You could make your blog page anything you want. Make a new page called "Blog" and add a "posts" Elementor block to it. Change the settings - number of columns, grid/masonry, number of posts to show etc. There are also Elementor add-ons that have additional posts blocks. Some add-ons are paid and some free.

Then go to Settings --> Reading and change posts page to your new blog page.

You don't need to use Astra, plenty of themes are compatible with Elementor.

Personally I really like GeneratePress and OceanWP.

If you are looking for a faster option than Elementor though, I also recommend using the block editor thst comes with Wordpress. The GeneratePress website has some examples using different builders if you want to compare what you can do with each one of them.

Kadence + Kadence blocks is the way to go. Can get your (blog) pages to look like anything you like.

The free version probably has all you need btw.

Brother, try to use Kadence Free or Blocksy Free version. They are super lightweight and have wonderful features for free.

If you're just getting started with WordPress themes, you're in the right place to build an awesome website. Here are a few tips to help you out:

Choose a User-Friendly Theme: As a beginner, it's essential to pick a theme that's easy to use and customize. Look for themes with a simple interface and good documentation.

Start with a Free Theme: WordPress offers a variety of free themes in the official theme repository. It's a great way to get started without any cost. You can always upgrade to a premium theme later if needed.

Consider Responsiveness: Ensure the theme you select is responsive, meaning it looks good and functions well on all devices, including smartphones and tablets.

Check Reviews and Ratings: Before installing a theme, read reviews and check ratings from other users. This can give you insights into the theme's quality and performance.

Customization Options: Look for themes that offer a range of customization options. WordPress's Customizer is a user-friendly tool that allows you to make changes to your theme's appearance in real-time.

SEO-Friendly Themes: It's important to choose a theme that's optimized for search engines (SEO). Good SEO practices will help your website rank higher in search engine results.

Experiment and Learn: Don't be afraid to experiment and learn as you go along. WordPress is a fantastic platform with a supportive community, so there are plenty of resources available to help you on your journey.

Remember, there's no rush, and it's okay to take your time exploring different themes until you find the one that suits your needs and style. WordPress is a great platform for beginners, and with a little practice, you'll be creating fantastic websites in no time!

Don't use Wordpress(dot)com. You can install Wordpress locally on your PC using LocalWP and use any free theme (try popular ones like Astra, Kadence, GeneratePress etc.) and plugins you want.

So you will soon realise how vast website building truly is and if you want my honest opinion people usually specialise in either/or. This means people with good design knowledge tend to prefer no code builders which have a higher cost and people with dev knowledge can build almost anything but their design looks like the website was laid to rest in the 1990's. I say all this as for someone just starting out esp since you mentioned you are into design then tools like webflow / framer might attract you.

To elaborate. People who learn UI/UX design usually drift to no code tools like webflow/wix/framer (not to say WordPress is bad, but these other tools have a bette intuitive and clean look interface which makes building easy. Also it is more of a what's in trend.) And people who specialize in development actually drift towards learning React/Next js, Laravel first. (WordPress kinda takes a back seat because of lack of content for teaching people how to code with WordPress esp the New FSE way of building, then again you have a huge eco system like of plugins/page builders for WordPress) But fact of the matter is WordPress is still a very effective tool to build super complex website at a very affordable price. Tools like webflow have a ridiculous pricing structure. Also any courses on learning these tools are 10 times the price of its actually value since they are pitched as in demand tools (couch cough flux academy cough) when in reality webflow framer make up less than 5% of the total market share. Also people who use webflow themselves will tell you to not use the tool for building ecommerce or anything with complexity like an LMS website. This is where WordPress shines. You can technically building a complex ecommerce website using free resources and only pay for hosting which could be just $3 a month as compared to webflow $35 (before taxes). I haven't really used framer, wix, Squarespace but it would think it would be the same. So all in all WordPress is definitely the way to go.

That being said, since yr starting out. Webflow have free tutorials and is recommend to do which will teach a little of html/css and design too. Bricks builder in WordPress comes closest to webflow if you want to check that out for WordPress

All in all it is a fun journey learning and build websites. There is no wrong way. All the best my friend.

I’d go with WordPress.org (not .com), it gives you way more freedom to build exactly what you want. For hosting, check out NixiHost, I use them myself, they’re super affordable, and the support is really solid, which makes things way easier when you're just starting out. For building the actual site, try Spectra with the Astra theme. It’s free, drag-and-drop, and super visual, you’ll see everything come together as you design, which sounds perfect for the kind of client sites you’re aiming for. I wouldn’t recommend using website builders like Wix or Squarespace, they can be super limiting in the long run, harder to scale, and you don’t really own your site the same way you do with WordPress.

Try squarespace, sounds like a better fit.

If you’re looking for an alternative to WordPress, where you can visualize the design as you create it through a drag and drop builder, you can consider designing Showit websites. It integrates with a WordPress blog, but without the major vulnerabilities of a WordPress website and without the ongoing maintenance. In my experience Showit is easier to learn than WordPress for a beginner. I’ve built both WordPress websites and Showit websites for clients over the course of almost a decade and in my opinion Showit is less of a headache after the website is built because it doesn’t need the maintenance that WordPress does and it’s an easier learning curve for the client if they want to make smaller changes to the website themselves like changing a phone number in the footer.

