Creating a WordPress website with Elementor: How to build a website with Elementor and WordPress

Creating a WordPress website with Elementor

Creating a WordPress website with Elementor is easy and does not require any coding knowledge. This tutorial will show you how to create a WordPress website using Elementor.

Whether you're starting a business, working on a personal project, or just want an online presence, this article is for you if you want to learn how to create a website using WordPress and Elementor.

Elementor is a drag-and-drop page builder WordPress plugin that allows you to create beautiful websites without having to write any code.

Learn how to build a website using WordPress and Elementor in this step-by-step guide, and you'll be able to create a website in no time. We'll also show you how to add content, choose a theme, and customise your website with Elementor's drag-and-drop builder.

Where can I learn how to build a website with WordPress?

There are already so many excellent blogs, podcasts, books, courses, and YouTube videos that go through every detail of how to construct a WordPress website from the ground up, so we’re not going to reinvent the wheel here.

You'll get an overview of the steps involved in creating a WordPress website with Elementor, including some recommended resources you can use.

Why should you create a WordPress website with Elementor?

WordPress is the world's most popular content management system (CMS). Elementor is a popular WordPress page builder plugin that makes it easy to create custom pages without writing any code.

Page builders like Oxygen, Divi, Beaver Builder, and Visual Composer are popular alternatives to Elementor, whilst WordPress has also developed a page builder called Gutenberg. Any page builder can be used to create a WordPress website, but for this post, we'll focus on Elementor.

That isn't to say there isn't a place for the likes of Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, and Weebly, but we're a WordPress web design agency, so we're pretty biased. Plus, if you're looking for more control over your website or want to move it to WordPress eventually, it's a good idea to start with WordPress and a page builder like Elementor.

Creating a WordPress website with Elementor is easy, even if you've never created a website before. If you can use Microsoft Word or Google Docs, then you can create a website.

This summarises all the phases we'll go through in this tutorial.

  • How to find and register your domain name
  • How to choose the best web hosting for your needs
  • How to install WordPress
  • Installing a theme and customising/designing your WordPress site
  • Adding pages and posts in WordPress
  • Customising WordPress with plugins
  • Resources to learn WordPress and get support
  • How to learn more about WordPress and find a local WordPress Meetup

Let's go through some of the most frequently asked questions we get before we start building your WordPress website.

What will I need to start building a WordPress website?

Before your start creating your WordPress website, you're going to need at least two things:

  • A domain name (this is your website's address, e.g. example.com)
  • Web hosting (this is where your website lives on the internet)

You can use a local development environment to create a WordPress website on your computer without having to pay for web hosting, but we'll assume you want to create a live website that people can visit, plus developing WordPress locally (on your computer rather than live on the internet) could be a whole new article.

Domain registrars are everywhere these days, and you can usually buy a domain name from your web hosting provider.

We recommend using Namecheap, CrazyDomains, or GoDaddy to buy your domain names, as they're all pretty cheap and easy to use.

How much does WordPress hosting cost?

As for web hosting, we recommend using SiteGround as a budget WordPress host, with cheap WordPress hosting plans starting from as little as £2.39 per month for one website and £3.99 per month for unlimited websites.

WP Engine, Flywheel, Kinsta, and Nimbus Hosting are great options if you have more money to spend, plus they offer features and support that are geared toward WordPress websites.

And if you want full control over your server environment, you can use DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS, or Google Cloud, but you will need technical knowledge to set up and manage your web server.

And finally, Cloudways offers the best of both worlds by providing managed WordPress hosting on top of DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, AWS, and Google Cloud servers, so you get the full power of a cloud server with the ease of use and support of managed WordPress hosting.

You can usually get a free SSL certificate from your web host, which is important for security and SEO (search engine optimisation).

I assume you use a shared or managed WordPress host for this tutorial.

Nimbus Hosting WordPress Tools - WordPress Hosting UK

Can I build a WordPress website for free or on a tight budget?

Yes, you can. WordPress is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) that you can use to create a website or blog. The only things you need to pay for are your domain name and web hosting.

Siteground hosting is reliable, great for beginners, cheap, and provides the tools to have your WordPress website up and running in minutes.

Depending on your design skills, the time you want to spend creating your website, and your budget, you can use free WordPress themes and plugins, buy a premium theme or template, and pay for premium plugins to add extra features and functionality to your website.

How to create a staging environment for your WordPress website

A staging environment is a copy of your live website where you can test changes to your site before making them live. This is useful for testing new themes, plugins, or updates to WordPress itself without affecting your live website.

