Website Builder

TL;DR: A website builder is a tool or platform that allows users to create websites without manual coding, often featuring drag-and-drop interfaces and pre-designed templates.
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A website builder is a tool designed to simplify the art of creating an effective website. Before the rise of website builders, creating an online presence for an individual or business would require a lot of coding work, to dictate how each page hosted by a provider would work. Now, website builders offer simple, low-code, and visual solutions for site building instead.

There are a host of website builders on the market, each offering specific features and functionality. Some products allow companies to build attractive portfolio sites with lots of visuals using drag-and-drop builders. Others are more flexible, with open-source environments for coding. It’s even possible to use website builders to build websites where you can sell products and services.

What is a website builder?

A website builder is the program or platform which enables business owners to quickly and easily combine different features to create a fully functional website. Many of the most popular tools use visual editors to enable the creation of attractive sites quickly. There are often themes and templates included with website builders which give businesses a starting point for their design too.

Website builders reduce the need for extensive coding, by providing a toolset of essential components required to build a website. You essentially have everything need to design pages, check outs, blogs, and more, in the same place.

Website builders allow companies to customize various aspects of their site using text images, headings, videos, and other components. Many of the most popular tools also have specific integrations with powerful tools

Online website builders are usually offered in the form of a web-based application, so you don’t need to install any new technology before you begin building your website. These solutions can also come with a host of additional features which make it easier to get started online, such as:

Hosting packages so you can take your website online

Domain names (unique URLs for your website)

Themes and templates for guidance

Applications and integrations

Ecommerce checkout pages and payment processing

Blog pages and SEO tools

Email and marketing services

Are website builders useful?

The benefits of a website builder are significant for business owners and leaders with limited technical knowledge. While some developers and designers believe builders limit the customization options available for website creation, these tools will often allow brands to get up and running online a lot faster. The key to success is often finding the right website builder.

As mentioned above, there are several excellent website builders to choose from, but some are known for excelling in specific areas, like ecommerce, portfolio creation, or SEO.

Updated February 17, 2024
Axel Grubba is the founder of Findstack, a B2B software comparison platform, with his background spanning management consulting and venture capital where he invested in software. Recently, Axel has developed a passion for coding and enjoys traveling when he is not building and improving Findstack.