WordPress is a widely-used tool for website building. WordPress is an open-source platform for creating websites. WordPress is a popular platform for creating websites. It has many features and is flexible, so it’s great for both newbies and veterans.
A WordPress website is any website that utilizes the WordPress ecosystems for managing its content. As such, WordPress becomes the backbone of the website by powering both the backend and the front-end of the said website.
WordPress websites come in many different forms. One of the most common WordPress websites is:
- Blogs
These are websites that depend on the author’s likes and interests. These can showcase thoughts, photos, reviews, tutorials, and recipes. Oftentimes, a blog is structured in a way that the most recently-published content is shown first.
- E-Commerce website
These are websites that mainly focus on doing online business. These websites are often used to display products or services the owner wants to sell. These sites can also be used to collect payments for the goods and services.
- Business website
At first glance, these might look and feel like E-Commerce websites. However, they are very different in terms of function. E-commerce websites may sell products, but business websites are designed to introduce users to companies and the services they offer. They can be thought of as a business profile, but not online.
- Sites for members
Content creators (i.e., Youtubers, Online Artists, etc.) They might offer something more for their most loyal followers or supporters. They may want to offer extra, exclusive content they are willing to pay a fee for.
This can be done by creating a WordPress membership website. A website can be created by content creators. Users will need to log in to access the site or pay for it. WordPress has enough tools to handle the things needed to set this up.
- Portfolio Website
For many, websites are a good avenue to show off their work to prospective employers. This holds true for both digital and traditional artists. Having a website to present their work is akin to having their own museum.
- Forum website
Forum websites are an online community where the number of topics for discussion is unlimited. Forums were the king of the Internet before social media. Nowadays, specialized forums are few and far between.
Nowadays, larger websites are the most popular sites for discussion. Reddit and Quora are the more popular ones. It does not mean forum websites are no longer relevant. For niche topics, forums are still crucial discussion places.
A content creator, a blogger, or even a book author, can host their own Forums through WordPress. Forums like these give a more intimate feel compared to the wide reach of the usual websites.
- Websites for events
An event website is a simple website that advertises events. An event website allows the public to view and verify details about events such as seating and dates. They can also check ticket prices. Speaking of ticket prices, you can even sell tickets through these websites.
- E-Learning website
After the 2019 COVID Pandemic, online classes and electronic courses became a common term. E-learning websites existed even before the COVID Pandemic.
E-learning websites allow students to take an online course, track how they are doing, download their research materials, and much more. Though putting up an e-learning website through WordPress takes a little more work, it is still rewarding for those with the drive to share their knowledge with the world.
- Invitational websites
Even invitations can now be sent online. Thanks to the power of the internet, you can create websites for that personal event of yours. Be it a birthday, a Christening, or even a wedding; you can make a website that fits your need. WordPress offers many resources to do it fast and do it well.
Daniel has posted a video review on Design Break that will give you a more visual experience. You can still check out the article below to get an overview of Elementor II. It also compares it with some other products.
WordPress plugins: Enhancing WordPress to Be the Best How To Use Elementor
WordPress’ popularity and longevity can be attributed to the community of users who support it. WordPress plugins are a part of some of that support.
WordPress plugins are an additional code package that can be uploaded to a website to improve its functionality and integrate with other sites.
WordPress plugins come in many forms. You can use them to improve a website’s SEO, or for analytics. WordPress plugins can be used to integrate marketing and payment methods. You can even find plugins to make building websites easy.
Plugins can also come between free and premium. The main difference between them could be in the quality of their function or the extent to which they are available. This does not necessarily mean that plugins for free are inferior. Heck, there are even some free plugins which function better than their premium counterparts.
These plugins often play nicely with the heart of WordPress, more or less. There will be occasions when a premium plugin is worth the cost. The strongest argument for paying for a premium plugin is the support.
WordPress plugins are generally well-behaved. There are occasions when plugins do not function as they should. As such, the value of customer support service can never be replaced
Your Must-Have WordPress plugins
There are certain types of plugins that WordPress websites should prioritize over others. It is recommended that all WordPress websites have these WordPress plugins:
- WordPress Backup Plugin
By its nature, WordPress does not have a built-in backup function. Having no backup is a potential headache waiting to happen, and a huge one at that. As such, backup plugins can be the solution to those potential headaches.
In the event of a hack or security breach, backups are important. As it allows you to easily replace data that was deleted or at least bring your website back to a previous save state before the attack happened.
- WordPress Security Plugin
The ubiquity and popularity of WordPress make it a lucrative target for hackers. Hackers create malicious programs to attack WordPress sites, access all their data, and do something nefarious.
This is where WordPress Security plugins come in. They offer multiple solutions to prevent these attacks. Some limit login attempts to a website to stop brute force attacks. Others offer a more comprehensive and sophisticated way to ward off these attacks.