Most managed WordPress hosts offer a staging environment as part of their hosting plans, giving you the option to create a staging site with just a few clicks.

If your host doesn't offer a staging environment, you can create a copy of your website using a backup or migration plugin. Once you've created a copy of your website, you can install WordPress in a subfolder or subdomain and use it as your staging site, giving you a safe space to test changes.

How to install WordPress with Cloudways hosting

Creating a WordPress website with Elementor: How to create a WordPress website with Elementor

Step 1 - Install WordPress

Ok, you have your domain and hosting sorted out, and you're ready to start creating your WordPress website. In this first step, we'll show you how to install WordPress on your web server.

If you're using SiteGround, you can install WordPress in just a couple of clicks with their WordPress auto-installer. There are a lot of similar features available, so check with your hosting provider to see if they provide anything comparable.

If you need more help, WP Beginner has a more in-depth tutorial on  how to install WordPress using hosting platforms like Bluehost, WP Engine, and HostGator, as well as how to install WordPress using cPanel, Softaculous, FTP, your local computer and more.

You'll need to install WordPress manually if you're not using SiteGround or a similar hosting platform. This isn't as difficult as it sounds, but it's beyond the scope of this article. You can find instructions on how to do this in the WordPress Codex.

Once you've installed WordPress, you’re ready to choose a theme and start designing your website.

Step 2 - Adding a WordPress theme and customising your website

In the next step, we'll show you how to find and install a WordPress theme to control the overall design of your WordPress website.

WordPress themes are ready-made templates you can install on your WordPress website to change its appearance and functionality.

You can find free WordPress themes in the WordPress Theme Directory or on third-party websites. Just keep in mind that free WordPress themes may come with limited features and support, so it's always a good idea to do your research before installing one.

Each new WordPress installation comes with a default theme, which you can change immediately.

To view and change your theme, head to your WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance > Themes.

If you want to install a new theme, click on the “Add New” button. You can either use the WordPress search feature to find a theme or upload a theme you've purchased elsewhere by clicking on the “Upload Theme” button.

Creating a WordPress website with Elementor: How to install WordPress themes

Suppose you're looking to start with a ready-made site that needs only minimal changes like adding your logo, company details and content. In that case, ThemeForest has a good selection of popular themes to choose from, although some of these will be ‘bloated' with features you won't need.

If you want more control over the design of your website or if you're planning on making significant changes to the way your site looks, then it's worth investing in a custom WordPress theme or using a barebones theme such as ‘Hello' by Elementor, which you can find in the WordPress Theme Directory.

These themes are a good starting point for developers and designers who want to create their own custom themes or make wholesale changes to an existing theme:

Page Builder FrameworkAstra, OceanWP, Hello by Elementor and GeneratePress are popular, lightweight themes with many customisation options.

When you've found a theme you like, hover over it and click on the “Install” button. Once the theme is installed, click the “Activate” button to add it to your website.

You can start customising your WordPress website by going to Appearance > Customise in your dashboard.

The default WordPress customiser doesn't offer a true drag & drop customisation experience.

Remember that when you're choosing a WordPress theme, it's important to consider the following:

  • How easy is it to use and customise?
  • What features does it come with?
  • Is active support available if you need help using the theme or encounter an error?
Adding a WordPress theme and customising your website

Step 3 - Install plugins to extend the functionality of your WordPress website

Installing a WordPress plugin is similar to installing a WordPress theme. To install a plugin, head to Plugins > Add New in your dashboard and use the search feature to find the plugin you want to install or upload if you've downloaded it elsewhere.

WordPress plugins allow you to extend your website's capabilities and functionality. Like themes, you can find both free and premium plugins for WordPress. And as with themes, it's always a good idea to do your research before installing a plugin on your website.

You can browse the WordPress plugin repository through wordpress.org or directly from your WordPress dashboard by going to Plugins > Add New in the left-hand sidebar.

You can use the search feature to find a specific plugin or browse through the most popular, featured and recommended plugins. When you've found a plugin you want to install, click on the “Install Now” button. Once it's installed, click on the “Activate” button, and the plugin will be added to your website.

It's entirely up to you to decide which plugins to install on your WordPress website. However, as a general rule of thumb, it's best to install the plugins you need and avoid installing too many, as this can slow down your website.

How to create a WordPress website with Elementor page builder

Here are some essential types of WordPress plugins that we recommend:

WordPress Page Builders

Using a page builder is optional, but as this article is based on building a WordPress website with Elementor, we'll include some of the most popular page builders here.

