Beaver Builder & Thrive Content Builder: Why I Use Both WordPress Visual Editors [VIDEOS]

I have a confession to make.

I’ve been thinking about writing this post and or creating a video (or two) on using a visual editor (specifically Thrive or Beaver Builder) and I’ve been avoiding it because…. ready for this?

I feel kinda guilty.

I truly love both products (and people behind these awesome tools) and was trying to think of a way I could do this that clearly showed the value in both plugins without negating the other (yes, I still talk to my therapist. Call it the recovering Catholic in me…). Then it hit me. My use of both the Thrive Visual Editor and Beaver Builder isn’t about “either or” it’s more about “for what and when”.

Bear with me, I’m confusing myself a little bit here too.

I have two goals for this post and accompanying videos.

1) Show you BOTH plugins so you get an understanding of what they’re about.

2) Show you how and why I use both plugins with examples.

Sounds easy enough, right? Let’s get to it then (all 3 videos are at the end of the post).

Let’s start with the Thrive Content Builder

I’ve done a few different posts and videos on the Thrive Content Builder already, so for easy reference you can click the links below to view those posts and videos if you want to see those or check them out.

Thrive Content Builder – Landing Pages Update [VIDEO]

Thrive Content Builder – update, [VIDEOS], & PDF Download

Interview with Shane Melaugh of Thrive Themes WPCP:052

My primary use with the Thrive Content Builder is for marketing pages. You’ll see in the video that the TCB has tons of elements that make it very easy to create beautiful squeeze, sales and landing pages. It also comes with pre-designed landing pages that you can select and customize if you don’t want to start from scratch. If you do decide to create a page from scratch you can also save that as a template for future use (which is handy if you track conversions or want to do split testing, which of course you do, right?).

Because I primarily use the Genesis Framework for everything I do I needed to make sure TCB was compatible with Genesis, which it is. I should clarify also that you can use the Thrive Content Builder for regular posts and pages, it’s not solely for marketing pages. You just need to remember that if you use the Thrive Content Builder for posts or pages you can only edit those pages with the builder. If you revert to the WordPress editor you’re going to lose what you created (which also means you need to keep the plugin up to date and if for any reason you uninstall the plugin you will also lose what you created). I prefer using the styling and WordPress editor for my regular posts and pages for consistency throughout the site as well as not wanting to worry about any potential issues down the road.

Landing Pages with the Thrive Content Builder

What is my MOST favorite thing about the Thrive Content Builder?

Built-in landing page templates

And they’re not just ‘any’ templates, they’re GREAT looking templates that convert! I haven’t tested all the page templates for conversions myself, but I can tell you that the team at Thrive Themes does an amazing job providing content and testing their own tools. The team at Thrive not only creates great plugins and themes, they’re also great marketers. They’re constantly creating valuable content and videos on their site (showing you HOW to get better conversions using their products).

As someone who has a handful of different tools for creating landing pages (squeeze pages, whatever your word of choice is) – the fact that this is a ONE TIME purchase makes it a fantastic option for people who are just getting started using creating these types of marketing pages.

Another feature that makes this plugin so amazing is that they have ‘groups’ of pages (for lack of a better explanation). Much like Click Funnels (which is another conversation completely), you get a complete ‘funnel’ for your squeeze page (or sales page, etc.). Take a look at the screenshot below for one of the template styles. You’ll see that it has a few different opt-in pages, email confirmation and then lesson pages (this example is for a free video course for lead generation, i.e., an opt-in page).

This first video is going to show you how to select and edit a landing page as well as a little overview about the builder itself. If you want a more detailed overview of the editor you can check out the previous videos I’ve done by clicking the links above in this post.

Here’s a brief overview of what’s included with the Thrive Visual Editor:

Now let’s take an overview look at Beaver Builder

Like I mentioned above, I use Beaver Builder for content and site pages (as opposed to marketing pages). What you’re looking at above is my previous homepage (before I updated my theme), which I created with Beaver Builder. In the overview video I’m just going to show you what it looks and how you use it. I’ve also found a new FREE plugin that will make using Beaver Builder even easier for Genesis users (who would have thought that were even possible, right?). I’ll show you the new plugin , DamBuster in the Beaver Builder video. If you’re not familiar with Beaver Builder I would watch the overview video first, then watch me create a page from scratch in the second video.

I do have another video and podcast interview with the team at Beaver Builder and you can check those out here:

Previous post and video on Beaver Builder

Podcast Interview with Beaver Builder

The screenshots below show you a preview of the Beaver Builder template windows.

The screenshots above shows only a handful of the Beaver Builder page templates that are available. I had a follow up interview with the guys at Beaver Builder recently (airing soon!) and they’ve let me know they’re going to be releasing new page templates soon (they’ve hired someone to work on new templates and have gone full time with Beaver Builder, so I think we’ll be seeing some more awesome stuff in the near future from Beaver Builder).

Here’s a brief overview of what is included in Beaver Builder:

Let’s get into the videos!

Thrive Visual Editor & Beaver Builder Overview

Thrive Visual Editor

Beaver Builder

So there you have it!

Still not sure which plugin to use? Try mapping out exactly what you want to accomplish with a visual editor and check both plugins for the features you need.

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