Whatever your preference, the key to finding the best WordPress security plugin is security and convenience.
- WordPress SEO Plugin
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the process of making your website more visible to many people. With proper SEO settings, your website can be found easier in searches through search engines such as Google and Bing!
SEO is a business. The competition for Google’s top pages is fierce with the sheer number of websites popping up every day. A great SEO plugin can help your website gain more traffic.
SEO plugins are able to give you tips and automate repetitive tasks such as content creation.
- WordPress Form Plugin
WordPress Form Plugins allow you to add robust forms for your websites. These forms include contact forms, survey forms, donation forms, file uploaders, and more.
Basically, forms let your site visitors enter personal information. This information is then received and sent to the appropriate place (database or mailing list).
Since forms handle sensitive data and personal information, it is important that they be secure and should discourage spam. These forms should also fit depending on the customer (most websites that use forms are e-commerce websites).
As such, for your WordPress form plugin, it would be wise to look for something secure that remains easy to configure and customize.
- WordPress E-commerce Plugin
Speaking of business, for WordPress E-commerce, it would be a no-brainer to an e-commerce plugin. E-commerce websites are built to sell products; however, your website will have no such ability if you do not have the appropriate plugin.
An E-commerce plugin allows you to turn your website into a store. It can provide you with a lot of tools and resources. Some e-commerce plugins even come with online payment capabilities integrated.
- WordPress Design Plugin
WordPress is the best platform for website design. WordPress allows you to do just about anything, provided you can code. HTML, CSS, and other coding languages can allow you to tweak your WordPress Page to the limit.
Nevertheless, not everyone has the necessary knowledge to code. This might seem like a high barrier to entry for WordPress users. But, WordPress wouldn’t be as popular if it had a high barrier to entry.
This so-called barrier to entry was removed by WordPress, which helped it regain and grow its user base. WordPress Site Design plugins such as page builders made website building easier and more efficient.
Many of these plugins remove the need to code in order to build websites. Through their drag-and-drop interface, almost everyone and their mum can build a website over at WordPress, with little to no coding knowledge. Although coding knowledge is not required, there are many benefits to using WordPress.
These plugins have also helped speed up the process of creating websites. WordPress users, or at least sites using WordPress, are growing in number every day.
These are just a few of the plugins we recommend you add to your website. Of course, there are many more types of plugins, but their use can be situational and optional.
WordPress is currently home to over 60,000 plugins or more to choose from, and it is up to you to find what works best for you.
Installing WordPress plugins
WordPress plugins are very easy to install. It is quick and easy to do.
After logging in to your WordPress website, you can find the Plugins menu on your WordPress Dashboard. Click on it to Expand this Menu.
There will be a page called Installed Plugins. This is where you can find the currently installed plugins on this particular WordPress Site. You might see plugins installed even if you don’t have any plugins or you are new to this page.
Because some plugins are included with WordPress Installations, this is possible.
To upload a new plugin, simply click on the “Add New” link. This will allow you to look for plugins to install from the WordPress.org Plugin Directory. There are also links you can click to look at featured, popular, and latest plugins available. YOu can even mark your favorites here.
Once you have located your preferred plugin, click the “Choose File” button. After this, you must locate your plugin zip file and click on Install Now
Once the plugin has finished installing, click Activate to turn the plugin on.
The Editor menu item is located under Plugins in WordPress Dashboard. This editor is built into WordPress plugins and can be used to modify individual PHP files.
PHP is a language that you should know. You can make your customizations unaffected by changing any of these things. You don’t likely need to modify any plugin’s PHP code.
Elementor: One of the best page builders plugins WordPress has to offer
Elementor is a WordPress Site Design plugin that ranks among the top. It is a drag and drop page builder that allows users to quickly create their website. Even characters with no tech skills can still make a mark on the internet.
Elementor was launched in mid-16 and has been in the WordPress Plugin Library ever since. It might be a more recent addition to the WordPress ecosystem, but that is still a pretty significant period of time by the Internet’s standards.
Elementor doesn’t care about your age. It quickly became one of the most widely used visual page builders on the platform at the time. Elementor did not let this success get on their head, and until this day, they continued to grow and develop new ways to keep Elementor relevant to the newest trends.
Elementor’s core functionality is still drag and drop builder. It does this function well. It operates in a “what you see is what you get” approach. This approach makes it easier to see how the website will look while you are still editing.
Elementors allows you to bypass the need to open WordPress’s standard editors. With all that said, coding is still welcome, and people who prefer using their own custom HTML, CSS, and PHP, along with other current coding languages, are free to do so.
Elementor is known for being a flexible plugin. You can use it with any current WordPress theme. It even comes with its own theme builder that allows you to make your own WordPress themes that suits your taste and needs.
