WordPress Page Builder Basics
A Primer On Technology Options For Building WordPress Website Pages
A WordPress page builder is one of the key tools used to build WordPress websites – and there are several standards that have emerged in the past 3-4 years. This primer looks at the evolution of the technologies used to build WordPress websites and individual pages – and the WordPress page builder options that are now considered the industry standard.
WordPress Page Builder Basics: What Is A Page Builder?
A WordPress page builder is a software design theme or a software plugin that allows users to create and customize page layouts without having to write any code. WordPress page builders allow people building websites to create design elements for a website they’re building using a drag-and-drop interface, and utilize functions in the page builder for specifying typefaces, colors, and designs. Website page builders are designed to make website page designs faster and easier – making website creation more accessible for people who are not trained as professional WordPress website developers.
WordPress page builders typically offer a variety of design elements including text boxes, image boxes, buttons, video link sections, and more, that can be dragged and dropped into your page layout.
As a result, WordPress page builders let users customize the appearance of elements including colors, typefaces, spacing, and more. These page editors also allow users to structure page with specific instructions on the number of rows, columns, and sections.
WordPress page builders also are designed to easily integrate with the WordPress system. This allows users to manage content, page builds, and the website overall using the standard WordPress dashboard.
What’s The Difference Between WordPress Software And A WordPress Page Builder?
WordPress is a content management system that serves as the foundation for building WordPress websites. A WordPress page builder rides on top of the WordPress core software and works in conjunction with WordPress software to allow for the creation of visually appealing website pages.
WordPress Page Builder Basics: How Does A WordPress Page Builder Work?
WordPress page builders typically are software “plugins” that can be installed on the foundation WordPress website software. Once the page builder is activated on a WordPress website, it adds a new page editor interface that provides drag-and-drop functionality for building pages on the WordPress website.
WordPress Page Builder Basics: How Did Website Page Builder Technology Evolve?
Website Design Evolution 1: Custom Websites
In the early days of website development, websites were custom coded by website developers. That meant that building a website was both expensive, time-consuming, and absolutely, positively required someone who could do computer coding.
PROS of this approach:
- A custom website design
CONS of this approach:
- It’s VERY expensive to make design changes because pages are custom coded.
- It’s virtually impossible to move away from the original website designer who coded the site because they’re the only one who knows how they coded the website.
Website Design Evolution 2: Affordable, Pre-built Website Design Templates
The next evolution was when specific website builder page design templates were introduced. You could spend roughly $70-$100 and buy a website design template from websites like TemplateMonster.com. Once you purchased that website design template, it could then be applied to your website. Typical functionality included the ability to add the colors of your corporate logo. These design templates would be designed and programmed by a website designer, i.e., the heavy lifting would be done in the development of the design template – making it faster and easier to develop websites.
PROS of this approach:
- An affordable design template
CONS of this approach:
- A rigid design structure without much flexibility for making design changes to pages.
Website Design Evolution 3: Affordable, Flexible Page Builders That Allow For Custom Designed Websites Without Custom Coding
The latest evolution in website design and website page builders are website page builders that offer flexibility of design – using drag-and-drop content elements that can be configured with your colors, typefaces, etc. In essence, you can use drag-and-drop content elements to create a custom design – but the design is based on universal page builders that any competent web design professional will be using.
PROS of this approach:
- A custom design that costs less than a custom-coded website
- Ability to migrate to alternative website developers because the page builder is an industry standard technology tool, I.e., you’re not trapped into using the website developer who originally built your website.
CONS of this approach:
- Today’s top website page builders are sophisticated, with a lot of programming. The extensive coding can sometimes cause a slightly longer page load speed.
WordPress Page Builder Basics: Top Web Design Page Builders
As of 2025, there are 2 main WordPress website page builders:
- Divi (pronounced: “DIV-ee”)
- Elementor
Both of these industry-standard page WordPress website page builders are worthy entrants into the website design market. They offer similar functionality with comparable pricing.
WordPress Page Builder Basics: A High-level Look at Divi
Divi is a popular WordPress design theme and page builder that offers a drag-and-drop interface for creation of websites. Here are some pros & cons:
PROS of the Divi WordPress Website Page Builder:
- Drag-and-drop Interface: Divi’s got a drag-and-drop page editor which makes it possible to design websites without having coding knowledge.
- Design Customization: This page builder offers customization of global page design styles that can be applied to the whole website.
- Pre-built Templates: Divi offers a library of pre-built design templates
- Responsive Design: Pages and content elements designed in Divi will dynamically move and shift to accommodate the footprint of a smartphone, as well as a standard computer screen.
CONS of the Divi WordPress Website Page Builder:
- Steep Learning Curve: Divi is more complicated to learn to use, especially for those unfamiliar with website page builders. The complexity of this page builder can be overwhelming for beginners – and is more suited for professional website developers.
- Performance Issues: Use of Divi can lead to slower page load times because there’s a lot of code riding behind the page builder.
- Paid Subscription Required: Professional website developers typically don’t mind paying for a subscription because they amortize the cost of the subscription across the many websites that they design. It’s not as cost-effective for a business or non-profit that’s designing just one website.
- Clunky Visual Interface: A review on Blog Marketing Academy showed that the visual interface is clunky compared to other options.
WordPress Page Builder Basics: A High-level Look at Elementor
Elementor is one of the top two popular WordPress page builders – and it offers plenty of worthy attributes.
PROS of the Elementor WordPress Website Page Builder
- Ease of Use: Elementor has a friendly drag-and-drop interface that makes website creation simpler – making it a good choice for beginners.
- Theme Builder: Elementor has a “theme builder” that allows for the customization of entire website design themes. This provide users with more control over the overall website design.
- Responsive Design: This page builder has responsive design tools that help ensure that websites look good and work on devices from smartphones to tablets to laptops.
- SEO-Compatible: Elementor is designed to be SEO-friendly – which helps websites rank higher in search engine results.
- Large Community of Users & Support: Elementor has a large community of users and dedicated support channels that provide assistance and resources.
- Excellent Free Version: Elementor offers a free version that is a good starting point for many businesses & non-profits.
- E-commerce Support: Elementor integrates well with WooCommerce – a leading e-commerce platform.
CONS of the Elementor WordPress Website Page Builder
- Learning Curve: While Elementor is user-friendly, there’s still a learning curve in developing your skill in using this website page builder.
- Limited Customization In The Free Version: The free version of Elementor offers plenty of functionality but the ability to customize designs is more limited with the free version.
- Subscription Pricing For the Paid Version: For the paid version, Elementor has subscription-based pricing vs. paying a one-time fee.
- Fewer Custom Templates: Elementor offers fewer pre-built, custom design theme templates compared to other page builders.
- WordPress Updates Can Cause Issues: Ongoing updates to the base-level WordPress software can require adjustments to pages or content elements.
- Potential Performance Impacts: Some users have reported that Elementor can slow down page loads (when more sophisticated features are deployed on the page).
The bottom line is that Divi and Elementor are the top two page builders for WordPress websites – and both are worthy options.
A typical website development scenario is that a professional website development company would use one of these 2 page builders to design & build a website for a company or non-profit.
After the website goes live, the web developer can continue to make design changes and tweaks as requested by the client. In some cases, in-house staff at a company or non-profit would take over management and updating of the website.
If your management team is planning on having the website developer be responsible for making changes as needed on your website, then both page builders are worthy options.
If your management team is planning on having an in-house staff member who is tech savvy make changes to the website as needed, then ELEMENTOR is the easier of the two page builders to use.
Need help with developing a new WordPress website, or refreshing an existing WordPress website? Contact DeWinter Marketing & PR for assistance.
