Header Text - 3 Ways to Change WordPress Homepage Details

Your website’s homepage is its front page. It’s the first thing most visitors see when they land on your site, making it incredibly important. Whether there’s a welcoming introduction, your latest blog posts, or a custom design to showcase your business, your homepage sets the tone for everything else on your website.

A well-structured homepage can grab attention, guide visitors to key areas, and boost your site’s performance in search engines. However, sometimes, the default homepage just doesn’t cut it. Maybe you want a more professional look with a static homepage that stays the same, or you’d prefer to highlight specific content to match your website’s goals.

In these cases, changing your homepage is a simple way to improve user experience and make your site stand out. This tutorial shows you 3 easy ways to change WordPress homepage. Each method is straightforward and caters to different needs, so you can select the one that works best for you.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • When you change WordPress homepage, this can help improve your site’s look and guide visitors to important content.
  • You can use WordPress settings to easily switch between a static homepage or showing your latest posts.
  • The Theme Customizer lets you set and preview your homepage changes in real time, which makes it user-friendly.
  • With the Block Editor, you can customize your homepage layout by adding and arranging text, images, and other elements.
  • A page builder plugin offers advanced design tools like drag-and-drop features for creating a unique and professional homepage.
  • Always preview and test your homepage changes to ensure they look good on all devices.
  • Choosing the right method depends on your needs; use simple settings for quick updates or plugins for custom layouts.
  • A well-designed WordPress homepage helps engage visitors, highlight key content, and encourage actions like signing up or shopping.

What Is a WordPress Homepage?

In simple terms, the homepage is the front page of your WordPress website – the first page people see when they visit your site. It gives visitors their first impression and helps them decide to explore further. WordPress offers 2 main types of homepages:

  1. Static
  2. Dynamic

A static homepage stays the same unless you manually update it. It’s perfect for websites like business sites, portfolios, or landing pages where you want to showcase key information that doesn’t change often. For example, a static homepage may display an introduction to your business, a list of services, or customer testimonials.

Change WordPress Homepage - Static Homepage

On the other hand, a dynamic homepage updates your latest posts automatically. It’s the default setting in WordPress and is great for blogs, news websites, or any site that publishes new content frequently. A dynamic homepage typically lists your newest articles, making it easier for visitors to stay updated with your latest work.

Change WordPress Homepage - Dynamic Homepage

Choosing between a static or dynamic homepage depends on the purpose of your website. If you’re running a blog, choose a dynamic homepage highlighting your latest posts.

But if you’re running a business or showcasing a product, a static homepage helps you present important information in a clean, focused way. Whatever you choose, WordPress makes it easy to switch and customize your homepage to suit your needs.

While customizing the WordPress default page can be effective, it’s worth noting that with many WordPress themes, the default homepage typically shows your most recent blog posts. However, over time, you may find it useful to update your homepage for various reasons. For instance, if you plan a holiday sale or special event, you can modify the page to display the promotion.

Simply put, there are plenty of opportunities to refresh your homepage. Before we dive into how to change WordPress homepage, let’s see how to set homepage in WordPress.

Set Static/Dynamic Homepage in WordPress

One of the simplest ways to change WordPress homepage is by using WordPress settings. This method is perfect for switching between a static homepage and a dynamic (blog) one. Here’s how to set your homepage in WordPress settings:

Log in to your WordPress dashboard. Navigate to Settings Reading from the left-hand menu. This is where you can control what appears on your homepage. Under the section called Your homepage displays, you’ll see 2 options:

  1. Your latest posts: Choose this to set up a dynamic homepage that automatically shows your newest blog posts.
  2. A static page: Use this to set a specific static page as your homepage.

To set a static homepage, select A static page. Then, from the dropdown menu, choose the page you want to use as your homepage (e.g., Home).

Change WordPress Homepage - Set Static Homepage

If you have a blog, you can set a separate page to display your blog posts by selecting it under Posts page.

Change WordPress Homepage - Set Posts Page

To revert to a dynamic homepage, choose Your latest posts. No additional setup is required; it will automatically display your newest posts.

Change WordPress Homepage - Set Dynamic Homepage

After making your selection, scroll down and click Save Changes. This step is important when applying the updates. Without saving, your changes won’t take effect.