And speaking of themes, it does work with other themes that are available in the WordPress library, and as such, there is little worry about themes bugging out. Elementor’s support team is available to assist you if they do not work as expected.
Elementor Features
Elementor may be described as a drag-and drop page builder but the sheer number of features it offers is a mischaracterization.
Elementor would not be a top-ranked website builder for WordPress if it could only do so much.
As such, here are some of Elemetor’s best features:
- Content Elements Galore
Elementor uses building blocks to create a webpage. These blocks, or elements, can be organized according to the user’s wishes to create a website layout.
To explain the blocks a bit more, they are the elements that make up the web design. Every element can contain a widget or a written content. Or any other thing that fits in the space.
These elements are what make Elementor today.
- Responsive Design
All web pages created with Elementor’s page builders are responsive by default. This means that they not only look elegant and pretty when viewed through a personal computer and laptop,
Because of the responsive design, you can even look at the design through your phone, and still it would look great, comprehensive, and functional.
However, responsive design does not only mean directly translating your website and how it looks through a smartphone. Elementor allows users to customize the look of their website.
You can view the page through various platforms and gadgets by simply touching another button. You can then make further edits to your page, including adding or deleting elements.
- Available templates
No page builder would be complete without templates. Templates are the best inspiration for building any type of thing (webpages included).
Templates also serve as good starting points for beginner page developers, especially if these templates are properly and professionally made. Templates make it easier to develop new websites faster than sites with the same look.
Luckily templates available in Elementor can all be edited. This includes their styling options. Templates are a great way to ensure that your websites look consistent.
Elementor offers many professionally designed templates. Both novice and experienced users can use these templates. As stated above, beginners can use these templates as their starting point when making websites. For veterans (i.e. page developers), you can use these templates to speed up your work.
- Style options
You would be remiss if you didn’t have any styling options if you wanted a cool and sleek website. Elementor makes these styling options available to everyone. What’s more, there is no need to have coding knowledge to do this.
- Convenience
The multitude of tools, Elementor makes web page building accessible to many. Even better, support is available in just one click. Then there is also a quick find tool that can help in finding a specific topic of help.
- Dynamic Content
You can use elementor to add dynamic content using custom fields and plugins like ACF, Pods and Toolset. Dynamic content allows you to keep your pages updated consistently and continuously. Such an ability can keep your website up-to-date and fresh.
- WooCommerce Builder
WooCommerce, an open-source plugin for e-commerce, is mainly used with WordPress. Most of its customer base includes merchants that use WordPress as their main site. Of course, this includes both small and large online merchants.
WooCommerce is almost in symbiotic relationships with WordPress. It’s easy to integrate WooCommerce within WordPress.
With Elementor, you could enhance your WooCommerce store through its customizability options. Some functions even allow you to show your product and prices and integrate said products into the design of your store.
- Popup Builder
Popups are one of the most disliked forms of advertising. In fact, it is so hated that even its original creator had to apologize to the whole internet for the countless troubles it has caused.
However, when used properly, popups are among your website’s best lead conversion tools. To make use of that lead conversion tool, Elementor provides a popup builder to its Pro users.
Elementor’s popup builder allows you to design your popup using the same tools included in the webpage builder. You can even set the triggers on when and how these popups appear.
Elementor Price
If you are already impressed by Elementor’s features, you will be even more impressed by its price. Elementor lets users enjoy at least 80% the plugin’s capabilities for a low price of only $0.99!
That’s right! You can use most of Elementor’s functions & features for free if you put them on your WordPress website.
Elementor offers Pro plans that include some features such as the Popup Builder behind a paywall. If you are interested, the Elementor Pro consists of three types of plans. Each plan has its advantages. These plans are as follows:
| Essential Plan | Expert Plan | Studio Plan | Agency Plan |
| $49 per Year | $199 per Year | $299 per year (1st year only).
$499 |
$999 per Year |
| 1 Pro Website Activation
More than 100+ basic and pro widgets
300+ Basic and Pro Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
Premium Support |
25 Pro Website Activations
More than 100+ basic and pro widgets
More than 300+ Pro and Basic Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
Premium Support
Elementor Expert Profile |
100 Pro Website Activations
100+ Basic and Pro Widgets
More than 300+ Pro and Basic Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
VIP Support
Elementor Expert Profile |
1000 Pro Website Activations
More than 100+ basic and pro widgets
More than 300+ Pro and Basic Templates
60+ Pro Website Kits
Theme Builder
WooCommerce Store Builder
Landing Page Builder
VIP Support
Elementor Expert Profile |
Elementor Pros & Cons
Pros
- Elementor’s core product does not cost a single dime. To fully utilize Elementor’s potential, you don’t need the Pro plan.
- Elementor provides plenty of features to create the best WordPress web page. These tools are simple and very easy to use.
- Elementor’s page builder is an upgrade to the basic WordPress Builder both in terms of function and accessibility
- Elementor lets you create pages without needing to know HTML, CSS, and PHP coding.
