On the 428th episode of Mail-Right, Robert Newman and Jonathan Denwood dive into the top WordPress page builder that will allow agents to showcase properties effectively. Robert Newman is the founder and CEO of Inbound REM. This inbound marketing company provides real estate website development, SEO consulting, and services directly to agents and brokers. Jonathan Denwood is the joint founder of Mail-right, a CRM and lead-generative platform that creates fantastic-looking websites through WordPress. This episode discussed the features, strengths, and how WordPress page builder can enhance user experience and boost engagement on your site
What is Gutenberg Builder?
About six years ago, six to seven years ago, WordPress ran it. Matt Manweg, the joint founder, has a commercial company called Automatic. But WordPress is a strange hybrid where it’s open source, but it also has a lot of reliance on this company called Automatic. Matt Manweg also said that WordPress has to move forward. They developed an ongoing project called Gutenberg, an internal page website builder. Based on this core technology called Gutenberg and blocks, it has built-in third-party plugins, and blocks are sections you can drag off. And why you should care is that it’s much quicker than many other solutions.
Google is looking for a speedy website. So, if you’re looking to build your real estate website and want something based on core WordPress that is also speedy, a Gutenberg-based solution might be a good idea.
Non-Gutenberg plugins are those that are not based on Gutenberg WordPress technology. The most popular among them is Elementor, which dominates the market. Elementor was one of the first plugins to offer a drag-and-drop page builder without needing code. Before Elementor, Divi had a significant market share and still does. Elementor became very popular because it was the first of its kind. However, the code quality of Elementor was not the best, and a lot of additional code was created, which made websites slower. However, good hostings, like WP Engine or WP-Tonic, can help solve this problem. Recently, Elementor changed to a technology called Flexbox to reduce the amount of code needed for page layouts, making websites faster.
However, websites and CRMs are only as good as the people and their ability to use them. Here are the best WordPress builders agents should consider when building a real estate website.
1. CadenceWP.
Cadence is owned by a hosting company. It started with a skilled developer named Ben, who lives in Montana with his family. He built a big business focused on themes. Ben used Gutenberg technology early on to create a framework and theme, leading to a successful business. Later, Liquid Web, a large hosting company, offered him a job. He sold his business and became the head of Cadence and its lead developer. One great feature of Cadence is its large library of predesigned templates. Soon, they will offer six to twelve themes specifically designed for real estate. These themes use Cadence technology and are being developed and tested at Mail-Right. However, you can also adapt their general themes for real estate.
Furthermore, even though many ads say anyone can build a DIY WordPress site, it often involves a big learning process. Even if unpacking the theme is simple, there is a lot to learn once the theme is unpacked. This includes understanding plugins and other WordPress-specific terms, which are not standard and can be confusing for beginners.
Using solutions like Cadence or similar ones is not much harder than using Wix or Squarespace, which are also website-building platforms. Many specialized WordPress hosting services offer one-click installs, making it easy to upload a theme. Some parts of Squarespace and Wix are not as easy as their ads claim, and many users switch to WordPress. If building a site on Squarespace or Wix is challenging, it might be more difficult on WordPress. However, using Cadence or similar tools has become easier than five or six years ago.
2. Spectra
Spectra is similar to Cadence. It belongs to ASTRA, a well-known company in Alimator and Gutenberg. Cadence has around 700,000 active users, while Spectra has about 400,000 active users. Both have free and paid services. Spectra, through ASTRA, has more themes, including starter themes for real estate agents.
3. Generate Blocks
It’s a privately owned company that is smaller than Cadence and Spectra. It has been in the WordPress space for some years. This company attracts professional web designers because it does not offer many starter themes. However, the code it produces is high quality and very fast. Building or editing a website is similar to using Cadence and Spectra but with fewer starter themes. The code is excellent, quick, and uses a class-based system, making it more appealing and powerful for professional developers.
4. Max Blocks
Max Blocks is big in the Divi world and remains significant. This non-Gutenberg solution has required a lot of effort. It differs from Generate Blocks because it offers much value even with the free version, although the paid version is also reasonably priced. Their library includes about 300 to 400 starter themes. Although it’s unclear if any are specifically for real estate, their extensive collection is growing in popularity. While not the same as Spectra or Cadence, they provide a lot for free and even more in the pro version.
They offer many quality, well-designed starter themes. Despite being a small team with a background in Divi, their work is not a gamble. They have invested a lot of money to reach this point. This Gutenberg solution comes highly recommended.
People who can’t afford much don’t have many choices. It’s important to have a website that looks good and is useful. However, these builder solutions are affordable if the budget isn’t enough to hire services like Mail-Right or InboundREM. Getting IDX is cheaper if the budget is low, but a website is needed. Moreover, hiring a professional or checking out the Mail-Right platform, which uses WordPress, is a good idea.