A page builder can be a valuable tool as it allows you to create custom pages and posts without needing to learn how to code.

Page builders work by providing a drag & drop interface for adding, removing and rearranging elements on your web pages. WordPress released its own ‘block builder' called Gutenberg in 2018, now the default editor for adding content to pages and posts.

However, some prefer not to use Gutenberg and instead install a third-party page builder plugin. The most page builders for WordPress are:

Oxygen builder is still relatively new, but it has acquired a lot of popularity in a short period among WordPress professionals due to its unique approach to WordPress design and outstanding performance.

This article from WP Unboxed gives a good overview of the best WordPress page builders compared to each other.

WordPress security plugins

Security plugins help to secure your WordPress website from hackers and malware. We recommend using the following security plugins:

WordPress SEO plugins

Rank Math, Yoast and All In One SEO are all popular WordPress SEO plugins that can help you optimise your website for search engines. I'm a big fan of Rank Math but also use a relatively new WordPress SEO plugin called Squirrly.

I've had some great results using the free RankMath SEO plugin and have since switched to the premium version, which offers more features and customisation options.

A sitemap is essential for any WordPress website as it helps search engines index your website's pages and posts. Most SEO plugins will automatically generate a sitemap for you, but if not, then you can use the Google XML Sitemaps plugin.

Caching plugins

Caching plugins help to speed up your WordPress website by caching static files and eliminating the need to generate new pages each time a visitor loads your website. We recommend using the following caching plugins:

Some WordPress hosts have also developed their own set of caching plugins, which are often available for free to their customers and are built to work specifically with their hosting environment.

Using a caching plugin along with a CDN (content delivery network) and an image optimisation plugin can further help to speed up your WordPress website.

CDN Plugins

You won't necessarily need to use a plugin to configure your CDN, but there are some plugins available that can make the process of setting up and using a CDN easier. Some popular WordPress CDN plugins include:

Image Optimisation Plugins

Images often account for the largest files on a web page, so it's important to ensure that your images are optimised for the web. Several WordPress plugins can help you with this, including:

WordPress Image Optimisation Plugins - Smush Image Compression and Optimization

Using an image optimisation plugin is a massive time-saver as you can bulk optimise all the images on your website in one go, rather than individually optimising each image. You can choose to compress your images and remove any unnecessary EXIF data to reduce the file size further.

WordPress backups

Backing up your WordPress website is essential to keeping your site safe and secure. We recommend using one of the following backup plugins:

Forms plugins

Gravity Forms is my favourite, but WPForms is a great alternative if you're looking for a more affordable option.

Caldera Forms was another popular forms plugin but the plugin is no longer supported and the company announced that Caldera Forms has closed as of April 2022.

Email marketing plugins

Form building plugins like Gravity Forms come with integrations for popular email marketing platforms like MailChimp and AWeber, and Elementor has the option to integrate with several popular email marketing tools.

If you're not using a form plugin, there are still some great WordPress plugins for email marketing that you can use:

We've gone over some of the essential plugins you'll need for your WordPress website, and I could describe them all. However, I believe this is a good place to start for anybody wanting to develop a WordPress website.

You can find plugins for pretty much anything, including building a membership website, creating and selling courses using an LMS (learning management system) plugin, selling digital and physical products, and so much more.

Create a website with WordPress and Elementor Page Builder

Step 4 - Create pages and add content to your WordPress website

With your theme and plugins installed and activated, it's time to start adding content to your WordPress website.

Content will make your website unique and help you stand out from the crowd.

To add new content to your WordPress website, head to your dashboard and go to Posts > Add New or Pages > Add New.

You can also add new content by going to the relevant section on your website and clicking on the “Add New” button.

For example, if you want to add a new blog post, go to Posts > Add New. If you want to add a new page, go to Pages > Add New.

When adding new content, you'll be presented with a blank page or post where you can start entering your text, images, and other media.

You can also format your content using the WordPress editor or Elementor page builder.

Once you're happy with your content, click the “Publish” button to make it live on your website.

The pages you create will be automatically added to your website's navigation menu, depending on the site settings.

If you want to add a page to your navigation menu or remove one, head to Appearance > Menus and drag and drop the page into the relevant location.

Create a coming soon page or keep your website private

You might want to keep your website private while working on it, or you can create a coming soon page to generate interest in your upcoming website.

Elementor has an option to display a ‘coming soon' or ‘maintenance mode' page on your website.

