If you want to build a website, WordPress is an excellent platform due to its ease of use and flexibility. The Astra theme and Elementor page builder allow you to build a professional-looking website quickly. This post shows how to build a WordPress website using Astra and Elementor.
Why Choose Astra and Elementor?
Astra theme
Astra, utilized on over a million websites, is widely recognized within the WordPress community. You might wonder why you should opt for Astra amidst the numerous WordPress themes available. Let’s explore its unique offerings.
Astra vs other WordPress themes
This theme stands out from other WordPress themes due to its exceptional flexibility, enabling extensive customizations to bring your ideas to life precisely as envisioned. Moreover, Astra maintains a clean and organized structure throughout, complemented by clear and comprehensive documentation. Both the theme and its customizer are designed to be user-friendly, accommodating both seasoned professionals and newcomers without requiring extensive coding knowledge.
As a versatile theme, Astra serves as an ideal starting point for your creative projects while offering a wealth of beautiful templates. Access to these templates is available through either the Pro version of the theme or a free plugin, known as Astra Starter Sites. The free version alone provides 35 template options, with many more available in the Pro version, making Astra essentially a 35-in-1 package at minimum.
Additionally, Astra prides itself on its lightweight design, adding only 50KB of additional resources to load. Astra achieves remarkable load times as fast as 0.5 seconds. This emphasis on performance ensures that your site not only loads quickly but also remains optimized for future enhancements.
In essence, Astra not only empowers you with strong customization capabilities but also ensures top-notch performance, making it an excellent choice for building websites efficiently and effectively.
Elementor Page Builder:
This plugin is arguably the most popular page builder for WordPress, boasting over 5 million active installations for its free edition as of 2022. Its widespread adoption is believed to have influenced WordPress’s new Full Site Editing (FSE) concept, illustrating its significant impact on the community.
Elementor’s appeal lies in its ability to empower non-tech users by revolutionizing page building on WordPress and democratizing web development to a broader audience.
While WordPress itself is capable and extensible through coding, Elementor excels in providing a no-code solution. It offers extensive functionality, particularly through its Pro version, surpassing the default capabilities of WordPress. Thus, while WordPress serves as a robust low-code option, Elementor stands out as the go-to no-code tool for enhancing website creation and customization.
Step-by-step guide to building your WordPress website
Step 1: Install WordPress and Astra theme
The first step is to install WordPress on your hosting server. Once you have WordPress installed, you can install the Astra theme by going to the “Appearance” section in the WordPress dashboard and clicking on “Themes.”
Search for the Astra theme and click on the “Install” button, then click on the “Activate” button.
Step 2: Customize the Astra theme
After activating the Astra theme, you can customize it by going to the “Appearance” section and clicking on “Customize.”
Here you can adjust settings such as colors, typography, layout, and more to match your brand’s style.
Step 3: Install Elementor page builder
Next, you’ll want to install the Elementor page builder plugin. To do this, go to the “Plugins” section in the WordPress dashboard and click on “Add New.”
Search for the Elementor plugin and click on the “Install Now” button, then click on the “Activate” button.
Step 4: Select a Starter Template for your website:
Install Astra Starter Templates (Optional but recommended for beginners):
– Go to `Plugins` > `Add New`.
– Search for “Starter Templates” and install the plugin by Brainstorm Force.
– Activate the plugin and then go to `Appearance` > `Starter Templates`.
– Choose a template that fits your needs and follow the on-screen instructions to import it.
Step 5: Create a new page with Elementor
Now that you have Elementor installed, you can start creating the pages for your website. Go to the “Pages” section in the WordPress dashboard and click on “Add New.” You’ll see a new option to “Edit with Elementor” – click on this to open the Elementor editor.
Step 6: Design your page with Elementor
In the Elementor editor, you’ll see a live preview of your page on the right side and a set of tools on the left side that you can use to design your page. You can drag and drop elements such as text, images, buttons, and more onto your page to create the layout you want.
Elementor also offers pre-built templates that you can use to get started quickly.
Step 7: Customize your header and footer
With Astra and Elementor, you can easily customize the header and footer of your website.
Using Widgets
Go to Appearance > Widgets.
Click on widgets, you’ll find a section of the Header or Footer widget areas if your theme supports them. This can include text, custom HTML, or plugin-specific widgets.
Using the WordPress Customizer
Log in to your WordPress Admin Dashboard
Go to Appearance > Customize.
Look for options related to Header and Footer. This varies by theme, but you might find sections like “Header”, “Footer”, or “Site Identity”.
Modify settings as needed. For example, you might change your site’s logo, adjust the header layout, or edit the footer text.
Step 8: Optimizing your website for mobile devices and SEO
By focusing on responsive design and SEO optimization, you can improve both user experience and search engine visibility, leading to increased traffic and engagement on your website.
1. Responsive Design
a). Preview and Adjust
Utilize Elementor’s responsive editing mode to ensure your website displays correctly across various screen sizes.
Preview how elements rearrange and adjust as you resize the viewport.
b). Mobile-Friendly Elements
Ensure buttons, images, and text are appropriately sized and spaced for smaller screens. Test navigation menus to ensure they are easily accessible and user-friendly on mobile devices.
c). Page Speed
Optimize images and minimize CSS and JavaScript to enhance loading times, crucial for mobile users who might have slower internet connections.
2. SEO Optimization
i). Plugin Installation
Install and configure plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math to assist with SEO optimization tasks.
ii). Keyword Optimization
Research relevant keywords for your content and strategically integrate them into headings, paragraphs, and meta descriptions.
iii). Meta Tags
Craft compelling meta titles and descriptions that include relevant keywords to improve click-through rates from search engine results pages (SERPs).
iv). Readability
Ensure your content is easy to read and understand. Use headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs to improve readability.
v). Mobile Usability
Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in its search rankings. Ensure your site passes Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test (https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly) to improve SEO performance.
Step 9: Integrating essential plugins for your website involves enhancing functionality, security, and performance.
Contact Form
1. Plugin Installation
Choose a plugin such as WPForms or Contact Form 7 from the WordPress plugin repository.
2. Creating a Contact Form
Use the plugin’s intuitive interface to create a contact form that fits your needs. Include fields for name, email, message, etc.
3. Embedding Form
Once created, embed the form on your Contact page or any relevant pages using a shortcode provided by the plugin.
Security and Performance
1. Security Plugin
Install and activate a security plugin like Wordfence or Sucuri.
– Configuration
Configure the plugin settings to enhance firewall protection, malware scanning, and login security features.
– Monitoring
Enable email alerts for security incidents and regularly scan your website for vulnerabilities.
2. Performance Optimization Plugin
Install a plugin such as WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache.
– Caching
Enable page caching to improve loading times and reduce server load.
– Minification
Minify CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files to optimize their size and improve loading speed.
– CDN Integration
Integrate a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for faster global delivery of your website’s assets.
Step 10: Publish Your Website
After you’ve created your pages and customized your header and footer, you can preview your website by clicking the “Preview” button in the Elementor editor. If you’re satisfied with the way your website looks, click the “Publish” button to make it online.
Conclusion
Building a WordPress website with Astra and Elementor is a straightforward and efficient approach to establishing a professional online presence. You may create a website that not only looks good but also works well by combining Astra’s adaptable themes with Elementor’s user-friendly page-building tools. Whether you’re a business owner, freelancer, or enthusiast, this combo gives you the tools you need to bring your ideas to life on the web.
