How I Built a Simple WordPress Site with Kadence Free

When I decided to rebuild Beyond Lazy as a practical website about AI, automation and personal systems, I wanted the design to feel clean and professional.

I did not want to:

• pay for a premium theme before publishing anything
• learn a complicated visual page builder
• install dozens of plugins
• spend weeks adjusting tiny design details
• create a website that would require constant maintenance

The website needed to support articles, category pages, an email signup and a simple homepage.

That was all.

I originally had Astra installed, but I found myself struggling to work out which options were available for free, which required another plugin and which were part of a paid upgrade.

Astra may still be a good option for other websites. It simply was not feeling intuitive to me.

I switched to the free Kadence theme, installed the free Kadence Blocks plugin and built the site using the normal WordPress block editor.

Kadence officially provides a free theme that can be used without purchasing its premium package. Its free theme also includes global colour controls and a visual header builder, while Kadence Blocks adds additional page-building blocks to WordPress.

This article explains the setup I used, what I kept simple and what I would do differently if I were starting again.

Disclosure: I used the free versions of Kadence Theme and Kadence Blocks for this setup. This article contains affiliate links. Beyond Lazy may receive a commission if you purchase or subscribe through one of these links, at no additional cost to you. This does not affect my editorial conclusions.

What I was trying to build

The Beyond Lazy homepage needed:

• a logo and simple navigation
• a clear headline
• a short explanation of the website
• one main call-to-action
• an image illustrating AI and automation
• links to the main content categories
• an email signup section
• recent articles
• a straightforward footer

I wanted it to resemble a modern software or productivity website without looking overly corporate.

The basic design direction was:

• white background
• dark navy headings
• green buttons and accents
• light green-grey content sections
• generous spacing
• simple sans-serif typography
• minimal animation
• no sidebar on standard pages

The important part was deciding this before touching individual page settings.

Without a basic design direction, it is very easy to spend hours trying different fonts, colours, layouts and templates without getting closer to a finished website.

The final setup

My core website setup became:

• WordPress
• Kadence Theme, free version
• Kadence Blocks, free version
• the native WordPress block editor
• no Elementor or separate page builder

Kadence Blocks provides free blocks including its Text Advanced, Row Layout and Info Box blocks. These provide more layout and responsive control than the basic WordPress blocks without replacing the block editor entirely.

I also installed a small set of supporting plugins for:

• SEO
• analytics and Search Console
• contact forms
• backups
• caching
• security
• eventually, email signup forms

The theme and blocks handled the design. The other plugins each had one defined job.

Step 1: Back up the existing website

Before changing themes, I created a backup.

Changing a WordPress theme should not delete posts or pages, but it can change how existing content, menus, widgets and headers appear.

I also recorded:

• the current theme
• active plugins
• existing pages
• menu structure
• logo and favicon files
• any custom code
• analytics and verification settings

I did not immediately delete Astra or any existing design plugins.

I wanted to confirm that the new site worked before removing anything the old pages might depend on.

Step 2: Install Kadence Theme

From the WordPress dashboard, I went to:

Appearance → Themes → Add New

I searched for:

Kadence

I then:

1. installed the theme
2. activated it
3. opened the WordPress Customizer
4. ignored the premium upgrade options
5. avoided importing a large starter website

Kadence also offers starter-template tools, but I decided to build the small number of sections I needed myself.

Starter templates can be helpful when someone wants a complete ready-made website. For me, they risked introducing layouts and settings I did not understand or need.

Starting with a mostly blank site gave me fewer things to undo.

Step 3: Install Kadence Blocks

From:

Plugins → Add New Plugin

I searched for:

Kadence Blocks

After activating it, additional blocks became available inside the normal WordPress editor.

The ones I used most were:

• Row Layout
• Section
• Advanced Text
• Info Box
• Buttons
• Icon
• Form or email embed blocks where appropriate

I did not try to use every available block.

The purpose of installing Kadence Blocks was to make a few common layouts easier—not to turn every page into a complex design exercise.

Step 4: Set the global colour palette

One of the most useful decisions was setting the site colours globally before building pages.

Kadence allows its global colour palette to be managed through:

Appearance → Customise → Colours & Fonts → Colours

Colours assigned through the global palette can then be reused throughout the theme and compatible blocks. Changing a palette colour later can update every element linked to it.

This was the Beyond Lazy palette I used.

Accent colours

Main green:        #12823F
Darker green:      #0D6B32
Dark navy:         #071A33

The main green is used for:

• primary buttons
• links
• icons
• checkmarks
• small highlights

The darker green is used for:

• hover states
• active states
• stronger emphasis

The navy is used for:

• headings
• navigation
• logo text
• occasional secondary buttons

Text colours

Primary text:      #071A33
Body text:         #263241
Secondary text:    #536170
Subtle text:       #718096

I avoided using pale grey for normal paragraph text. It can look clean in a mock-up but become tiring to read across a long article.

Background colours

Tinted background: #EAF2EE
Light background:  #F7F9F8
White:             #FFFFFF

Most of the site remains white.

