How to Use Sections and Columns in Elementor?

If you're new to website design and wondering how to use sections and columns in Elementor, you’re not alone. These foundational elements are the building blocks of any professional-looking web page designed with Elementor. Whether you're building a personal blog, a business website, or an online store, understanding how to structure your content using sections and columns is essential. This guide is written specifically for beginners who are just starting out with Elementor, helping you master the layout structure without needing any coding skills.

Understanding the Basics: What Are Sections and Columns in Elementor?

Before diving into practical steps, it's important to understand what sections and columns do. In Elementor, sections are the outermost containers that hold content on your page. Inside each section, you can insert one or more columns, and within those columns, you can place widgets such as text, images, buttons, or videos.

Think of it like a table: the section is the entire table, the columns are the individual cells, and the widgets are the content inside each cell. This structure gives you complete control over the layout and responsiveness of your page.

Starting With Sections: How to Add and Customize Them

Once you've opened the Elementor editor, you’ll see a plus (+) icon in the main editing area. This is where you start building your page layout.

Add a New Section
Click on the plus (+) icon, and a popup will appear allowing you to choose your column structure—such as one column, two equal columns, or a variety of different layouts. Once you choose a structure, Elementor inserts a section with your selected number of columns.

Customize Section Settings
After adding your section, you can click on the six dots at the top of the section to open the Section Settings panel. This allows you to adjust:

  • Layout: Control width, height, vertical alignment, content position, and overflow.

  • Style: Change background color, add background images or videos, apply overlays, and adjust border settings.

  • Advanced: Add padding, margins, motion effects, responsive settings, and custom positioning.

This is where Elementor shines. You can customize each section in great detail to create unique designs that reflect your brand.

Working With Columns: Adding, Editing, and Managing Layouts

Now that your section is in place, you can start editing the columns within it.

Adding Columns
If you chose a single-column layout but want to add more columns later, right-click on the column handle (top of the column) and choose "Add New Column". Elementor will automatically adjust the spacing.

Customizing Columns
Click on the column handle to open the column’s settings panel. Just like sections, you can modify the column layout, style, and advanced settings. This includes changing the width of each column, adding background colors or gradients, and adding padding and margin for spacing control.

Resize Columns Easily
To resize columns, hover between two columns until you see a double-arrow icon. Drag it left or right to adjust the width proportionally. This intuitive control makes layout building incredibly easy, even for absolute beginners.

Nesting Sections and Creating Complex Layouts

Elementor also allows nested sections—meaning, you can add a section inside a column. This feature is useful when you want more detailed layouts, such as a column containing multiple rows of content with different styling.

To create a nested section:

  1. Drag the Inner Section widget into a column.

  2. This will insert another section with two columns by default.

  3. You can then customize this new inner section just like a normal one—change its layout, style, or add more columns as needed.

This feature gives you the flexibility to design more complex and professional-looking pages.

Responsive Design: Making Sections and Columns Mobile-Friendly

One of the best aspects of Elementor is its responsive design capability. Each section and column can be customized separately for desktop, tablet, and mobile.

To ensure your site looks good on all devices:

  1. Click on the Responsive Mode icon (bottom left of the editor).

  2. Switch between Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile views.

  3. Adjust padding, margins, text size, column width, or even visibility of elements for each device.

This is essential for user experience and SEO, as Google now prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in its search results.

Using Elementor Templates with Predefined Sections

If you're not confident about creating layouts from scratch, Elementor offers a vast library of templates and blocks that come with pre-designed sections and columns. These are available in both the free and Elementor Pro versions.

To use them:

  1. Click the folder icon in the Elementor editor.

  2. Browse through "Blocks" to find headers, footers, pricing sections, testimonials, and more.

  3. Insert your chosen block and customize it to suit your brand.

This is a fast-track method to learn how different sections and columns are structured.

Pro Tips for Beginners to Master Sections and Columns

Use Global Settings for Consistency
Elementor allows you to set global colors and typography. This ensures consistency across all your sections and columns, and saves editing time.

Avoid Too Many Nested Sections
While nesting is powerful, overusing it can make your layout complex and harder to manage, especially on mobile devices.

Duplicate Smartly
If you have created a section or column that looks great, right-click and choose "Duplicate" to reuse it instead of rebuilding from scratch.

Save Sections as Templates
To reuse a section across multiple pages, right-click and choose “Save as Template.” This allows you to import the section into any page with a few clicks.

Conclusion

Mastering how to use sections and columns in Elementor is the first step toward creating visually stunning, highly responsive websites without writing a single line of code. Elementor provides an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, which makes designing a page layout feel more like playing with building blocks than coding. By learning how to structure your content with sections, enhance layouts with columns, and optimize them for every screen size, you unlock the full creative power of Elementor.

If you're serious about building beautiful, professional websites, consider upgrading to Elementor Pro for advanced widgets, full theme building, and premium templates.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: What are sections and columns in Elementor?
A: Sections are the main containers for page layouts, while columns divide each section into smaller parts where widgets can be placed.

Q2: How do I add a section in Elementor?
A: Click the plus (+) icon in the editor and choose your desired column layout to insert a new section.

Q3: Can I add more columns later after inserting a section?
A: Yes, right-click on the column handle and select "Add New Column" to insert another column.

Q4: How do I resize columns in Elementor?
A: Hover between columns, drag the handle left or right to adjust the width proportionally.

Q5: What is the Inner Section widget used for?
A: It’s used to nest sections inside a column for more advanced and complex layouts.

Q6: Is it possible to style each column differently?
A: Yes, each column can have unique background colors, borders, and spacing settings.

Q7: How can I make my layout mobile responsive?
A: Use the Responsive Mode to adjust settings individually for desktop, tablet, and mobile views.

Q8: Can I save a section for reuse on other pages?
A: Absolutely. Right-click the section and select "Save as Template" to reuse it later.

Q9: What’s the difference between Elementor Free and Pro for sections/columns?
A: The free version gives basic layout options, while Elementor Pro offers more advanced design, theme builder, and premium templates.

Q10: Is Elementor suitable for beginners?
A: Yes, Elementor is beginner-friendly and requires no coding skills. The drag-and-drop interface makes learning easy.

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