Advantages of website builders compared to coding from scratch

There are many articles online that compare and contrast the benefits and setbacks of using website builders compared to coding from scratch. In this post, I’d like to focus solely on the advantages of website builders compared to coding from scratch being an extensive user of the former for many years in my businesses. So let me go ahead and differentiate first what website builders are from coding from scratch.

Website builder vs Coding from scratch: Deciphered

A website builder can easily be differentiated from coding from scratch in that the former is a software or computer program that enables a person to easily create a website from pre-made templates. The templates are often easily modified by clicking and dragging elements into it such as the company or person’s name, logo, and other visuals.

On the other hand, coding from scratch pertains to the process of using various programming languages primarily Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to create a website. It is called coding from scratch because it is not ready-made—one literally has to make a website by using and combining computer syntax or commands.

Now that’s clearer, let’s talk about the advantages of website builders over coding from scratch in making a website.

What are the advantages of website builders compared to coding from scratch?

1. Convenient

The primary advantage of website builders over coding from scratch is their convenience. Website builders are easy to use since it has an interface where you can simply drag and drop design elements. This is the reason behind it is originally called WYSIWYG when compared to programming or coding.

WYSIWYG stands for what you see is what you get—whatever design you come out with is exactly what the website looks like. Unlike with coding, there is constant testing of the front end with the back-end programming so that it will come out according to the intended design.

Website builders, therefore, allow users the freedom to create a website without the need of knowing computer programming nor of using a single coding language.

2. Comprehensive

Website builders are also comprehensive in that it provides users with tons of existing ready-made templates that are customizable with a variety of design and layout options. More often than not, website builders provide themes that include a set of templates for the homepage, internal pages, and contact us. There are themes that even include pages for online shopping and a drop-down navigational menu for a more organized design.

3. Time efficient

Since website builders are convenient and comprehensive, it allows individuals and organizations to create the website they need in as little time as possible. It often only takes a couple of hours to make a website through builders unlike coding from scratch which takes months. Thus, website builders save company owners a lot of time so they can focus on the other important aspects of their business.

4. Full-service

Most website builders act as a one-stop shop for setting up and launching a website. That is they provide the other necessary services needed to make a website public and accessible, which are a hosting service and a domain name. Website builders offer various plans suitable to the needs of a business for its website that already include these add-on services along with other features to equip the website for interactivity and functionality.

5. Inexpensive

According to intelivita, the cost of designing and developing a website in 2023 has risen to an average of $500 to $300,000. Don’t be frightened by this whopping figure because this pertains to websites developed from scratch or those that have been modified by website developers for tailor-fit functionality.

This range, by the way, depends on several factors such as the number of pages, number of images used, custom features added, integrations needed such as an automatic mailer for a newsletter, the amount of time needed for the project, the overall complexity of the website, and the number of people working on it.

Compare that price range to website builders and you have a measly annual spend of $48 to $168. Woah! Talk about inexpensive. Website builders even have free plans that already come with beautiful themes. They are really low-cost and friendly to the pocket.

It is no wonder why roughly 18 million of the 1.13 billion websites in the world were created through website builders. The website builders industry is actually expected to grow by 6.9% annually until 2030 with a projected $14.4 billion globally over the next 10 years.

6. Integrated

Another advantage of website builders is their ability to easily integrate with third-party services and tools such as payment gateways, email marketing automation, and content management systems. In WordPress, this comes in the form of widgets that often come free with business, premium, and enterprise subscription plans. Though there are widgets that require add-on fees since these have complex functionality or features.

7. Clonable

The great thing about website builders is that webpages could be easily duplicated without having to code each particular page. You can even create templates or simply clone pages using a similar layout or design without using a single line of code. It is also flexible in that each page could be easily tinkered, modified, or changed with new features or layouts.

8. Uncomplicated

Website builders not only save business owners a lot of funds in the short term but also in the long run because it provides an uncomplicated way to make revisions in the content and design. Business owners can easily update, refine, improve, and enhance their website’s content and features in the future based on the performance of the website or its analytics.