The tinted colours are reserved for:

• category cards
• newsletter sections
• highlighted explanations
• alternating homepage sections

This makes them feel deliberate rather than turning the whole website green.

Step 5: Set typography globally

I wanted the typography to be plain and readable.

I used a clean sans-serif font for both headings and body text rather than combining several font families.

My starting settings were approximately:

• body text: 17 to 18 pixels
• body line height: around 1.6
• navigation: 15 to 16 pixels
• large homepage heading: responsive, around 48 to 64 pixels on desktop
• article headings: clearly smaller at each level
• bold heading weight
• moderate spacing between paragraphs

Kadence’s Style Guide lets users preview and adjust global colours, typography, buttons, logo and tagline together. Changes made there apply across the site rather than needing to be recreated block by block.

I found this more useful than adjusting each page individually.

Step 6: Build the header

Kadence includes a visual header builder under:

Appearance → Customise → Header

Header elements can be dragged between different positions and then adjusted using their individual settings.

I kept the header simple:

Left side

• Beyond Lazy logo

Right side

• Home
• Articles
• Automation Guides
• About
• Contact
• Weekly Reset button

I used:

• white background
• dark navy navigation text
• green hover or active state
• green call-to-action button
• no top bar
• no social-media icons
• no search box initially

The mobile header contains:

• logo
• menu button
• simplified navigation

I avoided transparent and sticky-header effects at launch.

They can look impressive, but they also create more opportunities for spacing, contrast and mobile-display problems.

A normal white header was enough.

Step 7: Create the essential pages

Before building the homepage, I created:

• Home
• About
• Contact
• Privacy Policy
• Affiliate Disclosure
• Terms and Disclaimer
• Editorial Policy
• Articles

I published the legal and transparency pages before applying to affiliate programs.

I also created the main article categories:

• Everyday AI
• AI at Work
• Personal Systems
• Automation Guides

Creating these foundations early meant the homepage buttons had real destinations.

Step 8: Set a static homepage

By default, WordPress displays recent posts on the homepage. A separate static page can be selected through the Reading settings.

I went to:

Settings → Reading

I selected:

A static page

Then chose:

• Homepage: Home
• Posts page: Articles

This allowed me to design a proper homepage while still keeping a normal archive containing all published posts.

Step 9: Build the homepage hero

The hero is the first section people see.

I used a two-column Row Layout:

Left column

• main headline
• short explanation
• four short benefit points
• primary button
• secondary link or button

Right column

• one clean image showing an AI-assisted workflow

My headline was:

Work less. Automate more.

The supporting copy explained the site in one sentence:

Beyond Lazy helps you use AI, automation and simple systems to eliminate busywork and get your time back.

The buttons were:

• Browse Latest Guides
• How It Works

I left generous empty space around the content.

A homepage does not need to explain every aspect of the business above the fold. It needs to help a new visitor understand:

• what the site is about
• who it is for
• where to go next

Step 10: Create the category cards

Below the hero, I added four cards:

Everyday AI

Simple ways to use tools such as ChatGPT to plan, write, organise and make decisions.

Automation Guides

Step-by-step systems for reducing repetitive manual work.

Personal Systems

Practical approaches to notes, planning, purchases, decluttering and digital organisation.

AI at Work

Prompts and workflows for meetings, requirements, documentation and professional communication.

I used an Info Box or simple grouped block for each card.

Each contained:

• one icon
• category name
• brief description
• Explore link

Kadence’s free Info Box block includes controls for layout, typography, colours and responsive display, making it suitable for this kind of card section.

I kept all four cards visually consistent.

The icon colours could vary slightly, but the structure, padding and heading size remained the same.

Step 11: Add the email signup section

The next section promoted the Beyond Lazy Weekly Reset.

It contained:

• a small image or guide mock-up
• one clear heading
• a short explanation
• email field
• signup button
• brief privacy reassurance

The copy was:

Get the Beyond Lazy Weekly Reset

A simple weekly planning system to bring together work, family, household tasks, meals, goals and life administration.

I used a lightly tinted background so the section stood out without feeling like an advertisement.

The email form can be embedded from MailerLite or another email platform once the download and automation are ready.

Until then, it is better to hide the form than collect subscribers without having the promised resource prepared.

Step 12: Display recent articles

Once I had published several articles, I added a latest-guides section.

Each article card displayed:

• featured image
• category
• article title
• short excerpt
• publication date, where useful
• link to the article

WordPress’s block editor supports patterns and reusable combinations of blocks, which can reduce the need to rebuild common layouts from scratch.

For the first version of the site, a basic recent-posts or query layout was enough.

I did not need:

• complicated filtering
• multiple carousels
• animation
• infinite scrolling
• personalised recommendations

Readers need to be able to see and open the articles.

Step 13: Build a minimal footer

My footer included:

• small Beyond Lazy logo or site name
• one-sentence site description
• main navigation
• legal links
• contact link
• copyright notice
• affiliate disclosure link

A simple version might be:

Beyond Lazy publishes practical guides to AI, automation and personal systems for people who want technology to remove work rather than create more of it.