- Elementor’s “what do you see is what you get” approach to building websites speeds up the process by eliminating the need for previews.
- The Elementors pages can be redesigned automatically to be responsive. They work with all devices. If you want, you can even fine-tune the design for each device.
- Speaking of fine-tuning, Elementor provides the ability to modify alignments, margins, and padding values
Cons
- There are times when the custom styling (especially for links) gets buggy
- There are times when Elementor’s default typography and color settings remain persistent and cannot be staged
- The different margin values can make it difficult to fix misaligned elements.
- Elementor could slow down different websites’ loading times.
Elementor Versus Divi
Divi Builder: The Crowning Jewel of Elegant themes
Elegant themes is one of many WordPress themes available in the shop. It has grown to be one of the most prominent players in the WordPress World.
Among their products is the Divi Theme, which is their flagship product. Divi is crucial to Elegant Theme’s success due to its functionality in its drag-and-drop website builder.
Making sense of this, it was only a matter of time where Elegant Themes offered the builder as a separate plugin.
And so they did. The Divi Builder plugin was released. This means that anyone can access the exact same builder that helped Divi Theme become one of the most popular WordPress themes. Divi made sure the plugin was available regardless of which theme you used.
Divi Features
Divi Builder has “gained independence” and is now a standalone plugin. It can be used with any WordPress theme, even if it’s not from Elegant Themes. As such, it also gained multiple features to give people more incentive to use it.
- Drag and Drop Visual Content Editor
The Divi Builder was originally a back-end page building tool for Divi Theme. It has been made a plugin and is now a front-end visual editor.
With this upgrade, Divi now operates in a “what you see is what you get interface.” Essentially, this removes the downside of back-end builders who do not know how the design will turn up until you switch preview moves.
Divi’s Visual Editor is being continually updated. This latest version gives you a better view of your visitor’s point-of-view when viewing your content.
This implies that website developers will be able to work faster as it removes the need for switching to previews. It also removes the frustration of discovering inaccurate layouts.
Those used to playing with the site’s backend might find themselves lost or missing some of the features available when using that mode. All is not lost, however, as Divi Builder allows you to switch into Wireframe mode.
This wireframe mode effectively hides the content of each module and focuses more on the page’s structure. This provides a good overview of what the page looks like and which modules are used.
Effectively, Divi offers a flexible way to work on your website, depending on your comfort and preference.
- Theme Builder Functionality
Divi Builder 4.0 added Divi’s Theme builder feature, which ultimately turned it into a full on-site editor rather than just a page builder.
Divi Builder now has the ability to customize any part of your website. You can now customize headers, footers and category pages as well as product templates and other areas of the website to suit your needs.
Even blog posts could be customized through templates. These templates can be applied automatically to all blog posts, or a select few. If you want, you can even use the Display rules feature to automate templates and formatting of posts depending on their category.
This functionality also brings about dynamic content, which can be combined with existing static content and enhanced interaction with WooCommerce content.
Most surprisingly, the Divi Theme Builder feature allows users to make custom 404 error pages and search results pages.
- Helpful Content Modules
Divi builder comes with 40 content modules. These modules can be placed in columns or rows, and each one has its own function.
These modules can even be used to replace the functionality of other plugins on your WordPress page. Using these modules, you turn almost all of your website’s services into pure Divi or Elegant Themes.
Whether one developer runs this idea of all your plugins and “apps” is good or bad, it has its own benefits. Chief among them is that it reduces load times for your WordPress page.
This also results in a reduction of costs, especially if you use commercial plugins.
These modules include countdown timers and maps, countdown timesrs and pricing tables. They also allow for email opt-in forms and videos with their sliders.
These modules also come in different variations. This gives your website some extra flair. This will ensure that the same module is not duplicated from other parts of the internet.
- Growing Library of Pre-made websites and Page Layouts
Of course, Divi would be remiss if they did not offer pre-made and ready-to-use websites and page layouts. These layouts are their version of templates.
Templates are great for web designers who don’t have the design skills to create them. This high-quality pre-made can be used to start their design process, or if they’re satisfied, it can be used as is.
In terms of variety, they have a decent number, somewhere between 200 to 400. This is not true for website layouts. That means each layout contains more than one page.
These can also target specific types of websites, such as websites for agencies, freelancers, eCommerce stores, and construction companies. These layouts can be customized, however.
If you are looking for a layout that is law-aware, you may find some photos that don’t fit or it doesn’t work. Well, prepare your tools and edit until it takes the form of the website you want.
- Divi Builder A/B Testing tool
One unique feature of Divi builder is the ability to hold A/B testing on your page layout. A/B testing allows you to compare two design iterations on your page layout and see which one is more effective than the other.