Once you’ve saved the changes, visit your website for the updated homepage. Do this by clicking your site name in the admin toolbar or typing your site URL into your browser.

Change WordPress Homepage - Visit Website

Now, check that everything looks as expected. To change anything, return to the settings and tweak your choices.

This method is quick and easy, giving you full control over what visitors see first when they land on your website. If you wish to keep it simple with a dynamic homepage or focus on specific content with a static page, WordPress settings make it easy.

3 Methods to Change WordPress Homepage

Now that you’ve learned what a WordPress homepage is and how to set a static or dynamic homepage for your website. It’s time to explore how to design and revise the content of your homepage. There are 3 ways to do this:

  1. Using WordPress Theme Customizer
  2. Using WordPress Editor (Block Editor & Classic Editor)
  3. Using a Page Builder Plugin.

Let’s start with the first approach.

Use WordPress Theme Customizer

The WordPress Theme Customizer is a user-friendly tool provided by many themes that lets you make changes to your website and see the results instantly. For this section, we’ll use the Astra theme, which sets your homepage through the Customizer and lets you preview your site before making it live. Here’s how to do it:

Go to the WordPress DashboardAppearance Customize. It’ll open the Customizer, where you can control various parts of your site. Inside the Customizer, look for the option called Homepage Settings. Depending on your theme, this may be located directly in the main menu or under a different section.

Change WordPress Homepage - Homepage Settings

In Homepage Settings,decide the type of page you’d like to set as your homepage. You can choose either a static front page or a blog page. Once you’ve selected your desired page, click the blue pencil icon to customize it to match your website design and brand identity.

After updating your preferred option, click Publish at the top of the Customizer. This ensures that your changes are saved and applied to your live website.

Change WordPress Homepage - Change and Customize Homepage

Remember, customization options may vary based on your theme. To make edits, explore the menu tabs to navigate or click on areas marked with a blue pencil icon. Also, if your theme offers various templates for your pages, it’s a good idea to begin by exploring them.

If you set your blog page as a homepage, you may or may not want to place a sidebar. In this case, some themes provide options for enabling the sidebar, or you may remove that element completely for a full-width page. To do this in the Astra theme, click Sidebar in the Customizer menu and choose your WordPress default page layout, sidebar style, and width.

Change WordPress Homepage - Place Sidebar on Homepage

Additionally, navigate to Blog Blog / Archive to set how your blog posts should be displayed on the homepage.

Change WordPress Homepage - Customize Blog Homepage

Here, you can also remove certain parts of the homepage that you don’t wish to display. For example, we don’t want to show a featured image for each post. To do this, scroll down to the POST STRUCTURE section, locate the element in the menu, and click the eye button next to its name to hide the section.

Change WordPress Homepage - Hide Elements from Blog Homepage

You can easily restore any sections you’ve hidden by clicking the eye icon again. Additionally, you can rearrange the items in the column by dragging them to adjust their order.

Remember, the approach will be slightly different if you use a block theme like Twenty Twenty-Two. These themes support full site editing where the Site Editor replaces the Theme Customizer to change WordPress homepage.

To access, go to Appearance Editor (Site Editor) from your WordPress Admin Dashboard. Then, click Pages. Look for your page and click Edit (the pencil icon) to update your homepage.

Change WordPress Homepage - Edit Homepage in Block Theme

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Use WordPress Editor

Even after making changes through the theme customizer, you may want to refine your homepage even more with the WordPress Editor. You can use a block editor (Gutenberg Editor) or a classic editor. Let’s start with the block editor to see how to change WordPress homepage:

Change WordPress Homepage Using Block Editor

First, access your homepage. Go to Pages All Pages in the WordPress dashboard. Click on the page set as your homepage to open it in the block editor. Once you’re in, you can add or edit WordPress blocks to create your desired layout.

For instance, Paragraph is one of the easiest elements to add. You can click anywhere on the page and start typing to create a paragraph block automatically. However, if you want to add it manually, click on the + button and then on Paragraph to add it to your homepage.