To do this, head to Elementor, tools, and click on the ‘coming soon' or ‘maintenance mode' tab.

Then, select the page you want to use as your coming soon or maintenance mode page and click on the ‘publish' button.

Your website will now be in coming soon or maintenance mode, and only visitors who are logged in will be able to view it.

If you want to make your website public again, simply head back to the ‘coming soon' or ‘maintenance mode' tab and click on the ‘disable' button.

How many pages does a website need?

The number of pages you create is entirely down to you, but a suggested structure for most websites is to have a homepage, an “About” page, a “Contact” page, and then some additional pages for your blog or other content.

How to create a homepage

Your homepage is typically the first page visitors will see when they arrive at your website, so it's important to make a good impression.

You should use your homepage to give visitors an overview of your website and what they can expect to find.

A typical homepage layout will include a hero image or slider, some introductory text, and then some links to your most popular content.

Your website copy should be clear and concise, and you should avoid using jargon or technical terms that might not be familiar to your visitors.

If you're unsure what to include on your homepage, look at some of your favourite websites and see how they've laid out their homepages.

One important thing to remember is that your homepage is not your blog.

If you're planning on having a blog on your website, you should create a separate page for it and link to it from your homepage.

How to create an About page

An “About” page is a great way to introduce yourself or your business to visitors. It's also an important page for search engine optimisation (SEO) as it allows you to include some keywords that describe what your website is about.

When creating your “About” page, you should focus on telling your story and explaining what makes you or your business unique. You can also use this page to showcase your team, products, or services.

If you're stuck for ideas, look at some of the “About” pages on your favourite websites.

How to create an about page - build a website with WordPress and Elementor

How to create a Contact page

A “Contact” page is essential to any website as it gives visitors a way to get in touch with you.

When creating your contact page, you should include your contact details, such as your email address, phone number, and social media handles. You can also use this page to include a contact form and add a map if you have a physical location.

What To Ask A Web Designer before hiring a web design agency or building your website

How to create additional pages

In addition to your homepage, “About” page, and “Contact” page, you can create as many other pages as you like.

Some common pages you might want to include on your website are an “FAQ” page, a “Services” page, or a “Portfolio.

Step 5: Configure Website Settings

From your admin dashboard, go to Settings > General.

Here you can configure your website's settings, such as your site title and tagline, time zone, date format, and more.

To change your permalinks, go to Settings > Permalinks and select the permalink structure you want to use.

Using the “Post name” permalink structure is generally recommended as this is more SEO friendly than the default permalink structure.

Once you've made your changes, click the “Save Changes” button to save your settings.

Step 6: Launch your brand new WordPress website

That's all there is to it; you wanted to know how to build a WordPress website with Elementor, and you've done it.

Now it's time to launch your site and start sharing it with the world.

You could spend hours, days, weeks, or even months fine-tuning your site and adding more content, but at some point, you need to launch it and start promoting it.

One of the best things about WordPress is that it's easy to launch your site and then continue making changes as you go. Just remember to make changes and updates on your staging site before pushing them to your live site; that way, you can avoid any potential errors or broken links.

Launch your WordPress website

Step 7: Add blog content to your WordPress website

Depending on your goals, the available time, and experience level, you might want to start adding blog content to your site immediately.

If you're not sure what to write about, look at some of the most popular blogs in your niche and see what topics they're writing about.

Once you've come up with a few ideas, it's time to start writing.

If you're new to blogging or not confident in your writing skills, don't worry; just take your time and write the best quality content you can. Don't get bogged down with trying to write the perfect post to rank number one on Google; just focus on writing something that will be helpful or interesting to your target audience.

Make your blog's content shareable by adding social media buttons to each article, and don't forget to include images, videos, or infographics to make your text more visually appealing.

Step 8: WordPress updates and maintenance

Now that you've launched your WordPress website keeping it up-to-date and well maintained is important. One of the benefits of using WordPress is that new versions are released regularly, which bring with them new features and security updates.

It's important to update WordPress as soon as a new version is available, but before doing so, you should always back up your site first. That way, you can quickly restore your site from the backup if anything goes wrong during the update process.

Updating your staging website ensures that nothing has broken after the update and that all your plugins and themes are compatible with the new version.

If everything looks good on your staging site, you can apply the updates to your live site.

You should also set up a WordPress maintenance schedule to keep your site running smoothly. This might include regularly backing up your website, checking for broken links, and optimising your database.