Although freedom of design is always a positive, too much freedom can be dangerous, especially if it is not properly managed. A/B testing can help you to determine which version is best. Comparing different layouts of a webpage can help you determine if the design decision should be made.
An A/B-tested website will ensure that it is optimized for its intended purpose.
- Divi Role Editor
Some websites are run by different people. While this makes for efficient job division, it also multiplies the risk of accidentally changing the website’s main setting. It is said that too many cooks can spoil the broth.
Divi offers a role editor that allows you to restrict access to your website’s backend. Through this role editor, you can still let your co-authors do their thing, such as writing for your blogs, while preventing them from doing unnecessary stuff.
Divi’s role as editor is also granular. It’s not a binary choice. By choosing a role, you can define which parts of the plugin they can access and make use of.
This is particularly important for web designers who have clients who could break custom designs. Role editor reduces the chance of custom design breaking.
- Full-Width Content
Images make your web pages pop. Images can enhance the design of your website. Sometimes you simply want to add an image to one part of your website.
Luckily Divi has a feature that allows you to do just that. Divi lets you add a full width to your builder and a module to accompany it. Then you are free to add the appropriate content that can break the post container.
What’s more is that this full-width is not only limited to images. You can include videos, texts, headers, menus, and more.
Divi Price
Since Divi Builder was originally part of the Divi Theme, and you cannot get this plugin separately. You will have to pay yearly for access to Elegant themes. One plan is a yearly access, and the other is a lifetime access.
| Yearly Access | Lifetime Access |
| $89/Year | $249 1 Time |
|
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Divi Pros and Con
Pros
- Divi’s interface is intuitive and clean.
- Divi offers tremendous value for the money (they even offer a lifetime deal)
- Divi can be used on any number of websites without restrictions.
- Divi is easy to use for beginners, thanks to the drag-and-drop page builder.
- Divi gives veteran web designers with the right coding skills the chance to create amazing things.
- Divi comes with an Extra WordPress theme
- Divi offers more than 100 stunning templates. How To Use Elementor
Cons
- Working with longer pages tend to be slow
- Divi’s online editing options are better
- Divi has a few bugs. This usually manifests when making more complex layouts
Elementor Versus WPBakery
WP Bakery: Formerly known as Visual Composer, the Builder
WPBakery, which we now call Visual Composer, was once known as Visual Composer. But hold on, it gets more confusing because right now, there is another WordPress plugin also called Visual Composer. Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s proceed to WPBakery
This plugin, like all other page builders allows you to create unique pages. The building blocks in this example are called “Content Elements” and have the same function as modules and widgets.
WPBakery offers about 40 content elements, each of which can be used for designing your page layout. These include text blocks, social buttons, video players and other blocks that are common to page builders. How To Use Elementor
WPBakery offers a drag-and drop page builder that allows you to design your pages. Using this builder, you can style your website’s backend and front end. You can choose to style both, or you can design them one by one, depending on your preference.
WPBakery Features
WPBakery doesn’t offer much, unlike many of the other WordPress Page Builders. They offer the following:
- Light and easy to use interface
- Frontend and Backend Editor
- Multilingual ready
- Templates that can later be saved
- Responsive Websites that look good on PC and mobile
- Your own “content elements”
- Object-oriented Code
- Huge addon support
The thing with WPBakery though is that it is more of a hassle to use. It’s not that user-friendly, even if you have a tech background. It’s built on a shortcode architecture, which can prove to be a huge liability.
It has some help text, but they are not well executed. How To Use Elementor
It’s also just plain unreliable. It has erratic previews and is riddled with bugs. Working with it is just a nightmare, especially when working on a website.
WPBakery price
WPBakery has 2 pricing plans available if you still wish to use its services. These are:
| Regular | Extended |
| $56 | $299 |
|
|
WPBakery Pros and Cons
Pros
- WPBakery lets you save your templates to be used later
- It can be used with almost all themes
- It features a multilingual interface
- Includes various content blocks to help you build your website
- It can be integrated with many add-ons to enhance its functions How To Use Elementor
- It has a user role access control
Cons
- The page builder is not easy to use and requires a learning curve. Even experienced website designers know this.
- It may not be compatible with all plugins, and can sometimes cause conflicts with them.
- Deactivating this builder leaves shortcodes on pages that use this plugin.
- This plugin may slow down download speeds and impact your age speed.
Elementor Versus Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder: The Most Efficient Beaver-Themed Builder
One of the more famous names in the WordPress page builder space is Beaver Builder. Beaver Builder is a popular choice because of its drag-and-drop page builders and simple-to-use interface.
Beaver Builders offers a lot to its users.
Since it is a page builder, it allows you to build custom posts and pages through a drag-and-drop user interface. This removes the need for coding to create your website. Beaver Builder doesn’t require users to know HTML in order to create a functional website.
