{"id":1478,"date":"2020-08-14T08:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T08:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/?p=1478"},"modified":"2022-02-17T20:08:51","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T20:08:51","slug":"why-page-builders-cant-replace-pro-web-designers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/why-page-builders-cant-replace-pro-web-designers\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Page Builders Can\u2019t Replace Pro Web Designers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Page builders like Elementor or WPBakery have made working in WordPress even easier than it already was.
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And they\u2019re fun to work with.<\/strong>
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Not to mention, you can use page builders to make a very high-quality website.
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And even beginners can knock out a decent looking page in a matter of hours.
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So what does this mean for professional web designers?<\/em>
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Can page builders replace them?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What New Developments Mean For Old Markets<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When the steam engine rolled around, factory workers feared that their job was on the line.
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Fast forward a few hundred years and we still need people operating assembly lines.
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When 3D technology was pioneered by Toy Story, animators feared that their job was on the line.
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Fast forward a few decades, and we still need animators just as much as before.
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If there\u2019s one thing we learned in hundreds of years of ever-evolving technology is that new innovations rarely replace humans.
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The reason for that is twofold.<\/em>
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First, a professional will always use the new technology better than a person that\u2019s uninitiated.
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Page builders don\u2019t work on magic dust.<\/strong>
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They\u2019re as much HTML and CSS based as any coding playground for building websites, which means that deep knowledge of those languages and an eye for the right hover in the right place is just as valuable as before.
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Innovations almost always build on the technology that came before.
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Second, because new technologies usually sacrifice something to become mainstream. In the case of page builders, it\u2019s customizability and control.
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Page builders are limited.<\/strong>
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But let\u2019s see how.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Platform Limitations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first reason page builders can\u2019t replace pro web designers is that they\u2019re limited. A drag-and-drop builder will never be as customizable as a coding playground, because you\u2019re working in a predefined set of rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Design wise, the first limitation you\u2019ll notice is structural.
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There is a limited amount of elements you can arrange in a predefined way.
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But it goes further than that.
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Elementor or WPBakery work on pre-made blocks that you drag and drop. 
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Sure, their variety is often impressive.<\/em>
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And for the regular elements of a site like buttons, testimonials and even carousels, you\u2019re covered by page builders.
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But that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ll always have what you\u2019re looking for.
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Sure you can add hovers, shadows and resize your blocks, but only to a certain extent.
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And if you want to take it a step further and insert an adaptable block that shows your user\u2019s IP for example, you\u2019re out of luck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Code<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On the backend, you don\u2019t have as much flexibility in how you customize a page.
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Coding is tough, and it\u2019s great that you can improvise a page with builders even if you don\u2019t know how to code.
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But if you have compatibility issues with your elements, or just want more flexibility in how a certain block is displayed, Elementor won\u2019t be a huge aid.
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You can edit in a little bit of CSS on specific elements, but you don\u2019t have access to the full source code.
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Even if you did, it\u2019d be a mess, much harder to navigate through than something written by a human from the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marketing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say you work with a web designer on a long sales page.
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It\u2019s always easier to retouch fine details like the display of an offer or a pop-up to gather email subscribers.
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With page builders, display options can be spread around, and you\u2019ll probably need additional software (which is an added, recurrent cost) to customize pop-ups exactly the way you like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Your) Human Limitations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say we give Elementor 5-10 years to evolve, integrate with a lot of other tools, and overcome (almost) all of the problems explained above.
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Even if that happens, it\u2019s not like anyone can just drag a few buttons and expect the same results as a web designer with 20 years of experience doing the same thing.
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And that\u2019s a very important aspect of why page builders can\u2019t replace pro web designers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steep Learning Curve<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Elementor is easy to get into.
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Watch a quick tutorial, play around the tool and you\u2019re comfortably on your way to building a good-looking website<\/a>.
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Except\u2026<\/strong>
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Where do you go to change the typography?<\/em>
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How do you add more columns?<\/em>
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Wasn\u2019t that testimonial supposed to show images below text?<\/em>
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These are just very few of the questions (please read – frustrations) I had when I first used Elementor.
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And it\u2019s not like I don\u2019t get any more questions now.
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Yeah, page builders are easy to get into.<\/em>
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But if you want to master them<\/strong>, prepare to spend long hours learning CSS, Java and visual communication theory.
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(and if you actually master those, you\u2019re not far from being a web designer yourself)
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Page builders have a steep learning curve when you try to do more than a simple home page and blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resource Constraints<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say you did spend the time to become good at everything needed to make the most out of page builders.
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Unless you become a professional web designer yourself, you won\u2019t have the time and money to pour into creating stunning websites.
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There\u2019s a big difference between what amateurs can do:
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And what a professional can do with Elementor:
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Let\u2019s drive the point home.
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Imagine you run an affiliate marketing site.<\/strong>
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You need to worry about content, backlinks, affiliate campaigns, SERP positions, even social promotion in some cases.
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And there are so many hours in the day.<\/em>
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So 10 times out of 10, it will make more business sense to just hire a professional website designer than to take a few months (or even years) to master Elementor yourself.
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Speaking of – if you really are an affiliate marketer, don\u2019t miss our piece on the best affiliate programs<\/a>, and don\u2019t forget to get inspired by these successful affiliate websites examples<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Benefits of Working With Professional Designers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We spent some time outlining the disadvantages of page builders.
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So what\u2019s the alternative?<\/strong>
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Working with professional web designers,<\/em> which has a few distinct advantages:
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