality: off-the-shelf WordPress themes and page builders have some significant flaws, particularly when used by those without coding experience. While they offer a visual alternative for laying out web pages, these plugins can lead to issues with performance, complexity, and maintainability.
At WordPress Guys, we’ve worked with several of the most popular page builders on client projects, and we’ve also taken over the maintenance of websites built with them. From our experiences, we’ve come to a clear conclusion: page builders are not a good solution for us or our clients. They’re inefficient for developers and overly complex for clients. Plus, they often lead to bloated websites that perform poorly.
Below, we’ll explore six major reasons why WordPress page builders fall short and how a custom-built theme offers a much better alternative.
Page Builders are Overly Complex
Page builders claim to offer intuitive, easy-to-use interfaces for building web pages. However, in practice, they are far from simple. These tools are packed with a vast array of elements—often with multiple options for creating the same types of layouts. Each element typically comes with an overwhelming number of configuration options for content, layout, and styling.
For most users, this creates a steep learning curve, and navigating through unnecessary elements and options can be time-consuming. Instead of simplifying web design, page builders often make it more difficult, especially for users with limited experience.
Page Builders Lock You into Non-Standardised Code
Once you build a page using a page builder, you’re stuck with it. Each page builder generates its own proprietary code, meaning that switching between page builders isn’t an option. Worse still, if you want to revert to WordPress’s native editor, you’ll find it impossible to edit the page without starting over.
This lack of flexibility is a major drawback for businesses looking to maintain or redesign their site in the future.
Page Builders Encourage Bad Practices with In-line Styling
One of the most significant issues with page builders is their tendency to produce sloppy code. Rather than creating clean, reusable stylesheets, page builders use excessive in-line styling for individual elements. This leads to inconsistent and bloated code that’s difficult to manage.
For businesses that want to make site-wide styling changes, this can turn into a nightmare. In many cases, each page will need to be edited manually, which is time-consuming and inefficient. It’s a far cry from the clean, maintainable code that a skilled web developer would provide.
Page Builders are Slow and Inefficient
We’ve noticed that websites built with page builders take considerably longer to update. The back-end is often cluttered with slow-loading elements and unnecessary steps. Even small content changes can involve multiple clicks, page loads, and tabs, which drastically slow down the editing process.
This inefficiency not only makes content management tedious but also wastes valuable time that could be spent on other tasks.
Page Builders Add Bloat and Slow Down Your Website
Not only do page builders slow down the back-end editing process, but they also negatively impact the front-end performance of your website. By adding excessive stylesheets, scripts, and font files—most of which aren’t even used—page builders significantly increase load times.
This added bloat can harm your website’s search engine optimisation (SEO) and user experience, both of which are crucial for keeping visitors engaged.
Non-Standard Content Management
Each page builder has its own unique interface and way of managing content. This non-standard approach means that moving from one builder to another—or even training staff on different websites—can involve a steep learning curve. With over 20 different page builders available for WordPress, it’s difficult to stay consistent across projects or platforms.
For businesses that rely on staff to manage their websites, this can lead to inefficiencies and extra costs as employees must constantly re-learn how to manage content on each new site.
So, What’s the Alternative?
Fortunately, there’s a better solution: custom WordPress themes. At [Your Agency], we specialise in creating lean, fast, and flexible custom themes that are built specifically for your business. Here’s why a custom WordPress theme is the superior option:
- Tailored to your needs: A custom theme is designed specifically for your business, with only the functionality and code that you require—no unnecessary bloat.
- Faster performance: Custom-built websites are leaner, faster, and better optimised for SEO, which helps your site rank higher on Google.
- Future-proof: Unlike page builders, a custom theme can be easily updated or expanded as your business grows, without the need to start from scratch.
- Cost-effective in the long run: While a custom theme may seem like a bigger investment upfront, it will save you time and money on maintenance, updates, and performance improvements down the line.
- No licence fees: With a custom theme, you won’t have to worry about ongoing licence fees for premium page builder plugins.
By investing in a custom-built WordPress theme, your website will not only perform better but will also provide a better user experience and be easier to maintain. At [Your Agency], we build websites that are designed to grow with your business and deliver results.
Let’s ditch the page builders and create something truly unique for your brand.
Let me know if you’d like any more edits or further customisation!
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