Page builders might not be a good idea

Here's what I think: Page builders might not be a good idea.

In this post, I want to share my opinion about page builders and why you should think twice before considering using them.

These observations are subjective, based on my experience. I'm referring to the Wix and Shopify platforms, but these problems could be found on other sites as well.

In my opinion, these are the most common problems:

1. The content is not reusable (content cannot be reused on other pages).
2. The design is inconsistent (the pages often don't look the same).
3. The site is not sustainable (changes on one page do not propagate to other pages).
4. The content cannot be maintained (the content cannot be easily extracted from the database).
5. The site is not very efficient (page builders load a large amount of additional assets).
6. There's always a missing feature (page builders can't solve all your problems).
7. Knowing how to use a page builder doesn't make you a developer (leave the job to a professional).

A little bit of history

In my time working in web development, I've encountered projects built using page builders. These are tools that allow you to create web pages without writing code (mainly).

In 2014, I worked with a page builder (Twitter Page, it still exists). It was created as a drag-and-drop solution, like most modern page builders work today. After a while, I realized the world didn't need another tool. While that was the right decision, I based it on the wrong arguments. At the time, I knew nothing about performance, accessibility, or maintainability, or that I would never get it right if I developed it with a one-size-fits-all solution. Now, let me tell you a story about the problems with page builders.

Many problems in page builders, Introduction

When using page builders, most users build page by page. There's no original design or structure. Why would you pay for something you could do yourself?

So they start by creating the first page. Then they begin experimenting with the page builder, and once they're satisfied, they declare it complete. Then they create the second page, and once again, they start experimenting with the page builder, and once again, they declare that page finished.

But what happens next? Both pages have the same component. They update the component on one page but forget to update it on the other. And here's the first problem: The content is not reusable.

That's a real-world scenario. It happened to me, and not just once. Sure, there's an option to save the component and reuse it on the other page. But users don't use that option.

Even when users create a reusable component, they often add inline styling to each instance. And that's the second problem: The design is inconsistent. Most page builders offer custom styling options, such as adding extra padding and margins, colors, and fonts to each component. These settings are almost always hidden underneath and just a few clicks away. Users forget where they are. This adds visual inconsistency to the site, which is almost always an unfortunate side effect.

This makes the third problem clear: The site is not sustainable. This is a nightmare for most developers, as they dislike repetition. They want reusable, well-structured code that can be easily manipulated in their favorite code editors. They also dislike coding in the browser without fancy features like auto-completion or auto-intelligence. But users don't care because they've never used the code editor. You can't miss something you've never experienced.

Therefore, even though the site is small and only has a few pages, manually updating components isn't a problem. This becomes more apparent when the site is no longer so small. Users often purchase or develop a new theme frequently. And now we come to the fourth problem: The content is not migratable.

Since most page builders don't save the information—that is, the content—we can't easily transfer it to a new theme. Page builders store shortcodes, HTML code, and inline styles along with the content. There's no easy way to extract the jumble from the actual content. This means all existing content will be ignored and wasted. It will only exist as long as the page builder is in place, and users will have to write the new content. Sometimes that's what they want, but when it's not the case, rewriting the content will be tedious, often resulting in a blocking process—that's the problem.

Now that we've mentioned the gibberish, we discover the fifth problem: The site is not very efficient. This is the point where users would like to improve their score. Unfortunately, page builders introduce several problems, from chaining CSS to loading additional assets, such as CSS, JavaScript, and font files. Users are unaware of these issues until they see negative scores in speed testing tools. At this point, some users choose to install additional plugins.

And that brings us to the sixth problem: There's always one missing feature. No single page builder can offer a complete solution for all users. When users install plugins, they sometimes don't work in conjunction with the page builders. Now, users like to develop new features themselves. These tasks are not simple and require additional costs.

And that's the seventh problem: Using a page builder doesn't make you a developer. Developers and users don't think alike. A developer's brain works completely differently, and it's always trying to solve problems in the most efficient way. Experienced developers predict and anticipate problems long before they arise.

I don't mean to offend anyone here, but building websites is more than just writing content and placing it somewhere on the page. You should leave this work to a professional, especially if you want to maintain the site long-term. Ask the expert to suggest an alternative solution for you, such as building a custom WordPress theme or using a static site generator.

Conclusion

Page builders are useful tools for experimenting and perhaps even learning how pages work. But they're often perceived as a one-size-fits-all solution, and that's simply not the case. So, valuing your data is the essential part of a website. You might think it's the design, but users return for the content, not the design. Leave your content to a professional, not a page builder.

Original text: PAGE BUILDERS MIGHT NOT BE A GOOD IDEA by Silvestar Bistrović