Coding in the Marketing World
A digital marketer doesn’t need to know coding to get into the marketing field however, as the the great Wade Foster said
"A marketer who can get their hands dirty will be much more effective than one that always has to lean on a developer"
To be the best digital marketer you can be, it's essential to understand the language of coding. In this article I will specifically talk about HTML and explain how Squarespace and WordPress are functionally similar and different with Codecademy.
Why Does It Matter?
Everything is becoming or is already digital and code is part of every process. Code means you understand the structure and fundamentals of your work. Take HTML for example:
HTML
?HTML or (hypertext markup language) is a language in code that is used to structure a web page and content. This could be anything from bolding fonts, linking internal and external pages, creating bulleted points or using tables and images. HTML basically makes content on a website appear and act a certain way.
Learn On Your Own
Codecademy, a popular online coding site lets people who have little to no experience coding, become familiar with it. They offer Python, Java, Go, JavaScript, Ruby, SQL, C++, Swift, CSS and HTML. In Codeacademy you learn at your pace and it’s hands on. They give you a description of what the element or tag does (left side of picture) and have you write it out in a code box (middle area). Once you run the code, it’s displayed for you on the right side of the screen. What’s so helpful about this site is that it lets you see your own mistakes and refers you to a “cheatsheet” that has everything you’ve learned so far.
Website Builders
Squarespace
Squarespace first of all, has a free trial and free custom domain. This is great for users who aren't entirely sure of their commitment but want to start somewhere. Squarespace is easily navigable and has a clean structure. When first entering they have a select amount of templates to choose from and they ask you relevant questions about your brand or topic.
Wordpress
Just like Squarspace, Wordpress if free up until you launch your page. From their on its fairly inexpensive and they include a custom domain. This site isn't necessarily the easiest to navigate. As a first timer, there's a lot to unpack. However, once you get the hang of it, you’ll realize all the functionalities Wordpress has. Wordpress has an easier option to include code, unlike Squarespace where I had to go into the support section to see if they even managed it (they do).
I made a Wordpress site in demonstration of what the code would like in. In order to get there all you need to do is go into settings there's an option (code editor) to view the website in code.
Wrapping it up
The pun was intended. After going through the importance of learning code and taking a glance of what works best for you in the case of website builders, it's important to not that you don't have to pick one or the other. It's even better to incorporate all three for that matter.