What Is A Website Builder?

Date First Published: 11th October 2022

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: Web Applications

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 4/10

Learn more about what a website builder is in this article.

A website builder is an application that allows users to construct websites without having to manually code them. Most website builders offer a drag-and-drop interface so that users can drag and drop elements onto pages, such as images, videos, titles, and buttons without web development experience, representing what the page would look like if it was live, which is known as a WYSIWYG interface. They are designed to be easy to use so that even users without any knowledge of web development can understand how to use them.

Types Of Website Builders

Website builders can come in two types, including:

• Application software that runs on the device used to build and edit webpages and allows users to publish those webpages on any web host. Adobe Dreamweaver is an example of web development application software.
• Online proprietary tools provided by web hosting companies or CMSes, such as Wix. These only allow users to build websites on their platform and often do not allow users to modify pages with the same level of control that a hand-coded website offers. Since they are proprietary (closed-source), any themes, plugins, and designs created with the website builder are not transferable to another web host and users cannot directly edit the HTML of their webpages, which is why most businesses choose to use application software that runs on the device or an open-source CMS, such as WordPress.
• Online website builders - These require customers to sign up with the hosting company. They may be available free of charge or require a monthly fee. An online proprietary tool is an example of online website builder.
• Offline website builders - These are suitable for users that need to create pages for more than one client or web host and usually contain a WYSIWYG interface. Offline website builders can be proprietary or open-source. Application software is an example of an offline website builder.

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Website Builders

• They are easy to use. Most website builders offer a simple and user-friendly interface so that users without web development experience can quickly create a website.
• It is quicker to make changes to content in a website builder as users do not need to search for individual HTML tags.
• Most website builders are compatible with a wide range of devices so they can be edited at any time from any computer.
• Website builders can have useful built-in features, such as SEO and data analytics.

• Online proprietary tools often come with limitations (e.g. they might not allow users to transfer their built website to a different host or directly edit the HTML of their page).
• With complex designs, website builders can create a lot of excessive code that leads to webpages being large in size.
• Web developers wanting to learn and become familiar with the markup languages of the web do not learn anything by using a website builder. All they learn is how to use that application.

History

Websites were first around in the early 1990s and were manually written in HTML. Over time, software applications were created to help people design and develop webpages. FrontPage was released by Microsoft in November 1995. By 1998, Adobe Dreamweaver became the most popular offline website builder, although the quality of code produced by Dreamweaver and others has received criticism for not being compliant with the W3C standards as the industry moved towards the standards. Compliance has improved over time.