Despite having a theme of its own, Beaver Builder (the plugin) is compatible with any WordPress theme. As such, you can keep using your current WordPress theme and carry on developing and designing your site. How To Use Elementor
However, Beaver’s strongest point is its ease of use and efficiency. Beaver Builder boasts that it makes working with existing website content and creating websites from scratch much faster and more efficient.
Beaver Builder Features
BeaverBuilder is a feature-rich page builder that can be considered as among the best of the best. As such, instead of listing every bit of them, let’s check their highlights. After all, when it comes to Beaver Builder, efficiency is the name of the game.
Beaver Builder’s essential features include:
- The main page builder features a full drag-and-drop interface. This builder allows you to place content elements, such as text and images, wherever you want.
- Beaver Builder allows for full front-end editing. Which effectively allows you to see your work as you are working on it. This is similar to other page builders’ “What you see is what your get” approach.
- Beaver Builder also removes the need for coding when building your websites. Beaver Builder doesn’t require HTML or CSS. How To Use Elementor
- Beaver Builder can be used with all WordPress themes. Beaver Builder can be combined with any WordPress theme and it will look like nothing happened.
- Beaver Builder can also be used to work on any type of post, pages, and custom types of posts.
- A Beaver Builder plan comes with more than 50 ready-made page templates for users. Of course, this includes templates for pages with a specific purpose. Beaver Builder can create landing pages, welcome pages, and comment sections.
- For working with your pages, Beaver Builder provides 30 content elements and modules. These content elements and modules will be the key to your pages’ construction. Each will have its own function. These modules include headings, buttons and galleries.
- Beaver Builder guarantees that your websites will work on any screen. Your website will therefore be responsive.
- Beaver Builder can also be used with WooCommerce. Beaver Builder allows you to create WooCommerce content using the content elements. How To Use Elementor
- Beaver Builder is not cheap. In fact, it gives you the ability to import and export features. This allows you to reuse or share your designs with the wider community.
Beaver Builder Price
| Agency | Pro | Standard |
| $399 | $199 | $99 |
|
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Beaver Builder Pros & Cons
Pros
- Beaver Builder allows users to create their own webpages.
- Beaver Builder is easy to use.
- Beaver Builder offers full drag-and drop builder support.
- Beaver Builder is flexible and lenient. Beaver Builder allows you to use default WordPress widgets within its Content blocks How To Use Elementor
- Beaver Builder offers many page templates that can be used as a starting point for pages.
Cons
- Beaver Builder is at a pretty steep price point. The cheapest plan costs $99. They do offer a Lite version which costs 0$.
- Beaver Builder’s capability is limited to whatever theme you have. If there are things that the theme cannot do, then Beaver Builder will not be able to achieve them.
- Beaver Builder doesn’t allow users to add custom CSS codes to their content modules. Beaver Builder is limited in its customization.
Elementor Versus Webflow
Webflow: A Page Builder Beyond WordPress
Despite WordPress having the lion’s share of Internet blogs, not everyone likes using it. There are many alternatives to WordPress for those who don’t like it. Webflow is one of these alternatives.
Webflow’s main focus is design. Its main target is to let web designers build websites as easily as possible. Webflows allow web designers to create responsive websites using browser-based visual editing software. The thing about Webflow is that it writes the code while you are working on your site. How To Use Elementor
When compared to WordPress, Webflow claims to have more advantages over it. Among these are an appeal for more creative freedom, a more secure website, and easier user usage.
Webflow Features
As a full-on page builder, Webflow has its own features. These features help Webflow focus on its target of becoming a service that caters to designers first.
- Webflow offers over a thousand available templates, and 45 of them are free. These templates can be used to build websites as you would with most websites.
These templates can also be accessed via Webflow. They are grouped and categorized according to the type of website they are geared to (portfolio, blogs, SaaS, etc.). You can also search them using popular tags, languages, and other methods.
- Webflow may not be as intuitive for new users but it does provide a great tutorial to help users get familiar with the environment and navigate it. Although it may take some time to get used to Webflow, you will find that it is a wonderful user interface once you are comfortable with it. How To Use Elementor
- Webflow has an intuitive interface. Its main builder is divided into three sections for ease of access. The more you get used to Webflows workflow, the better and faster you can produce web pages
- Webflow has great Search Engine Optimization Capabilities. It is even easier since you do not need to add another plugin to ensure you are SEO-optimized. Webflow even guides non-SEO experts to optimize their website’s SEO ranking for more traffic and conversion.
- Webflow has impressive eCommerce features that can be used to build a functional and attractive online store. Just building the page alone is easy, as there are eCommerce templates to help you get started. Both of these are free and paid.
Webflow also provides detailed instructions on how to build the site from its initial setup until its launch.
- Webflow also provides a proper Content Management System to help users group content that they are presenting to their audience. Basically, this CMS organizes resources, especially when making blog posts How To Use Elementor
Webflow makes blogging easier and more efficient by organizing it in a more structured way.
