Web pages can do magic, only if they are highly converting, responsive, and search engine optimized. As a WordPress user, it isn’t a hard nut to crack if you are careful enough to choose the right tool.
Either you are a marketer, blogger, or business owner, page builder becomes a necessity. It can amplify your website’s visitors, leads, conversion rate, and overall performance.
So, how to find a WordPress page builder that suits all of your needs? Well, there are some things you should consider before you go for one.
Why Do You Need a WordPress Page Builder?
There was a time when only the people with coding knowledge could build a website, create pages, and modify it. But things have been changed since WordPress started to make it easier.
Nowadays, you won’t need any technical expertise to get your website page built. Now even just following some simple steps, you can create a WordPress site with ease.
But back then, customizing your landing page, blog or product page had still required manual HTML input. This hurdle initiates the idea of a page builder plugin. It is a dynamic tool that would let anyone build their web page with zero coding effort.
However, it’s possible to create basic level pages through the WordPress editor. Since the inception of Gutenberg editor (now called the block editor), Matt Mullenweg emphasizes highly on it, you may think it gets you a bit more customizing power.
You can build a more creative web page using the block editor than the classic editor. WordPress intends to model it on top-notch page builder plugins anyway.
But the real problem with Gutenberg is it’s still evolving and has a lot of limitations. It lacks features like multi-column templates, map bloc, advanced-level integrations, or form builder.
On the other hand, WordPress page builder is a drag-and-drop tool that lets you create every kind of web page in no time. You can customize it as you wish, edit or remove different widgets, upload templates, design headers-footers, reshape the layouts, integrate powerful plugins and many more.
Top Consideration Before Choosing a WordPress Page Builder
In the age of too many competitors, it’s really crucial for you to understand which works best for you and which isn’t. Every page builder you find doesn’t have the same advantage. Besides, you don’t even need every trait out there.
So, here are the things to check and learn before you go for a WordPress page builder for your WordPress site.
1. Compare the Features With Similar Page Builders
Comparison is a great way to find the right product from the lot. There are particular WordPress page builders in the market that outshine the others. Each one has its own pros and cons. You can sort out the best names, and look out for their features to make your decision.
For example, Elementor is one of the most popular page builders in WordPress (having already 3+ million active installations). It has both the free and premium (Pro) version.
You will get drag and drop and responsive editing options, hundreds of premade templates and widgets, background videos, blend mode, CSS filters and many more in the free versions.
And, when you go Pro, you will have total control over your WordPress theme. You can modify it with unlimited freedom. For your assistance, some of the top premium functionalities are customizing header and footer, creating custom 404 pages, single post page, or custom field integration, etc.
After you have found the features you like, you can compare them to similar page builders like Divi or Beaver Builder.
2. How Faster Is the Loading Speed
Plugins make your WordPress experience amazing. But there’s always a dark side of the moon. Heavy plugins also the reasons for your low page loading speed. 74% of visitors left a web page unless it loads within 5 seconds. A faster page loading time is always a top priority to increase conversion and reduce the bounce rate.
Page builders use tons of elements to enhance your theme customizing ability. So there’s a strong chance that it could slow down your page speed. It’s crucial to find out if your favorite page builder is free of this issue or not. It’s a wise decision to choose a plugin that wouldn’t harm your user response and experience.
3. How Big Is Your Page Builder’s Template Library
When you are using a page builder, the best thing should be it’s huge template collections. It’s possible to create your landing page from scratch. But it is time-consuming, maybe need some coding. Hence, a page builder intends to reduce all of these hustles, right?
So, consider the template library of your favorite page builder, is it contain enough to explore boundless possibilities?
For example, Elementor or Divi has hundreds of predesigned template which allow you to customize them and reshape your very own web page. Besides, you should check if the page builder lets you create a sales page too.
4. Is It Responsive to Different Mediums
77% of U.S. adults have a smartphone. 74% of people love to revisit a mobile-friendly website.
People around the globe using the internet from their smartphones and tablet more than their computers nowadays. Even if your website looks highly convincing and faster on the computer screen and less attractive in a different medium, your chances of converting people is low.
Before buying a WordPress page builder, check that if the plugin lets you create mobile responsive landing pages. Though you shouldn’t worry. It’s a build-in advantage of any best page builder. But you shouldn’t go for a high priced product as a beginner. Rather you must find a plugin that is reasonable from both the budgetary and technical aspects.
5. Think about Update and Maintenance Ability
Issues never stop coming. After you purchase a page builder and start using, you may face a lot of technical problems. In such cases, what should be your solution? Besides, every tech platforms and plugins should always be trying to improve and update their services.
Before getting a page builder, try to find the answers to these questions-
How enhanced and effective support system the platform has?
Is it hard to get a support response at any time of the day and night?
How frequently is the platform making an update?
How easier it is to shift from one version to another?
Do the support and maintenance cost extra money?
If a page builder answers all these questions in a satisfying note, you should be hopeful about it.
6. Can You Integrate With Other Platforms
As an open-source platform, WordPress allows and inspires to integrate plugins and addons. This pretty much contributes to the immense popularity of WordPress. If you want to open an eCommerce store, you can add the WooCommerce plugin. Do you want to enhance your site’s SEO? Integrate YOAST SEO and get benefited.
So, when you are up to get a page builder, see that if it’s compatible with similar integration. Unless a page builder is open to third party addons, it will limit your possibilities to create more complex and beautiful web pages.
Suppose, If you integrate Elementor with powerful widgets collection like Happy Addons, this will double up the customization power of your web pages.
7. User Reviews
72% of customers think reviews play a crucial role before buying something. It seems everyone plays the role of a customer too.
We are pointing out ‘User Review’ as our final point. Undoubtedly, it’s the best possible way to learn how a thing is performing in real. What are the best sources to read and analyze reviews?
You can go to the WordPress plugin page or directly to the product website. Also, you must find similar professionals in your niche community, ask them if they are using similar tools and are getting better results.
Wrapping Up
So far we’ve already mentioned the top priorities you should maintain to find your best WordPress page builder. And there are some other scores that we want to hit for you.
Always consider your budget. If you have a smaller venture, you should use a page builder that is cost-effective. At first, you should utilize basic or lite versions. For beginners, most of the basic versions are good to go. Only if you find the pro version necessary and have a bigger plan, you can have your way to more possibilities.
For such cost-effective yet professional web page building experience, you can always try out the third-party Elementor Addons like:
One more simple but important thing is avoiding the Lock-in effect. Sometimes you may deactivate your page builder for a certain time, or want to change it. Lock-in effects harm your HTML code so some part of your design may disappear, or break so much that you can’t recover them. You should choose a page builder that lets you avoid Lock-in.
Do you think a visual interface is important to check your live customizing? Some page builder lets you see the changes you make instantly in the front-end, some plugins won’t give you that. We think a visual editing interface helps you to achieve a more powerful web page design. All these exclusive features and more are available in Happy Addons.
So, that’s it. Do you have any questions or having trouble understanding any parts of this article? Reach back to us with any information you might need.
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