In the technical jargon of web agencies , in recent years, you have inevitably heard of " page builder" . Behind this notion, which might seem abstract to the less technical profiles, lies in reality a practice which is tending to democratize...
Page builder and WYSIWYG: what are the differences?
If we had to define what a page builder is in a few words, we could say that it is simply a tool for building web pages, without necessarily needing to have knowledge of HTML, CSS, or any other trendy web language. At first glance, this is nothing extraordinary, especially if you have been used to using the famous WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors in recent years.
On the other hand, while WYSIWYG editors are editors that only allow editors to work with basic HTML tags (such as paragraphs, heading levels, or even quotes), a page builder will go much further than that. Concretely, a page builder will allow you to create more advanced layouts, through a graphical interface designed to be intuitive for the editor. We can say that a page builder is a WYSIWYG editor, but that a WYSIWYG editor is not necessarily a page builder…
What are the best page builders on Shopify?
While traditional CMSs like WordPress and WooCommerce have well-known page builders, such as Elementor or Gutenberg (installed by default since version 5 of WordPress), Shopify's page builders are less well-known by the general public. Nevertheless, they do exist and could even allow you to take your e-commerce store to the next level...
Indeed, a page builder under Shopify is the perfect opportunity for an online merchant to present brands, services, or even a specific product… However, by doing some research, you will see that the choice of a page builder for Shopify must be made according to your specific needs! To make your choice easier, here are the 4 main page builders that you should know:
The Online Store 2.0
Online Store 2.0 is the name, albeit not very marketing-savvy, given to Shopify's internal page builder and available with all recent and well- developed custom Shopify themes and 2.0 themes available on the Shopify store theme.
Let's be honest, if Shopify's page builder doesn't yet have all the features and power of a page builder like Wix's or other 100% no-code solutions, Shopify's internal Page Builder is particularly suited to e-commerce!
With a good Shopify agency to customize your Theme and a little business knowledge, it is possible to transform the Shopify 2.0 page builder into a real sales machine.
Pagefly
In just a few years, Pagefly has carved out a very strong niche for itself among page builder applications! And for good reason: Pagefly is renowned for being an easy-to-use, highly customizable page builder that's highly conversion-focused.
That said, some will regret the fact that Pagefly is less useful since version 2 of Shopify, which integrates some similar features to this page builder. Furthermore, this solution may still require you to have some knowledge of HTML and CSS if you want to have a page with a very specific user experience...
Be careful, using Pagefly can present some pitfalls, see Pagefly, beware of problems
Shogun Page Builder
With more than 10,000 stores worldwide that have trusted Shogun page builder, including very large e-commerce sites, it is no coincidence that this solution is very popular... For the most demanding merchants, Shogun page builder offers the possibility of creating very beautiful pages, with customizable elements that complement each other, and even marketing features to boost your conversion rate.
That being said, and as some may have guessed, this is not without consequences on the technical side! Indeed, some developers complain, in particular, of a fairly significant slowdown time on certain pages that use a large number of components. However, this criticism can also be valid for any website that offers a complex design... Among the other disadvantages that can be cited for Shogun page builder, we can mention the price, which will remain inaccessible for "small" online merchants...
GemPages
From the homepage, through the product sheets, and even to the pages of your blog, GemPages has the merit of also being a very complete page builder! With turnkey content blocks, adapted to mobiles, and of course customizable, GemPages is a solution that suits both SMEs and large accounts.
With a lower price than other solutions like Shogun Page Builder, GemPages aims to offer an affordable alternative. As a result, the features will be less advanced, and merchants will have less scope for customizing their store. However, for starters, this tool remains a very good choice...