- With Webflow, you are sure that all your data is safe and secured. Webflow has integrated hosting plans with Amazon Web Services, one of the most secure web hosting services. They even provide you with a free one-year SSl certificate for encrypting sensitive data.
Aside from that, Webflow is also SOC-2 compliant, which means that the builder can meet high standards of security, confidentiality, and privacy.
Webflow also automatically updates and saves backups of your files. So whenever something is wrong, you will be confident (at least not as worried) that you can easily get back your files.
Webflow Price
As for price, you can choose to avail webflow with their free plan. This allows you to use webflow on two projects with full designing and can publish said projects on their website of Webflow.io. Their free plan is available for free for life.
Webflow has a variety of plans that can be used to reduce the price. There are two types of paid plans.
There is the Site Plan, and then there are the account plans. How To Use Elementor
The Site plan offers everything there is needed to build a basic website. These plans are available in two types from Webflow. There is a basic plan with four selections. This starts for as low as $12 per month. You will have to contact Webflow Customer service to get the exact amount for each plan.
| Basic | CMS | Business | Enterprise |
| This is the best choice for sites that don’t require CMS | Best for blogs and other content-driven websites | Best for Higher traffic marketing sites | This product is ideal for businesses and includes exclusive features |
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There are three types Ecommerce plans
| Standard ($29 USD) | Plus ($74 USD) | Advanced ($2112( u |
| A new business starting from scratch | For higher volume of business that needs important additional | For businesses aiming to breach and grow |
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Account plans allow for more advanced website development with additional features. There are two types: The Individual and Team plans.
There are three payment options available for individual plans. One includes the aforementioned free plan, while the other 2 are paid plans. How To Use Elementor
| Starter Plan (Forever FREE) | Lite ($16). | Pro ($35) |
| This package includes everything you need in order to get started with Webflow. | Export your code to unlock additional pages for unhosted project | Ideal for designers, freelancers and anyone who needs more projects and premium features |
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There are two types of Team plans available. Mostly, they offer almost the same features, but one offers a more customizable plan. Here they are:
| Team ($35 per person) | Enterprise (situational) |
| Use a shared, collaborative dashboard to collaborate on projects with your team | For more information about the plans, contact customer service |
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Webflow Pros and Cons
Pros
- It includes everything you need to build a website. This includes simple blogs and eCommerce websites.
- It has a very strong visual design tool that can rival everything that you can do with code
- Very flexible pricing plans, which are also customer friendly. How To Use Elementor
Cons
- There is limited code customization
- There are many plans available and it can be confusing. If you don’t pay attention, you might end up choosing the wrong plan.
- It is quite a learning process due to the fact that WordPress is a completely new environment. There are also new, powerful features.
- Some plans include traffic limits.
Elementor Versus Thrive Architects
Thrive Architect: A WordPress Page Architect
Thrive Architect is a WordPress page builder plugin bundled with Thrive Themes. This is their new flagship page builder, replacing the “Thrive Content Creator”. How To Use Elementor
Thrive architect, like other “modern” website builders is now offering drag-and-drop functionality. As such, it is geared toward beginners and helps veterans speed through making websites.
Thrive offers a large library of templates to users to help them get started, or to get ideas for what they want to do.
Surprisingly, Thrive Architects focus on building websites that are geared toward conversions. As such, most of the templates mentioned earlier have the purpose of lead generation and conversion to your WordPress Page.
Thrive Architect Features
Thrive Architect, like most modern WordPress page builders has many features. We will only focus on the most important features for this overview.
- Thrive Architect is a plugin that works with all WordPress themes. Despite Thrive Architect having its own WordPress Theme, Thrive Suite, this is not the case. Therefore, you can use Thrive Architect in combination with the thousands of themes available in WordPress.
- Thrive Architect has a large library of plugins. The Thrive architect team ensures that all of these templates are kept at a higher quality. These editable templates can help speed up the design process when making web pages. How To Use Elementor
Thrive Architect (and Thrive Themes) focus on sales and lead conversion. These templates are almost all focused on sales. Expect a lot more sales-focused landing pages, and web designs.
- Thrive Architect has its own intuitive drag and drop page editor. This features a What You See is What You Get interface that gives you an accurate real-time view of how your page design looks like.
With the WYSIWYG approach, builders can save a lot of time as they remove the need for previewing your website. Your workflow gets faster as you don’t have to save multiple times and ensure you are doing right or wrong.
WYSIWYG will always show you where your bearings are.
- Since we have already talked about Thrive’s fixation on conversions, you wouldn’t be surprised that they also have a lot of conversion and sales-focused elements.
Thrive cannot boast of being conversion-focused if they don’t provide the right and appropriate tools.
- Thrive can also integrate with a lot of third-party services. Mailchimp, Facebook and Zapier are all examples.
