Elementor Breakdown
While you can build a basic but complete website using WordPress, it may leave something to desire when it comes to design. Not to mention, you need to have a basic level of web-building knowledge to be able to use WordPress effectively. The alternative and much better option for you is to use a plugin that makes the job much easier and more facilitative.
That is where tools like Elementor come in. WordPress lets you integrate with website builders that give you access to a whole host of additional features to further spruce up the design and aesthetics of your website. These are typically pretty easy to use, employing a drag and drop style editor to allow you to make edits as quickly and easily as possible. Let me run you through why I chose Elementor as my website builder and how I have used it so far:
What is Elementor?
Elementor is a drag and drop website builder that is available as a WordPress plugin. It allows you to build your web pages from scratch, choose from a variety of templates, or edit your existing theme to your liking. The best part is that you do not need any coding knowledge or website-building experience whatsoever to be able to use this builder. All the tools are easily accessible on the interface and you can drag and drop various elements on your web page to edit and design it. Once you have made your changes, you can preview your web page and then deploy it when ready.
Elementor Pro Plugin Features
The Pro Plugin Features for Elementor include the following:
- Drag and drop editor: you can pick up and drop widgets onto your web page- no coding required.
- Responsive editing: changes to the website design and layout are applied on all versions and devices.
- Live editing: you can customize and apply as you go, without having to take down your website.
- 100 widgets: Elementor has a vast library of widgets that continues to grow.
- Theme builder: you can control all aspects and elements of your website theme from this singular platform.
- Global editing: you can apply your settings globally to make changes across all web pages associated with your website.
User-Friendly Interface
The platform is very visual and intuitive. In other words, it is designed to be used easily by new website owners. Instead of hindering you with an excessive number of features that you would never use, the interface keeps everything neatly tucked yet accessible. I doubt you would run into any major issues using Elementor tools.
Customer Support
Elementor has a remarkable customer support system, especially if you purchase a plan with VIP support. Their Premium support team is available to offer assistance 24/7 and I have personally found them to be extremely understanding and helpful.
Elementor Pricing
You have the option to either purchase the Elementor website builder plugin or have them host your website as well. Here are the available plans:
Website Builder
The website builder plugin is available in 4 different plans:
Essential Plan
You receive 1 Pro website activation with all pro features, premium support, and website kits. The essential plan costs $49 per year.
Expert Plan
The expert plan is priced at $199 per year and allows 25 Pro website activations. You get everything in the essential plan plus an Elementor Expert profile to showcase your work.
Studio Plan
The studio plan allows 100 Pro website activations at $499 per year. Support is upgraded to VIP support as well.
Agency Plan
The Agency Plan costs $999 annually and gives you all features along with 1000 Pro website activations.
Website Builder Plus Hosting
This is a package that includes the website builder as well as cloud-based hosting for your website. The plan costs $99 annually for one website and gives you access to all Elementor Pro plugin features with a built-in Google Cloud Platform and WordPress CMS tools.
Alternatives to Elementor
If you are looking for other tools similar to Elementor, here are a couple of the best available options:
Divi
Divi is arguably the best possible Elementor alternative when it comes to website-building tools. In terms of features, Divi offers a lot of what you get with Elementor for website building and customization. Divi also has over 100 different layout options and 800 templates for you to use which is a plus. It also comes with built-in A/B testing, a feature absent from Elementor.
Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder also offers a very nice, user-friendly interface that is easy to use. It also lets you do live editing along with previews before you make changes. Compared to Elementor, Beaver Builder definitely has lesser layout options but the drag and drop builder feels sufficient for most websites. The free version is available for use if you want to give it a try.
Why Should You Use Elementor?
Easy to use, filled to the brim with useful features, and worth its price, it is no surprise that Elementor is one of the most popular website building plugins for WordPress. You can edit your website live or build one entirely from the ground up- the possibilities are endless. I would recommend it to anyone building a simple web page to anyone looking to design a complex website. To sum it up, here are some pros and cons of using Elementor:
Pros
- The user interface is very intuitive and easy to navigate, even for a complete newbie with zero coding knowledge.
- It is open source so the platform is constantly being upgraded and improved.
- It gives you a degree of customization and control over website elements that you seldom get elsewhere.
- The widgets are extremely useful and creative.
- You get a lot of value out of your investment as most (if not all) of your website editing needs will be combined into a single plugin and platform.
- It integrates very well with most of the popular WordPress plugins and WP Fusion fixes the rest.
Cons
- Elementor does not come with any built-in marketing or testing tools- you will have to use another plugin or program in association to add use these abilities.
- Compared to other platforms, Elementor offers a smaller number of templates.
- It can benefit from expanded integrative capabilities.
How I Use Elementor
Prior to my first company I had not done any webdevelopment nor did I know how to code. I built both sites in WordPress at first, using Elementor as a no-code page builder.
Even using Elementor, you will come across loads of different (technical) options that force you to learn more as you develop your skills.
In Elementor I’m doing the following:
- Designing optimal templates (blocks) to use all over the websites for brand consistency.
- Design templates for specific elements on the site. This can be full pages or small widgets.
- Design theme based styling to achieve consistancy as I’m using Elementor Hello theme (a blank slate).
- Design dedicated landing pages for different offerings.
- Design dynamic pop-ups to appear on your website.
- Implement custom code snippets for other tools with greater ease.
- Caption forms and automatically sync and create new contacts in my CRM.
- Apply content protection through the WP Fusion integration based on tags.
If you don’t know how to make websites, designing your first website with Elementor is fairly easy. Especially since you can use one of their website templates where you can basically drop in your personal content. If you want to go all out you can start from scratch.
