These days, you don't need to be a developer or designer to create a website that looks and works great. However, accomplishing this can take a long time if you're not familiar with the process, and can use up a lot of resources.
That's where website builders come in. These tools combine ease of use with a low learning barrier, which means you can create amazing websites in record time once you get used to them. Plus, with the right builder, you should be able to add all the features you need to your site and have it up and running quickly.
In this article, we're going to talk about what website builders are, and then we'll discuss three ways they can save you time. Let's jump right in!
What Website Builders Are
As you can probably guess, website builders are tools meant to help you create fully-functioning sites. That's a very broad definition, though. In most cases when people talk about website builders, they're referring to solutions such as Beaver Builder and Soholaunch.
Those services provide you with features that are perfect for people with no experience in web development. Anyone can use them, but if you have experience working on websites, you may prefer a Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress. Both types of tools enable you to accomplish the same goal. However, CMSs tend to provide you with additional options and more sophisticated features. The downside is that they're also harder to use.
Let's go over two examples of cases where a website builder can be the right tool for the job:
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You want to create a simple website. A lot of quality sites have fairly basic functionality. If you only need a handful of pages with simple features such as contact forms, galleries, and the like, a website builder can be perfect for the job.
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You don't have any experience in web development. Creating a website from scratch can be complicated. The more features you need, the harder it gets. However, website builders enable you to do a lot even if you're not a developer.
Ultimately, whether a website builder is the right tool for the job will depend mostly on your needs and what type of site you're working on.
3 Ways Using a Website Builder Can Save You Time
If you're interested in efficiency (and who isn't!), then you'll probably appreciate the many ways using a site builder can save you time. Let's talk about some specifics.
1. Use Pre-Built Elements on Your Pages
Pre-built elements are at the core of most website builders. They're usually offered as simple modules or 'blocks' with specific functionality, which you can add to a page in any position you want. For example, if your website builder includes a Contact module, adding it to your site will likely set up a contact form automatically for you.
The same goes for other, similar features, such as galleries, sliders, menus, blocks of text, and more. Here's why using pre-built elements can save you time:
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You don't need to code features from scratch. If you're not a developer, chances are you don't know how to go about adding specific functionality to your site. Website builders make the process as easy as choosing the elements you want and adding them to your pages.
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You get access to a broad range of elements. Most popular website builders offers elements for nearly every feature a modern website needs. These often include galleries, buttons, blog posts, comment sections, and more.
Some people believe that using a website builder will limit the functionality they can add to their sites, and in certain cases that can be true. However, most professional builders these days offer more features than you can possibly use on a single website.
2. Arrange Your Site's Elements Using Drag-and-Drop Functionality
Website builders often enable you to drag and drop elements on your pages with a couple of clicks. In practice, that means you can create almost any type of layout you want with ease.
When you combine drag-and-drop functionality with pre-built elements, you get a robust system that's also easy to use. Let's go over what makes it so efficient:
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It enables you to build complex layouts with ease. Website builders make it so you can arrange your elements in any way you like. In most cases, you can even modify their size and customize how they appear. Together, those features provide you with near endless styling possibilities.
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You can preview how your website will look. One of the best things about drag-and-drop builders is that you get to look at your site as you're working on it. That means you don't need to wonder how each small change will affect the way your site appears – it's all right there in front of you.
In some ways, you could say that a website builder is like a set of Legos. You get access to different types of blocks, and you can arrange them any way you like. What's more, you'll have a fully-working website as soon as all your blocks are in place.
3. Make Use of Ready-to-Go Layouts
Drag-and-drop functionality makes the process of putting together a site incredibly simple. However, website builders often take this a step further by offering you a collection of ready-to-go layouts to use on your pages. For example, if you're working on a home page, chances are you'll be able to choose from a list of dedicated layouts to use as a foundation.
Keep in mind that these layouts aren't fully working pages. You'll still need to replace placeholder text and add in your own images, as well as make any other tweaks you'd like. Still, this feature can save you a lot of time because:
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It provides you with a useful template. A lot of people aren't sure what to include on each page, and layouts provide basic templates that contain all the most important sections and information.
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They often include many of the features you need. If you're using a contact page layout, for example, chances are it will include working contact forms to get you started. That's one less element you'll need to add on your own.
In many ways, page layouts are the ultimate time saver when it comes to creating a website. You can think of them as foundations you can use to kick-start your creative process when you're feeling stuck.
Conclusion
Website builders are powerful tools that can help just about anyone create professional-looking websites with relative ease. They're not perfect for every situation, but if you don't have any web development experience, they can be a boon. These type of tools are also fantastic alternatives if you don't have the time to learn how to use a complex CMS.
Plus, builders are also one of the most time-efficient ways to build a website. Let's talk about why:
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You get to use pre-built elements.
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You can arrange your site's elements via drag-and-drop functionality.
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Ready-to-go layouts provide an excellent starting point.
Image credit: Pixabay.