- Thrive offers tutorials and educational content for beginners to help them learn about content-making that is focused on selling.
- Thrive Architect’s lightbox feature allows you to create pop-up overlays. How To Use Elementor
- Thrive Architect lets you create an auto-scrolling web page. Although this feature is somewhat limited in its use, it can be used to create a unique website.
- Thrive Architect supports coders by adding custom HTML to your pages.
Thrive Architect Price
It used to be that you could avail of Thrive Architect individually; however, Thrive Themes have recently changed that. To use Thrive Architect, you will need to buy their Thrive Suite bundle.
Thrive offers two payment options: Quarterly or Yearly.
| Thrive Suite Quarterly | Thrive Suite Yearly |
| $99 per Quarter | $299 per Year |
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Pros and cons of Thrive Architect
Pros
- Features an intuitive design that is easy to use. You can even visualize your designs in real time.
- This tool will help you create unique content on the Internet
- It comes with high-quality templates for landing pages as well as webpages. Because they are organized in sets, it is easy to find the perfect template.
- It is mainly focused on conversion and sales; as such, this is the perfect website builder for marketers and online businesses.
- Most websites are mobile responsive, so you can be sure that your website is smartphone compatible
- It’s a light-weight plugin and cannot noticeably slow down your pages’ load times
- It is affordable and well-priced
- It can be integrated with a large amount of email service providers.
- Can work with Gutenberg (WordPress’ latest page builder) by adding Gutenberg blocks. How To Use Elementor
Cons
- The whole Thrive Suite is not available separately. If you already own a WordPress Theme, this will double your cost.
- Apart from that, you will need to download Thrive Product Manager before even starting to plant an element on the builder.
- Thrive lacks a lifetime payment option.
Special Mentions
Brizzy
Brizzy, another WordPress builder, allows you to create web pages with amazing design. You don’t need any coding knowledge to use it. As such, you can compare it with the big three of Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Divi.
As with most builders, Brizzy does well as a simple builder. However, there are some areas where it could be more effective.
Brizzy doesn’t have a developer APIi. Third-party extensions are not possible with Brizzy. This severely cripples Brizzy’s potential. This limits Brizzy’s flexibility, and as such, this is why it cannot reach the heights of Elementor, Beaver Build, and Divi
Another thing, Brizzy also lacks in the documentation department. This isn’t a major problem, but it makes Brizzy less reliable than other builders who have robust and complete documentation.
Brizy’s documentation is also not as extensive. So in most cases, people asking or needing help might find themselves scratching their heads.
Brizzy pricing is as follows:
| Personal | Freelancer | Agency |
| $49 per annum | $99 per annum | $199 per year |
Ideal for personal work |
Perfect for working with clients |
Ideal for white-label solutions |
Oxygen Builder
By nature, Oxygen builder is somewhat similar to Webflow. It might be like WordPress, but it is not wordpress. Oxygen is also very complex, and as such, it is not recommended for non-techies.
Most website builders are more inviting to a wider audience. This applies to people who don’t know much about coding or how it works. Oxygen seems to be the exception to that rule.
Despite this, Oxygen allows both designers and experienced users to create amazing websites.
People who are interested in website development should not use Oxygen. It features a huge learning curve. This makes it a great challenge.
Oxygen is also a great tool for web developers and designers who need to fine-tune every detail. Oxygen gives you the tools to control all aspects of your website, including its pieces.
For beginners or those who want a simpler user experience, this is not the best option. How To Use Elementor
As for the Price, Oxygen is not free. You don’t get a demo. It does have a 60-day money back guarantee. If you are not up to Oxygene’s challenge, you can always return it.
| Basic Plan ($99 One time payment) | WooCommerce Plan ($149 one time payment) | Agency Plan ($169 one time payment) |
| Most flexible and powerful visual builder for WordPress | Visually build websites and WooCommerce shops | The ultimate for building websites for clients while using Oxygen |
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Gutenberg Builder
While this is WordPress main builder, majority of online consensus is united: How To Use Elementor
Plainly NO.
It’s very annoying.
Writing in it is a bit unwieldy as it forces you to turn each paragraph into separate blocks. It has a mind of its own.
Finally, even with all the efforts made to improve its performance it still falls behind, especially when it comes to creating large posts.
There is a reason why WordPress page builder plugins were created. And that is to avoid using the default one.
Verdict How To Use Elementor
At the end of the day, your choice of WordPress page builder or page builders, in general, is up to your preference. They might be experts in one area.
It is a great idea to pick a WordPress theme that suits you first and then go with the page builder that comes with it. This is a great way for you to save money and still get high quality work.
Elementor offers the best features and is free to use.
However, if there is one thing that you can learn from this review, let it be this:
Save yourself the headache and avoid Gutenberg, WordPress’ default builder.