I mainly learned from WP free resources online (mostly from WPBeginner, as others, but also from other sources as well - WordPress.org included) and by building websites, doing both at the same time. This combination of learning and practice worked well for me, and I hope it helps you too. If you have specific questions, we're all here to help you... 😊

You're definitely on the right track with Astra and Elementor—they're great for starting out. Maybe step back a bit and focus on getting comfortable with the basics first. Don't stress too much on making it perfect right away. The main thing is getting the content out there. If you find yourself stuck, WordPress forums and WPBeginner can be super helpful. And remember, it's a learning curve for everyone at first. You'll get the hang of it!

Once your public-facing site works minimally, duplicate it, either to your local laptop or to a staging site on your hosting provider. There are plugins to do that, such as Duplicator.

Then mess around with the duplicate, the copy. You don't have to use every feature in WordPress on your public site. You can practice on the copy.

Practice on the duplicate. Make more elaborate page designs. Learn to use Appearance -> Customize -> Additional CSS to perfect your page layout, it's very powerful.

Do avoid changing Settings -> Permalinks after you go live if you can. Changing your permalink structure can goof your SEO by making the links stored in Google obsolete.

Ordinarily you can change your theme without reworking all your content (text, photos, graphics).

You got this. WordPress was made for people like you.

As always I suggest: https://learn.wordpress.org

Definitely recommend https://www.wpbeginner.com/. That's where I learned. These days they have a Facebook group too, but when I was learning (years ago now) I just used their blog posts.

Something that helped me a lot was realizing that there's a lot about WP that most people DON'T need to know. Developers can go super deep and customize almost anything, but you don't need to do that. That's maybe the most awesome thing about WordPress... you can be a total power user without touching any code.

Also want to mention, for a while I built client sites and I always shared WP101 with them: https://wp101.com/course/wordpress101/. So even though that's not how I personally learned WP, I know it's really helpful. tbh I paid for this as a perk for my clients but I see you can access some tutorials there for free too.

GeneratePress

But theme is only a thin layer. If you want to build something, master page builders.

Generateblocks, Elementor, Bricks, there are a few others.

Buy the Divi bundle. You can resell products and eventually learn to do ACH + build custom sites through Figma without much issue. Divi can help you build anything and a lot of one time fees with lifetime ownership. Great support too and most developers understand it so you can find solutions to nearly all code level issues quickly and affordable.

Use Astra or GeneratePress.

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Try Gutenberg with full site editing, creating your own theme is relatively easy, you don't need to know PHP.

Most styles are configured withing the theme.json file, apart from that it's good if you learn the core set of blocks and how they work, what patterns you can build with them, what blocks you maybe need to create yourself (blocks are React.js based) or include from other devs.

My personal choice would be GeneratePress... but it IS down to personal choice, there are many good themes around. :)

try all of them/

In order of preference: Salient, Oxygen.

Yes, I left off Divi.

For a beginner you may want to look into Managed WordPress hosts.

You might wanna check this. It has great stuffs to start with: wpbeginnerspack.com

OceanWP, Astra, and Neve are some of the well known free ones that work well. I ended up purchasing Divi.

Check out envato.elements/wordpress

Check out Neve. The free version is quite customizable but there is a pro version.

There will be free themes in the themes section in wordpress dashboard

Start with Jetpack, Yoast, and SEO Schema for WP

Then, install the plugins that are the most essential for your blog. While searching for plugins check the reviews and ratings, and when was the plug-in last updated.

Lastly, do not install any cracked plug-in, use limited features of the plug-in instead of using a cracked version. Cracked plugins are one of the biggest security threats on WordPress website.

Essential plugins:

• Rank Math
• WordFence
• WP Rocket
• Elementor
• contant contact
• ARForms
• PushEngage

Here are my favorites, all have free versions:

Kadence Theme
Kadence Blocks
UpdraftPlus
CAOS
Autoptimize
SEO Framework
Super Page Cache for Cloudflare
Enable Media Replace
Better Search Replace
Custom Post Type UI

GeneratePress theme

GenerateBlocks and GreenShift

WP Armour and WPFail2ban Redux

EasyWPSMTP

ContactForm7

TheSEOFramework

Duplicator

CodeSnipets and SIteOriginCSS

DoLogin

LiteSpeedCache plus quick.cdn

ClassicEditor and ClassicWidgets

If you're a beginner, might I suggest you first learn a little more about Wordpress itself. Subscribe to a free month of LinkedIn learning and watch an essentials course on the basics of things like security, backups, and matainence. Also check out https://www.wpbeginner.com/ as it's full of great articles and resources and you can search for anything in their search bar. It'll really help you make the appropriate choices for plugins/themes that match your specific needs.

Hostinger Website Builder. It’s user friendly and easy to switch to WordPress if you want to scale

I was in your shoes not long ago! I started with Wix because it’s super beginner-friendly and lets you design without touching code. But as my blog grew, I quickly hit limitations—especially around SEO, speed, and plugin flexibility. So I switched to WordPress with Hostinger, and honestly, it changed everything. It takes a little learning, but it’s future-proof and way more scalable.