On today’s show we are focusing a bit more on WordPress and exploring what is commonly known as page builders. Now in the past when I was designing WordPress sites, I was first exposed to a site builder theme for WordPress in 2009, which was quite a few years ago. And obviously, they have come a long way. But our focus today is primarily on using a page builder to create your online store in WordPress: in a nutshell, the pros and cons.

To help us navigate the world of page builders I thought of the perfect guest, someone  who has not only built one, but works with users day in and day out, hearing their feedback of what works and doesn’t work. And that person is Robby McCullough, one of the driving forces behind the Beaver Builder plugin for WordPress. Robby shares some great thoughts on reasons for using and not using a page builder for your WordPress online store. He also shares some cool insights for developers and designers. So let’s get started and chat with my friend Robby.

We chatted about:

* Why we are seeing such growth in page builder use

* What sectors are we seeing the most growth in

* The top benefits of using a page builder for your online store

* When Robby wouldn’t recommend a page builder for an online store

* How to prepare yourself as a non-tech person before you dive into a page builder

* The best practices around page builders for designers and developers when it comes to client

Here are some related posts:

Take Control of Your WordPress Site with the Beaver Builder Plugin

What Does Podcast Sponsorships and Beaver Builder Have in Common?

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 94 July 26 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey, Robby. Welcome to the show.

Robby McCullough: Hello. Thanks for having me.

Bob: You bet. Now, before I hit you up with the hard questions, you know I always have some hard questions, can you tell us a bit about yourself? And what you do with Beaver Builder?

Meet Robby McCullough, partner, Fastline Media

Robby: Certainly. My name is Robby McCullough. I live in the San Francisco Bay area. I’m about an hour south of San Francisco, down in lovely Los Gatos. I’m one of three co-founders of Beaver Builder. The company behind Beaver Builder is called FastLine Media. Previously, we were a web design agency, so we were primarily building websites for clients. Then we transitioned over to software a couple years ago when we released Beaver Builder, which is a page builder for WordPress, like you mentioned.

Bob: Okay now, page builders for WordPress. Page builders are becoming more and more popular, I feel, just seeing the discussions, seeing what people are using, your active Facebook page, all this stuff. So users, DIY-ers, designers, even developers, are jumping on the page builder bandwagon. Can you tell us why, and where the largest growth has been recently?

Why is the use of page builders growing right now?

Robby: That’s an interesting question. I feel like the growth is kind of happening across all the different spectrums of people who need a website. Most folks who are using page builders are someone— there’s no Facebook page builder, or Instagram page builder, right? So these aren’t maybe folks that are doing social...