Want to create a WordPress custom homepage design? But, don’t know how? Then, this is the article you need.
A website’s homepage displays all the basic information about the site. For example, our site’s homepage represents our business. Creating a beautiful and detailed homepage is important for attracting potential customers.
Below, we’ve mentioned different methods to create a homepage. You can choose any one of them.
So, let’s get started.
What is a Custom Homepage and Why Create One?
When users visit your website, the first page they see is the homepage. After creating a WordPress website, your recent blog posts are displayed on your homepage by default.
However, this might not be aesthetically pleasing or beneficial to your business site. Your website’s front page should represent its niche.
Basically, the users should know what your website is about by just scanning your homepage. The front page might include an introduction about your business and what kind of service you provide.
This is also important for lead generation and to increase conversion rates.
With that said, let’s dive into the tutorial on how to create a custom homepage in WordPress.
Steps to Create a Custom Homepage in WordPress
Creating your custom homepage in WordPress is a piece of cake. We’ll be showing a step-by-step tutorial on how to do so easily in 3 simple steps.
Step 1: Choose a Suitable WordPress Theme
This step can make or break your homepage as it’s one of the crucial steps. The easy customization options provided by the WordPress theme can make your job ten times easier. Hence, choose a theme wisely.
We highly recommend using the Zakra theme. It’s a multipurpose theme, meaning you can use the theme to create any type of niche WordPress website, such as a business site, magazine site, online store, and much more.
i) Install and Activate Zakra
Zakra is a free WordPress theme; you can install it directly from your dashboard. Just go to Appearance >> Themes.
Then, click on the Add New option at the top. Search Zakra on the search bar. Next, press the Install button and finally Activate it.
Step 2: Create a New Custom Page for Your Site’s Front Page
There are two ways to create a WordPress custom front page: from scratch or using a starter template. Yes, you guessed it right—we’ll mention both methods.
Method 1: Create a Custom Homepage From Scratch Using Gutenberg
The first method for creating a WordPress custom homepage is using Gutenberg, a block-based editor that WordPress introduced in 2018.
It allows you to select a block and add different elements to the WordPress front page.
i) Add a New Page
After you’ve installed and activated the Zakra theme, navigate to Pages >> Add New from your WordPress dashboard. This takes you to the page editor tab.
Next, add the page’s title. To make it easier, you can add the Homepage as the title.
Now, select Blocks to add more elements to your page. To do so, click on the Plus (+) icon.
You can choose from many blocks, such as Gallery, Column, Quote, Text and Media, Video, etc. Click the Browse All button to see all the available options.
Furthermore, you can customize the blocks you add. If you select a block, the right sidebar offers different customization options. These allow changing fonts, background color, image sizes and dimensions, and more.
Along with that, you can also add Advanced CSS to enhance your front page.
If you’ve installed the Zakra theme, you get extra page features, such as different Page Layouts. You can select a global page layout or set a page layout specifically for a specific page.
In addition, you can add a Page Header and sidebar, upload your site’s logo, and change the color and style of the Primary Menu right from the page editor tab.
ii) Add Extra Features To Your Page
Gutenberg is self-sufficient on its own. However, you can add extra blocks to your WordPress website with the help of Gutenberg block plugins.
These plugins allow you to add blocks that aren’t available via Gutenberg. There are many Gutenberg block plugins in the market. We’re going to use BlockArt Blocks in this tutorial.
The great news is that it comes built with the Zakra theme, so you don’t need to install it separately.
Gutenberg Blocks by BlockArt
BlockArt Blocks is an easy-to-use and beginner-friendly Gutenberg plugin. It’s friendly with SEO, responsive, and optimized for speed to accelerate your site’s growth.
With various blocks for different purposes, you can easily create your dream website, including a visually appealing homepage.
To edit your post or page using BlockArt, click the Edit option below the page or post. The BlockArt Library button is at the top of the editor page.
