Leadpages Site Builder vs Self-Hosted WordPress
When Leadpages released their drag-and-drop website builder (included with all accounts), I began playing with it. It’s a handy tool for seeing which colors and fonts work well together, and for experimenting with the basic elements that need to go on a website.
Here are screenshots of two websites built with Leadpages Site Builder, to give you an idea of how they can look:
Belt Social
Belt Social provides social media management services for businesses. Site by Collin Belt, digital marketing consultant and founder of Belt Creative.
Clayton Poland
Clayton Poland inspires audiences through humor, magic, and uplifting stories. Site by Clayton Poland.
Pros and Cons
I evaluated Leadpages’ drag-and-drop website builder head-to-head with my favorite platform, WordPress.org (the self-hosted version).
Leadpages Site Builder functions like out-of-the box website builders such as Wix or Weebly. As with all website builder software, the ability to completely customize the look and feel of your site is limited.
But if you want drag-and-drop functionality without worrying about coding, and you like Leadpages lead-generation tools, it’s worth a try.
Free Trial of Leadpages Site Builder
Leadpages is offering a 14-day free trial of their entire system (Site Builder plus landing page and pop-up tools) so you can tinker and publish a test site on their domain or on one of your own.
Here are my thoughts about Leadpages Site Builder vs. Self-Hosted WordPress:
LOAD TIME
Leadpages says: Fast loading time, particularly when jumping from page-to-page in the navigation.
Laura says: The page load time is incredibly fast, particularly when navigating a site internally. However, the site I’m testing has only one page, while BloggingBistro.com (a WordPress site), has over 1,000 pages (including the blog and The Professional Writer podcast). And my own WordPress site loads pretty darned fast. No discernable difference here, IF the WordPress site is well-built and optimized for page load speed.
MOBILE RESPONSIVE
Leadpages says: Mobile responsive out of the box, and can quickly make mobile versions even better with a couple of clicks (but no coding).
Laura says: A responsive website recognizes the screen size the user is viewing the site from and automatically rearranges the elements for optimal viewing on that device.
These days, mobile-friendliness is absolutely essential, and I can’t imagine any company releasing a template that’s NOT mobile responsive. But the fact that you can “make mobile versions better” with no coding is a nice selling point.
I’m not a coder, so I outsource all things coding-related on my WordPress site. Yes, that costs $$, but it’s worth it to me because I don’t waste any time ripping chunks of my hair out as I try to figure out how to move things around to make them work better on mobile. With Leadpages Site Builder, I’ve spent a LOT of time attempting (sometimes unsuccessfully) to move things around.
Also, most WordPress themes are mobile responsive (never, EVER download or use one that isn’t!), so LeadPages’ claim here is nothing out of the ordinary.
CONVERSION
Leadpages says: Focused on conversion so users can get more leads.
Laura says: Conversion (getting people to sign up for your email list) is what Leadpages is all about. So a site builder that focuses on conversions is a definite plus.
Of course, you can also emphasize conversions on a WordPress site.
However, a lot of people I meet have no idea that they need to focus on building their email list. Sadly, they overlook conversions when building their website. Leadpages doesn’t let you get away with that. And Leadpages also helps you set up the whole conversion process. A definite win for Leadpages.
INTEGRATIONS
Leadpages says: Easy integrations with other marketing tools, so info about your leads gets seamlessly passed over to autoresponder or webinar platform. Can also download leads in a CSV file with two clicks.
Laura says: Leadpages has a leg up in the integrations department. It’s easy to hook it up to your email marketing service (such as Mailerlite, AWeber, ConvertKit, Flodesk, etc.), as well as to scheduling services, advertising services, webinar services, video services, and many more.
Of course, you can do this with WordPress plugins, too, although it takes more effort and tech skills.
SUPPORT
Leadpages says: Fantastic support team that knows what they’re talking about and treats people like humans. Seriously – they’ll actually send a short video created for a specific user if you get stuck on something.
Laura says: Definitely agree! I have spent many hours chatting with Leadpages support, and they are unfailingly kind, helpful, and go way above the call of duty to serve me. The mini video tutorials they create for me are terrific.
SUMMARY
I love having full control over how my website functions and looks, and most of my clients do, too. After evaluating Leadpages Site Builder, I still believe that self-hosted WordPress websites are the best solution on the market.
Leadpages Site Builder offers a limited amount of templates for building sites (I’ve experimented with 5 of their templates so far), and they all look and function pretty much the same.
As is typical of templated site builder programs, there are limits to what the average non-coder can do.
And there is most definitely a learning curve with Leadpages. While Leadpages brags about its ease of use, I believe that beginners will feel as frustrated with this system as they would with any other templated website builder system.
I consider myself an “intermediate-to-advanced” website builder, and even with my skills, I often find Leadpages slow, clunky, frustrating, and not particularly intuitive.
But you can check it out for yourself. Leadpages is offering a 14-day free trial, so you can tinker and publish a test site on their domain or on one of your own.
14 days for free? What do you have to lose but a little time trying it out?
Planning a New Website?
Here’s a freebie I guarantee will be easy for you to use: My Website Page Planner will help you map out the key content that will go on every page of your website.
When creating a website, remember this rule of thumb:
FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION.
You always want to plan the brand messaging and content (text, images, audio, video) BEFORE designing your site. Once the content for each page is in place, design your website so visitors can quickly and efficiently access and consume your content.
Grab your free Website Page Planner now and get started!
*This article includes affiliate links. If, after your 14-day free trial, you decide to buy a Leadpages subscription, I will receive a commission on the sale.
Leave a Reply