Visual editor

If you’ve ever dragged and dropped images, text, or buttons onto a website without touching a line of code, you’ve probably used a visual editor. These tools have transformed the way digital and marketing teams build content, making website creation and updates accessible to non-developers. But there’s more to visual editors than meets the eye.

In this article, we’ll explore the history of visual editors, what they are, and how they can revolutionize your marketing workflow.

What is a visual editor?

A visual editor is a content creation tool that allows you to design and edit content on a web page or email, using a user-friendly interface, without needing to understand or write any code. It’s a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” (WYSIWYG) approach, where the content you create on the editor is almost exactly what your audience will see on their screens.

Visual editors are common in website builders, email marketing platforms, and certain content management systems. With the click of a mouse, you can add text, images, videos, and other interactive elements. Visual editors are all about providing marketers and digital teams with the tools to act quickly and creatively without having to rely on the dev team for every minor change.

The history of visual editors

Visual editors weren’t always the powerful, intuitive tools they are today. Let’s rewind to the early days of the internet.

In the 1990s, website creation was strictly the domain of developers who wrote HTML code line by line. This wasn’t just time-consuming — it also made it virtually impossible for non-technical peeps, like marketers, to take control of digital content. Basically, if you wanted to update so much as a banner, you needed to call the dev team.

Then, things began to change. Early web development tools like Microsoft FrontPage (1995) and Adobe Dreamweaver (1997) entered the market. They allowed users to create and edit web pages using a visual interface while still letting developers finetune the HTML code. These editors were more than a little bit clunky, and the code they produced wasn’t always clean, but they were revolutionary for the time.

By the 2000s, visual editors became more refined and began appearing in content management systems (CMS). WordPress popularized the WYSIWYG editor, allowing users to add and format content without needing to see the code. Fast forward to today, and visual editors have evolved into intuitive, drag-and-drop tools that anyone involved in website content can use.

Some benefits of visual editors for digital teams

For digital and marketing teams, visual editors are more than just convenient tools — they’re crucial for staying agile in a fast-moving digital landscape. Here are some benefits:

Stronger collaboration: Many of today’s visual editors offer real-time collaboration features. This means teams can work together on the same page, adjusting copy, images, or layout without waiting for long feedback loops. It’s almost like Google Docs but for website content.
Quicker time to market: Visual editors allow marketers to quickly test different page layouts, call-to-actions, and images in real-time. Want to quickly sense check a different layout for your homepage? With a visual editor, you can do it without slowing down your marketing campaigns or waiting on a busy developer.
Better accessibility and SEO: Some visual editors come with built-in accessibility and SEO features. They can give you the heads up on missing alt text for images, flag low-contrast text, or even use generative AI optimize your meta descriptions. These features are vital as more and more brands focus on inclusivity and discoverability online.
No design experience needed: Visual editors often include prebuilt templates and design elements that make it easy for non-designers to create beautiful-looking pages. This is particularly helpful for smaller marketing teams that don’t have an in-house designer. And even if you do, it frees up their time for more high-value tasks.

Some limitations of visual editors for digital teams

Visual editors may be user-friendly, but they aren’t without their challenges. Here are a couple of stumbling blocks you might encounter when using one:

Brand inconsistency: If everyone on your marketing team has the freedom to create pages, you risk brand inconsistency. One person might use one style of heading, while someone else might go rogue with a different color scheme. That’s why having strong brand guidelines in place is key.
Bloated code: Some visual editors generate code that isn’t the most efficient, which can slow down your site’s performance. If page speed is critical to your user experience or SEO strategy, you may need to bring in a developer to clean things up from time to time.

Examples of visual editors

There are several types of visual editors, and each comes with its own strengths. Let’s look at some examples:

WordPress's Gutenberg: Gutenberg offers a block-based experience where users can drag-and-drop elements like text, images, and videos onto the page. It’s simple enough for beginners but robust enough for advanced users to build complex layouts.

Webflow: Webflow takes visual editing to the next level, providing a design-driven experience with complete control over HTML and CSS. It’s a popular option for marketers who need to build fast, responsive websites without diving into code.

Elementor: A WordPress plugin, Elementor gives users drag-and-drop editing for a completely customized website experience. It’s highly flexible and includes a library of premade templates and widgets.

Optimizely: Optimizely’s Visual Builder is tailored for marketers who want to create and test different web experiences without code. Whether you’re updating a headline or changing the layout, Visual Builder lets you make those changes directly on the live site. Instead of waiting on devs for every change, marketers can create, tweak, and experiment at speed.

Plus, it integrates A/B testing and personalization capabilities, making it a great all-in-one tool for marketers looking to optimize digital experiences.

Wrapping up on visual editors

For digital and marketing teams, visual editors are essential for staying agile and efficient. They’ve come a long way since their early days, evolving into powerful tools that allow you to quickly build, edit, and optimize content without needing to learn how to code.

Whether you’re looking to speed up content creation or deploy more agile marketing campaigns, a good visual editor can give you the flexibility to keep up with today’s fast-moving digital world.