Change WordPress Homepage - Add Paragraph Block to Homepage

To customize your Paragraph block, use Block on the right panel to adjust the font size (preset or custom size). You can enable Drop Cap to make the first letter larger for a stylish look. You can also apply colors using the Color settings; there you can pick text and background colors.

Change WordPress Homepage - Update Paragraph Block Settings

Tip: You can refer to our detailed tutorial on WordPress widgets to learn how to add and use them for great impact.

Change WordPress Homepage Using Classic Editor

If you are comfortable using Classic Editor to create, edit, and change WordPress homepage, you can use that to make an attractive homepage without diving into complex tools. Let’s go through this method step by step:

To start editing your homepage, log in to your WordPress dashboard. Click on PagesAll Pages in the left-hand menu. Find and click on the page that is set as your homepage. If you’re unsure which page it is, check under Settings Reading to see the assigned homepage.

Once the page is open, start typing directly in the editor, and it will automatically appear in paragraph format. You can customize your text using the toolbar. Use the dropdown menu to turn your text into headings, which help organize your content. 

Change WordPress Homepage - Choose Between Headings and Paragraphs

The toolbar next to the dropdown menu is the place where you can find options:

  1. To apply bold or italic formatting for emphasis.
  2. Adjust text alignment (left, center, or right) to match your layout style.
  3. Create bulleted or numbered lists to make information easier to read.
  4. Use blockquotes to draw attention to specific quotes or important text. 
Change WordPress Homepage - Revise Your Homepage Content

To add links, select your text, click link in the toolbar, insert the URL, and hit Enter or the Arrow button. You can also click on the gear icon (near the arrow button) to set it to open in a new tab if required.

Change WordPress Homepage - Add Links

If your homepage shows articles, you can also add a Read More tag to display only excerpts and keep your page clean.

Change WordPress Homepage - Insert Read More Tag

For more styling options, click Toolbar Toggle. You can then change text colors to match your branding, adjust indentation, and undo modifications if you wish to revert.

Change WordPress Homepage - Use Toolbar Toggle

To add visuals to your homepage, click Add Media just above the editor. 

Change WordPress Homepage - Add Media

Here, you’ll see 3 options to add an image to your homepage: Insert from URL, Upload Files, and Media Library (in the example we’re using the Media Library option). Choose the image and click Insert into Page to add it to your homepage. We recommend filling in attachment details like alt text, image title, and caption as they help with the WordPress website’s SEO.

Change WordPress Homepage - Add Image to Homepage

After inserting an image, click on it to access editing options and adjust the alignment based on your requirements.

Change WordPress Homepage - Change Image Alignment

Use Edit (the pencil icon) to crop, resize, or add alt text to improve accessibility and SEO. Don’t forget to click Update after making changes.

Change WordPress Homepage - Edit, Crop, and Resize Image

If you change your mind, you can easily remove any image by clicking Remove.

Change WordPress Homepage - Remove Image

Once you’re done, click Preview Changes to see a draft of your homepage in a new tab. If everything looks good, click Publish (or click Update if the page is live already) to save your changes and make them visible.

Change WordPress Homepage - Make Your New Homepage Live

Use a Page Builder Plugin 

A page builder plugin is ideal when you need advanced customization beyond what is offered by WordPress settings, the Theme Customizer, or the Editor. It provides drag-and-drop tools, pre-designed templates, and greater control over layout, design, and styling.

This makes it perfect for creating unique, professional-looking homepages without coding skills, especially for businesses, portfolios, or visually rich websites. Let’s go through the steps.

To get started, you need a page builder plugin. Two of the most popular options are Elementor and WPBakery. For this tutorial example, we use Elementor. Here’s how to install it: 

Log in to your WordPress dashboard. Head over to Plugins Add New Plugin. Type the word “elementor” in the search bar. Once the required plugin appears, click Install Now, then click Activate once installed. After activation, you’re ready to start designing your homepage.

Change WordPress Homepage - Install Elementor Plugin

With your plugin activated, you can create your custom homepage. Go to Pages All Pages, hover over the page you had set as your website’s homepage and click Edit with Elementor.

Change WordPress Homepage - Edit Homepage With Elementor

If you haven’t created a homepage, go to Pages Add New Page and create a new page. Give it a name like “Home”. Then open this page in Elementor by clicking Edit with Elementor at the top.

