Choosing how to build a website is a difficult task for many businesses. Whether you do it yourself or hire professionals, there are two ways to approach website creation: hand coding and using builders.
Hand coding is a way of making a website that involves writing its code from scratch using skills like HTML, CSS, etc. Builders are special tools or platforms, where you can create a website by applying the drag and drop method. The best website development companies are able to use both of these strategies or a combination of the two depending on the type of website they are working on.
There are many factors to consider before choosing a method of website creation. Depending on the size of the website, its purpose, the time limit or your budget one alternative will become more attractive than the other. Each way has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Hand Coding
Hand coding does not require special software or platforms. You can type the code by hand in a suitable programming language. However, not everyone has the skills and the knowledge for the task.
Advantages
Independence. Doing everything by yourself and not relying on a platform means that you have full control of the content. Builders can crash, get outdated, stop functioning, etc. You are safe from that as well as the necessity to contact customer support for every small issue.
Creative freedom. Hand coding allows designers and developers do absolutely anything. Builders have a limited number of features. For example, you may want to add a button and not find a tool to do that on a builder. When you do things manually, your creativity has no boundaries.
Safety. A builder is used by many clients. This means that if hackers managed to break the security of one user, they can try to apply a similar strategy to all of the websites created with this builder.
Disadvantages
Complexity. Coding is hard and time-consuming. Learning it may take months if not years. The same can be said about creating a website from scratch. Nowadays developers often use certain tools to save time on basic repetitive operations. They are not so simple to use as website builders, but they allow programmers to spend time on adding interesting features to a site instead of wasting their time on reinventing the wheel.
Mistakes. Developers have to be very careful and check their code many times. One mistake may lead to big issues. The whole website may stop working, or a part of it may not function correctly.
Issues with compatibility. When you do things manually, you may forget to check how everything looks on different devices and search engines.
Builders
Builders are user-friendly and can be used by people that have little to no background in programming. A lot of these platforms allow making some changes to websites using HTML for a more unique look. But basically any person who has enough free time can learn how to create a page on a builder.
Some of the best ecommerce website builder for small business are:
- Wix
- WordPress
- Zyro
- IONOS
- Webflow
- Squarespace
- Jimdo
IMPORTANT TIP: Some people want to be able to update a website themselves after it has been created by a website development company. So, when you are thinking how to choose a web design agency, ask them if they can create a site on a builder you want to use yourself afterwards.
Advantages
Simplicity. No programming skills are required. You can just drag and drop objects and choose desirable colors, themes, fonts, etc.
Fast to make. There is no need to write code to define the size of letters or the width of the menu bar. All the features are built-in. A simple click is enough to add them. Some clients are happy with what builders have to offer and do not aim at being unique.
Specialization. A lot of builders are focused on making websites of a certain type. So, they are tailored to satisfy the needs of a particular category of users. If you want to create an online shop, there are builders that contain everything you may require.
Disadvantages
Slowness. A page made on some builders may take several seconds to load or even longer. It may be insignificant for some people, and a lot of users are already used to websites of this type taking some time to load. But hand coding allows you to make all functions work a little better.
Standard look. There is a limited set of features and themes to choose from. Therefore, it is possible to find a lot of similar looking websites on the Internet.
Conclusion
Both hand coding and builders are effective ways to create a website. Each client makes their own decision which method to use. It is important to consider the pros and the cons and choose the best option for each individual case.
So, the key thing is to have an idea of the look and the features of the website. If you want to hire professionals, the next stage is to learn how to choose the best web development company.
There is no universal answer to the question what is better: hand coding or builders. Each option serves different purposes.
