Every WordPress site we build is built in Elementor, because it lets us design almost anything without custom code, lets you edit your own site without calling us, and lets us make changes fast. Not most of them. All of them. For a small business that wants a site that looks like its brand rather than a template, and wants to update it themselves, that combination is hard to beat.
That’s an unusual position for an agency to take publicly, because it invites the question “what about the downsides?” Fair enough. There are some, and we’ll get to them. But after building and looking after websites for more than 100 clients, we’re convinced it’s the right tool for the businesses we work with, and we’d rather explain why than pretend the choice doesn’t matter.
Why we chose it
Design freedom without custom code
Our background is in print, publications and branding. We care about spacing, type and how a page reads. A lot of WordPress themes force you into the theme author’s idea of a layout: a hero here, three boxes there, testimonials in a carousel whether you want one or not.
Elementor doesn’t. We can lay out a page the way the brand needs it to be laid out, and every element (headings, buttons, images, forms) can be styled to match a brand guide properly. Doing the same thing with custom code would take longer and cost you more, and every future change would need a developer.
You can edit it yourself
This is the big one for clients. Elementor is a visual editor. You click on the words you want to change and type. You drag in a new photo. You see the page as visitors will see it while you’re working on it.
That means updating your opening hours, swapping a staff photo, or adding a new service page doesn’t need a support ticket. Every client gets training and a written guide at handover, and we’ve published the basics in editing your Elementor site without breaking it.
Changes are fast
Elementor Pro’s Theme Builder lets us design the header, footer, blog layout and other repeating templates once and apply them across the site. Global colours and fonts mean a brand update can be made in one place rather than on 40 pages. When a client calls with “can we add a banner about the Christmas closure”, it’s often a few minutes’ work, not a half-day job.
Consistency across the sites we manage
We look after hosting, updates and support for a large number of sites. Building all of them the same way means we know where everything is. A fix we learn on one site applies to the others. When something breaks after an update, we know quickly whether it’s a site-specific problem or a wider one. That consistency is a real part of why support is quick.
You’re not locked in to us
Elementor is one of the most widely used page builders for WordPress, and there are plenty of developers who know it. If you ever want to move on from us, another agency or freelancer can pick up your site without starting over. We think that matters. A website built in some agency’s proprietary system is a hostage.
The honest downsides
It’s heavier than a hand-coded site
Page builders add extra code to every page. A carefully hand-built site, or one built with WordPress’s native block editor, can be leaner. In practice, Elementor sites can still load quickly, but only if they’re built with care: sensible containers, compressed images, decent hosting and the right performance settings. A sloppy Elementor build will be slow, and plenty of slow Elementor sites exist for exactly that reason.
You’re relying on a commercial company
Elementor Pro is a paid, annual licence. If Elementor changes its pricing or features, you’re along for the ride. Elementor says that if a Pro licence lapses, the site stays online and existing Pro elements keep displaying, but you lose updates, support and the ability to add new Pro widgets. Running without updates isn’t something we’d recommend for long. We compare the tiers in Elementor Free vs Pro: what you actually get.
Moving away from it means rebuilding pages
If you ever decided to leave Elementor entirely, the page layouts wouldn’t come with you. Your text and images would survive, but the design would need rebuilding in whatever replaced it. That’s true of most page builders, and it’s the main lock-in to be aware of. It’s lock-in to a popular tool rather than to us, but it’s real.
Easy editing can mean easy breaking
The flip side of “you can change anything” is that you can change anything. We’ve fixed client sites where a heading was accidentally deleted on mobile, or a section was nudged out of alignment. We set things up to make that harder (global styles, locked templates, sensible user roles), and every Elementor site we host has backups. But it’s worth knowing.
Updates need care
Elementor releases updates regularly, and occasionally an update conflicts with another plugin. We test updates rather than clicking “update all” and hoping. If you look after your own site, take a backup before every update.
Why not the block editor?
WordPress’s built-in block editor (Gutenberg) has improved a lot, and for some sites it’s a fine choice. For our clients, Elementor still wins on design control and how easy it is for non-technical owners to edit visually. We’ve set out the comparison in Elementor vs Gutenberg: which should a small business use?
What it means if you’re our client
In practical terms:
- Your site is built on WordPress with Elementor Pro, on hosting set up to run it properly.
- You get administrator access and own the site outright.
- You get training, a written guide and 30 days of support after launch, so you can make everyday changes yourself.
- Your global colours, fonts and templates are set up so that your edits stay on brand.
- If we host and maintain the site, we handle Elementor updates, licence renewals and testing.
- If you leave, any competent Elementor developer can take over.
Elementor isn’t the right answer for every project. A large custom web application, a site with very complex data, or a client with an in-house developer who prefers code might be better served another way. But for a small business that wants a well-designed site it can update itself, it’s what we’d choose, and it’s what we use.
You can see the range of sites we’ve built in our portfolio, or read how a project works on our web design page. Already have an Elementor site someone else built? We take on WordPress and Elementor fixes for those too.