Website builders forego the need to contact a web designer or developer to make changes to their website each time it is needed since they or staff can do it themselves. Thus, it saves them the trouble of getting the files of the website from the developer, deciphering it, going through the coding process to change it, and using FTP (file transfer protocol) to upload it to their hosting.

With a website builder, all they need to do is to log on to their account and make the necessary changes to the website and they are done.

9. SEO Equipped

Another advantage of using a website builder in creating your website is its Search Engine Optimization feature. Most of the top website builders are already equipped with this feature that helps businesses gauge if the content they provided on a particular page in their website would easily come out in search engine results using their assigned keywords.

SEO is important because it makes a website more visible to online users whenever they search for something in engines like Google, Bing, and MSN. More site traffic means a more productive and profitable website.

10. On-hand technical support

A handy advantage of website builders over coding from scratch is having support for technical issues that would be encountered in the creation, maintenance, and management of the website. Technical issues such as compatibility issues of functionality integrated into the website to that of the hosting, migrating assistance, enabling widgets, and even the basic assistance in designing the website.

Having said these benefits, let me now identify the types of website builders to give you a better perspective of the options within your reach.

Types of website builders

There are two types of website builders. One that’s available online and one that you can download on your computer, laptop, or mobile. Basically, they function the same in that both click and drag in creating websites.

The main difference is one requires the internet while making the website and the other does not. Downloadable website builders only require the internet when you’re ready to upload your website and launch it live.

When to use website builders?

The advantages website builders have over coding from scratch are also indications of when best to use the former over the latter. For startups, that is when you:

• are making your first website,
• have a marketing campaign,
• intend to maintain your website (keeping it updated all the time)
• are not pressed for time, and
• limited templates or the need to personalize is not that an issue with you.

An eleventh advantage of having website builders is it could be customized in the future when your company has already expanded and there is already a need to integrate advanced features in your website. This means integrating coding in the website to implement those features. So yes, website builders can also be modified with coding to make it better.

Bonus: Factors to consider in choosing the best website builder

There are many website builders nowadays and I understand how it may be overwhelming for a startup company to know which one fares best. So I’ve come up with a comparative analysis of the top website builders excluding WordPress, which dominates the internet with its 38.5 million website share.

This comparative analysis involves Divi, Elementor, Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly. I highly recommend you check the analysis since I personally researched their features and overall benefits, as well as ranked them based on it. (But, of course, I personally prefer Divi since my website is built and maintained with it. If you want to know why, feel free to check my Divi review.)

The comparative analysis will make it easier for you to choose the best website builder for your company depending on your business needs, priorities, the time you allotted in making the website, how personalized you want the website to be, and your budget for the entire project.

Beyond these factors, your type of business or industry is another thing to consider in choosing a website builder. I have actually ranked website builders according to business types or content and do suggest you check it too. These are:

• Artist
• Musician
• One-pager
• Startups

In A Nutshell

To recap, there are many advantages of using website builders over coding from scratch. These are its convenience, comprehensiveness, time efficiency, full-service features, inexpensiveness, integrated functionality, clonability, uncomplicated maintenance, SEO quality, and on-hand technical support. These advantages enable startups to quickly go online and become visible to their target market at the soonest time possible.

FAQs

1. Do website builders have limitations?

Yes, they do. Website builders have limitations, too. As lightly mentioned in the article, website builders can be limited in their customization since their layout and design are pre-set and can only be personalized to some extent. Website builders also allow only certain features and capacities that may be outgrown by a business’s needs in the long run.

This makes the comparative analysis I made all the more useful for startups so they can choose a website builder that is more flexible for them in the long run. Depending on your business needs, using a website builder may not be the right one for you. Should you need a web designer and developer instead, I have highly recommendable ones you can choose from. Do check their portfolios should you be interested.

2. Can anyone use website builders effectively?

Website builders can be used by a great number of the population. Though business owners who are not tech-savvy may still find it difficult to use website builders effectively. In this case, YouTube becomes handy because there are many tutorials available there on how to use website builders.