Sure, the WordPress/ Divi combo sounds great. WordPress is a powerful platform used by companies big and small around the globe. And Divi is a wildly popular theme built for WordPress and used by both professionals and DIY-ers. But, is it the best solution for me and my website? Of course you have questions and you want to make sure everything will work before you start. Let’s find out with a few FAQs about WordPress and Divi:
Can I do eCommerce with Divi? Is Shopify a better choice?
Yes! You can use WooCommerce with Divi. I built this jewelry store for an artist who makes incredible Cloisonné pieces using WordPress, Divi, and WooCommerce.
Shopify is a different thing. You can link from your WordPress store to your Shopify store, but the Shopify store is on a different platform.
What if I want to have an email list?
Absolutely!! If you want to do email marketing, I recommend getting a free MailChimp account and using that. It’s easily connected to Divi and WordPress, and the three work very well together. With Divi, you can even do pop up windows to ask people if they’s like to join your list. It’s better to do this as soon as you can after setting up your website, so you can start collecting subscribers immediately.
Is Divi good for blogging?
You’re literally reading a blog built on Divi right now! And I have built countless others. Divi is great for blogging because you can build one blog template and then use it for all of your blog posts. (But you also don’t have to do that!)
And if you’re not sure about Divi, the same creators have another theme, specifically for bloggers, called Extra. I’ve built blogs with Extra as well, and my clients are super happy with it.
I want to connect my Calendly so people can book appointments with me. Can I have an appointment scheduler with Divi?
Yes, of course!! Many of my clients want to connect their Calendly right to their website so that potential clients can book spots directly from the site. In your Calendly account, there will be a code you can get to ’embed’ your calendar on your website. Use a Divi code module, open it up, and paste in that embed code as if it were regular text. Boom. Done.
How easy is it to make changes in Divi?
If there’s an easier theme to edit, I haven’t found it, and I don’t think it’s been invented. Divi is definitely easier than free themes, WP Bakery, and Elementor. I often rebuild already built sites in Divi because the admins of those sites find the previous versions to difficult to update and want an easier system. You just open the page and then edit it more or less the way you would a file in Canva or PowerPoint or Word (but less rogue formatting!).
Can I build my own website, really?
I truly believe you can. Divi is very user-friendly, and there is an endless amount of free tutorials, blogs, and support out there to help you. Follow my step by step instructions and you should be able to build yourself at least a one-page DIY website.
Do I need to pay for Divi every year?
This is one of my favorite things about Divi! They offer a one time, lifetime license. So you can pay once and then never again, but keep getting updates, support, etc. for life. You’ll still need to pay for your domain & hosting every year, as you would with any WordPress site. And there’s a yearly option for Divi if you prefer that, or if you want a way to break it up into multiple payments. But you won’t have to pay monthly or yearly, the way you would with Shopify, Wix, Weebly, Elementor, SquareSpace, or others. One payment and you can build as many Divi sites as you like, forever.
What if I don’t have hosting and a domain? (Or if I already have them?)
If you don’t have hosting and a domain yet, that’s fine. But, you’ll definitely need them for any sort of WordPress website. A domain is your website name, like this one is ‘chriscadalzo .com.’ The hosting is where your website lives on the internet. It’s the power that makes your site run. So you’ll need to have that first before you can build a WordPress site.
Most people get their hosting and domain from the same place. It makes things a lot easier to set up and much simpler to maintain. If you use SiteGround, they will give you a free domain when you sign up for their hosting. Just make sure to do it right when you register, or else you’ll need to contact support to have them help with that.
What about SEO?
Yes, amazing question. Great job thinking ahead!! SEO (search engine optimization) is super important for a website’s long term success. Many people don’t think about that as they are building their website. Of course, you can build your site first and worry about the SEO later on if it’s too much all at once. But if you want to learn more about SEO first, before you build, check out this article on the basics of SEO.
What if I already have a WordPress website?
If you already have a WordPress .org website, with your own domain and hosting, you’re all set! You can switch to the Divi theme at any time (and switch back if you don’t like it). If you have WordPress .com, then, unfortunately, that’s pretty much like starting from zero. You might be able to move some of your content over to a new site. But, if you want to monetize or add some of the other functionality we’ve talked about, then you’ll need to get hosting and a domain and switch to WordPres .org instead. Take a look at this article with step by step instructions for how to build a website (even if tech isn’t your thing!).