If you don't have the time or knowledge to do this yourself, you can always hire a WordPress maintenance company to carry out regular maintenance and updates for you. Of course, we offer WordPress maintenance packages and care plans like most WordPress web design agencies, but we know we're not the only ones, so shop around and find the best option for you, your website and your budget.

Creating a WordPress website is easy, but it's important to remember that it's not a set-it-and-forget-it type of task. Regular maintenance and updates are essential to keep your site running smoothly, safely, and securely.

Optional: Continue learning about WordPress

That's it! You've now created a WordPress website with Elementor page builder.

Now it's time to start adding content, promoting your site, and driving traffic to your new website.

If you want to continue learning how to use WordPress, Elementor, and other tools to build websites, be sure to check out the rest of our blog and check out some of the many amazing blogs, YouTube channels, podcasts, books and courses available on the topic.

You can get advice and discuss WordPress in Facebook groups, the official WordPress Slack channel, on the WordPress.org support forums or find a local WordPress Meetup group where you can go along and meet WordPress users at all levels from complete beginners to experienced developers.

There are too many amazing resources to help you improve your website, learn about WordPress, and learn how to drive traffic and improve sales to list them all here, so I'll just leave you with a few of my favourites:

Web Design Agency / WordPress Podcasts:

Trailblazer FM (formerly Agency Trailblazer)

Lee Matthew Jackson hosts this brilliant podcast about WordPress, agency life, web design, and running a business. If you're interested in learning more about WordPress, productivity, suggested tools, start-up tips, and software recommendations, I strongly suggest listening to it.

Link: Trailblazer FM

The WP Builds Podcast

Nathan Wrigley and his team produce a weekly podcast all about WordPress with new episodes every Monday morning. It's a great way to keep up-to-date with the latest WordPress news, views and interviews.

Link: WP Builds

The Admin Bar

Kyle Van Deusen and Brian Richards host a podcast about everything WordPress. They cover news, plugin reviews, interviews with people in the WordPress community and more. They've got some great resources on their website, too.

Link: The Admin Bar

Hello, WP!

“Hello, WP!” is a podcast that reminds you what it's like to be a new WordPress user, and it's exactly that.

The podcast series follows a new user on a journey to discover WordPress and its valuable community and covers all the basics about themes, plugins and WordPress in general.

It's a fantastic podcast idea and worth a listen, even if they haven't released a new episode for a few years.

Link: Hello, WP!

WP-Tonic

The WP-Tonic podcast is great for getting your WordPress news and learning about new plugins, themes, and services.

WP-Tonic is a hosting provider specialising in hosting WordPress LMS and WordPress membership sites, and the podcast features interviews with people who use and develop WordPress.

Link: WP-Tonic

WPwatercooler Podcast

WPwatercooler is a live video and audio roundtable discussion from WordPress professionals worldwide, which has been running since 2012.

The WPwatercooler podcast is a great place to start if you want to get involved in the WordPress community.

Link: WPwatercooler

Sell Your Service

Mike Killen's Sell Your Service podcast is mainly made up of the audio from his YouTube videos rather than a traditional podcast. However, it's still worth a listen if you want to learn about sales funnels and how to sell services online but don't have time to watch his channel.

Link: Sell Your Service Podcast

The Kim Doyal Show

Also known as the WordPress Chick, Kim Doyal focuses on helping others build a business with the power of WordPress. Kim covers a wide range of business, WordPress, and digital marketing topics on her blog and podcast.

Link: The Kim Doyal Show

The best WordPress podcasts
Think Like A Hacker Podcast

The WordPress security podcast from the people behind the Wordfence security plugin. Each episode discusses the latest WordPress security news and how to protect your website from hackers.

Link: Think Like A Hacker

Do The Woo

A podcast all about WooCommerce, the most popular eCommerce plugin for WordPress.

Do The Woo covers everything from building WooCommerce stores to running a successful WooCommerce business.

Link: Do The Woo

Your Website Engineer (formerly Your WordPress Engineer)

With over 500 episodes since 2010, Your Website Engineer is one of the longest-running WordPress podcasts, and it's a great resource for learning about WordPress and website development.

Link: Your Website Engineer

These are just a few of my favourite WordPress podcasts, but there are many more out there, including some that I listen to, so don't be offended if your favourite WordPress podcast hasn't been mentioned!

Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read the article and made it here! I hope you've found it useful and that it's given you some ideas for creating your WordPress website with Elementor or another page builder.

Creating a WordPress website doesn't have to be difficult, and with the right tools, it can be easy and fun!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy creating your WordPress website with Elementor. 

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