Change WordPress Homepage - Edit Homepage with Elementor

Inside the page builder, you’ll see a drag-and-drop interface where you can: 

  • Add sections and blocks for text, images, buttons, or videos.
  • Rearrange blocks by dragging them to different positions.
  • Customize styles, colors, fonts, and layouts to match your website design. 

Experiment with the tools to design a homepage that fits your vision. Many page builders also offer free and premium pre-designed templates that you can use to save time.

Change WordPress Homepage - Customize Homepage Using Elementor

You can also use pre-built blocks, pages, or even your custom templates that you saved by clicking on Add Template.

Change WordPress Homepage - Add Template

Once your custom page is ready, set it as your homepage. Do this by going to Settings Reading in your WordPress dashboard. After setting your custom page as the homepage, visit your website to see the changes live. If anything is off, return to the page builder to make changes. Once everything looks perfect, your new homepage is ready to impress your potential audience.

Tips for an Effective Homepage

Your homepage is the first thing visitors see when they land on your site, so make it engaging and easy to navigate. Here are some tips to create or change WordPress homepage that works well and keeps visitors interested:

First, ensure a clear call-to-action (CTA). A CTA tells visitors what you want them to do next. Whether “Shop Now”, or “Learn More”, your CTA should stand out and guide your audience towards action. For this, you must:

  • Use bold buttons with clear text to make the CTA easy to spot.
  • Place the CTA in a prominent location, like the top of the page or near key sections.
  • Keep your message simple and focused to avoid confusion. 

For example, an online store may use a “Start Shopping” button to direct visitors to their product catalog.

The second point is to highlight key content or products. Your homepage should showcase important information, such as your top products, services, or content. This helps visitors quickly understand what your site is about.

Use eye-catching images and headlines to highlight what’s special about your offerings. Add short descriptions or links to help visitors explore further. Also, prioritize features your audience cares about most, like bestsellers, new arrivals, or trending blog posts. For instance, a blog could feature its most popular articles, while a business website may highlight customer testimonials or core services.

Over 60% of website traffic comes from smartphone devices, so your homepage must look great on smaller screens. A mobile-friendly homepage improves the user experience and helps your site rank better in search engines.

Ensure you use a responsive theme or page design that adjusts automatically for mobile devices. Also ensure buttons and links are easy to tap and not too close together. Also, test your homepage on different devices to see that everything loads properly and is easy to read.

A mobile-responsive homepage ensures that all visitors, no matter what device they’re using, are able to navigate your site.

By focusing on clear calls-to-action, highlighting key content, and optimizing for mobile, you can create a homepage that grabs attention, engages visitors, and encourages them to explore your site further. These small but powerful changes can make a big difference.

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FAQs

What should I do if I change WordPress homepage and the changes don’t appear?

If your homepage changes don’t show up, try clearing your browser cache to ensure you’re viewing the latest version of your site. Check that you’ve saved the changes in WordPress settings or the editor. If using a caching plugin, clear the site’s cache from the plugin’s settings. For persistent issues, contact your hosting provider to rule out server-side caching problems.

Will changing my homepage affect my SEO rankings?

Changing your homepage can impact SEO if you don’t set it up properly. Ensure you optimize the new homepage with relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and internal links. If you’re switching URLs, set up a 301 redirect to avoid losing traffic from search engines.

What happens to my menu and links when I change WordPress homepage?

Changing your homepage doesn’t automatically update your navigation menu. If your menu links to the old homepage, you must update the menu in Appearance → Menus. Remove the old homepage link and add the new one to keep your navigation accurate.

Can I schedule a new homepage to go live later?

Yes. You can schedule a new homepage to go live at a specific time by creating a new page and scheduling the page to publish. Once the page goes live, update your homepage settings in Settings → Reading or the Theme Customizer to reflect the new page as the homepage.

How do I restore my previous homepage if I change it?

To restore your previous homepage, return to Settings Reading or the Theme Customizer and select the original page you used as your homepage. If you’ve edited or deleted the original page, use a backup plugin or your hosting’s backup system to recover it. However, you can’t restore it if you didn’t create a backup.

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