HTML Vs Website Builder For Building My Website

The Internet is a billion dollar industry. Its popularity continues to increase as more people start using it for their day to day activities, such as researching, shopping, communicating and even banking. For those that want a slice of this industry, it all starts off with owning you own website. Many programs have been created to help website owners build their own website instead of having to use programming knowledge. However, the best method for each person will differ depending on a few factors including needs, expectations and time restraints.

Here we look at the two main ways of building a website:

1. Learning HTML code and building a website from scratch. This will require you to collect your own images, pictures, headers, fonts etc.
2. Use a website builder with a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface

Time

HTML requires a bit of time to learn and even more time to fully comprehend. The coding for HTML can be confusing at the start but one you get a grasp of it, you do have more flexibility and control over the creation and design of your website. If you have the time and patience and want to learn a new skill then HTML would benefit you greatly in your website building venture. Otherwise, consider using a WYSIWYG editor.

Using a WYSIWYG editor is like editing your website as if it were a word document where you can type in text, change font size and colour, create tables and move images around to suit your needs. What you see on your screen is what your website will look like. Learning how to use such an editor is a very quick and easy process. The editor then translates your design into HTML.

Experience

Most WYSIWYG editors are of no challenge to the webmaster. They are easy to use with no new tricks to learn and gets your website up and running within hours. In some cases though some advanced software programs may require you to learn a bit about how to use to get the best out of the program.

Depending on your interest levels, learning HTML, on the other hand, may open up a whole new world to you. You need to spend some time implementing it and understanding how the coding works. You can use your newly taught knowledge for future projects and maybe develop more skills in the web design and programming field.

Usability

The beauty of HTML is that you do not need any fancy software. Window’s Notepad is adequate enough and so you can edit your web pages literally anywhere. In contrast, if you rely on a WYSIWYG editor for your website then you would not be able to build or work on your website if you do not have access to it.

Compatibility

One problem often encountered by WYSIWYG editors is the confusion and mismatch of HTML codes. A WYSIWYG editor translates the visual interface of the website into HTML via an editor engine. This means that sometimes the editor engine will decode the wrong code and the end result of this is a messy HTML code for your website which is then reflected in a slightly different looking website than the one you see on your screen.

This is where using HTML will have a greater advantage over WYSIWYG editors. HTML gives the webmaster more control over the website. You have the ability to create your own website to look exactly as you wish.

HTML is the raw code required to build any website and even WYSIWYG editors have to translate web designs into HTML code. Both methods are great and you need to choose what would suit your skills. Most people may use WYSIWYG editors to get their basic site design up quickly and then having basic HTML knowledge will allow you to tweak any design problems that may arise.