When you hit the button, it takes you to the BlockArt library, where you can find three categories – Sections, Starter Packs, and Templates.
The Sections options have widgets such as CTA, Banner, Contact, Countdown, Testimonial, Service, Team, Pricing, Gallery, and more.
Similarly, there are two different Starter Packs – Business and Non-Profit.
Lastly, you’ll find Business and Non-Profit categories under the Templates section.
To add these blocks, choose one and hit the Import button.
After you’re satisfied with your homepage, hit the Publish button at the top right.
Method 2: Create a Front Page Using a Predesigned Starter Template
You can use pre-made templates if you don’t want to create your site’s front page from the ground.
i) Import Zakra Demos
Zakra offers 100+ pre-built demos that you can easily import. Furthermore, demos have been built using various page builders such as Gutenberg, Elementor, and more.
After installing the theme, you can see your dashboard’s Get Started with Zakra button.
Selecting that button will automatically install the ThemeGrill Demo Importer. And then, it takes you to the demo’s page. However, you cannot access all the demos. To import the premium demos, you need the pro version of Zakra.
After you’ve activated the premium version of Zakra, choose the demo that matches the niche of your theme and click on the Import button. A popup will appear. You need to hit the Confirm button.
And that’s it. This is how you can import and customize a Zakra demo.
ii) Using Page Builder (Elementor)
Another method of creating a WordPress front page is using a page builder. As the name implies, page builders build pages on your website.
With the drag-and-drop property of page builders, all you need to do is drag an element and drop it to create unique pages.
Some of the most popular page builders are Elementor and Brizy Builder. For this tutorial, we’re going to use Elementor.
A) Install Elementor Page Builder
Before creating a homepage, you must install and activate Elementor. To do so, go to Plugins >> Add New from the sidebar of your WordPress dashboard.
Search for Elementor in the search bar. Then click the Install button and, finally, Activate the plugin.
B) Create a Frontpage Using Elementor
Now, navigate to Pages >> Add New. On the page editor tab, write the Title (Homepage) of the page.
You can see an ‘Edit with Elementor’ button at the top. You will be taken to the Elementor page editor when you click the button.
On the left side, you can see widgets such as Text, Images, Buttons, Videos, Social media buttons, and more. Elementor also provides WooCommerce widgets for creating an eCommerce site’s homepage.
To add new widgets, click on the Plus (+) icon. Now, drag a widget of your choice and drop it on the right side.
You can add as many widgets as you want. Apart from that, Elementor also allows you to import pre-made page templates and blocks. To do so, click on the Add Template button.
A pop-up appears. There, you can find a range of in-built pages and blocks. However, not all pages are free to import; hence, you need to upgrade to the Elementor Pro version to get access to the premium templates.
Now, choose a template, hover over it, and click the Insert button.
Similarly, you can add different blocks to make your homepage unique. If you’re satisfied with your homepage, click the Publish button at the bottom left.
Step 3: Set Custom Homepage as Your Site’s Frontpage
By far, you’ve created a custom homepage for your WordPress website. However, you must select your newly created homepage over the default one.
To do that, navigate to Settings >> Reading from the sidebar.
Under the Your homepage displays option, enable the A static page button. Select the page (Homepage) from the dropdown option as your new front page.
Finally, click on the Save Changes button at the bottom left.
If you see the live preview of your website, you can notice that your homepage has been replaced.
Wrapping It Up!
That’s all about how to create a custom homepage in WordPress. The homepage is like a mirror that reflects the niche of your entire website.
Hence, make sure to create a beautiful front page. You can either create it from scratch or choose a starter template.
It’s also important to choose a theme that makes creating a homepage easier. And that’s where Zakra comes into play.
Zakra is a responsive, translation-ready, AMP-ready, and SEO-friendly theme.
Finally, it’s a wrap. We hope you enjoyed reading this article. If you did, take a moment to share it on your social media. You can also follow us on X and Facebook for more future updates.