Then:

• About
• Contact
• Privacy
• Affiliate Disclosure
• Terms
• Editorial Policy

I did not add a large collection of social icons or footer widgets before those channels existed.

Empty or inactive social links make a new site feel less complete, not more complete.

Step 14: Check the mobile layout

A layout that looks good on a desktop can become cramped on a phone.

Kadence Blocks includes responsive controls for adjusting layouts across desktop, tablet and mobile views.

I checked:

• whether two-column sections stacked correctly
• hero heading size
• button width
• image cropping
• card spacing
• menu behaviour
• paragraph width
• footer alignment
• email form layout
• whether any content extended beyond the screen

I also opened the live website on an actual phone.

The editor’s mobile preview is useful, but it is not a complete replacement for testing the real page.

Step 15: Keep the plugin stack small

My initial supporting plugin list was deliberately limited.

I used one plugin for each main job:

• Kadence Blocks for page layouts
• The SEO Framework for SEO metadata and sitemaps
• Site Kit by Google for Search Console and analytics
• Fluent Forms for the contact form
• one backup solution if hosting did not provide reliable backups
• one caching solution
• one security solution where required
• MailerLite integration when the email list was ready

I avoided installing:

• multiple SEO plugins
• multiple caching plugins
• several page builders
• large plugin collections bundled around one small feature
• plugins that duplicated something Kadence or WordPress already provided

Every plugin creates another component that needs to be updated, secured and checked for compatibility.

What I did not pay for

For this initial version, I did not need to pay Kadence for:

• the theme
• the global colour palette
• the standard header
• the basic homepage layout
• article publishing
• category cards
• navigation
• basic responsive design

That does not mean every desirable Kadence feature is free.

Premium features may eventually become worthwhile for:

• more advanced headers
• dynamic content
• more sophisticated post grids
• conditional elements
• advanced templates
• deeper WooCommerce features
• specialised design controls

But I did not need those features to launch a useful content website.

The key question was not:

Could the premium version do more?

It obviously could.

The useful question was:

Is anything in the premium version currently preventing me from publishing good articles?

The answer was no.

What I found difficult

Kadence was easier for me than my original setup, but it was not completely effortless.

I still needed to understand the difference between:

• theme settings
• page settings
• block settings
• global colours
• individual colours
• content width
• row width
• padding
• margin
• desktop and mobile controls

The biggest source of frustration was often not knowing which layer controlled the space I was looking at.

For example, excess space might come from:

• the page template
• the outer Row Layout
• an inner Section
• the heading margin
• the image block
• the theme’s content padding

My approach became:

1. Select the outermost layout block.
2. Check its padding and margin.
3. Move inward one block at a time.
4. Change one setting.
5. Preview the result.
6. Undo it if it does not solve the problem.

Changing five spacing settings simultaneously made troubleshooting much harder.

Mistakes I would avoid next time

Trying to perfect the homepage before publishing

The homepage felt important, so it was easy to spend too long refining it.

In reality, the articles are the main product.

A good-enough homepage with three strong articles is more useful than a perfect homepage with no content.

Installing plugins before needing them

It is tempting to install every plugin recommended in a website checklist.

I now prefer to add one only when I have an immediate use for it.

For example:

• no affiliate-link plugin before having affiliate links
• no email form before the download is ready
• no display-ad plugin before having meaningful traffic
• no advanced schema plugin without a specific requirement

Copying the mock-up too literally

A design mock-up shows an idealised result.

WordPress blocks, theme constraints and responsive behaviour may mean the exact layout is not practical.

I used the mock-up for:

• visual direction
• colour choices
• section order
• overall tone

I did not treat every pixel as a requirement.

Adjusting individual colours instead of global colours

Early on, it can feel faster to set a button colour directly.

The problem appears when the brand colour changes later.

Using global palette colours consistently makes future changes much easier.

Building for desktop first and mobile last

Mobile should be checked after every major section.

Waiting until the entire homepage is complete can create a long list of overlapping responsive problems.

Is Kadence Free enough?

For a new article-based website like Beyond Lazy, I think it is.

It gave me enough control to create:

• a recognisable visual identity
• a useful homepage
• readable articles
• a responsive header
• category sections
• calls to action
• a newsletter area
• a straightforward footer

It did not remove every learning curve, and it still presented optional paid features.

But I could build the actual website I needed without buying the premium version or adding a separate page builder.

That was the important test.

Who this setup suits

This approach may suit you when you want:

• a blog or content website
• a service-business website
• a simple newsletter site
• a small affiliate website
• control over colours, spacing and layout
• to remain within the WordPress block editor
• to avoid paying for a theme immediately

It may be less suitable when you need:

• a highly customised application-style interface
• complex membership functionality
• specialised ecommerce layouts
• a large directory
• extensive dynamic content
• precise bespoke design matching
• advanced interactions and animation

Those projects may justify premium tools or professional development.

My final recommendation

Start with:

1. Kadence Theme Free
2. Kadence Blocks Free
3. the normal WordPress block editor
4. one clear global palette
5. one consistent page width
6. a simple header and footer
7. a homepage with only the sections you genuinely need

Publish the website before deciding whether you need Kadence Pro.

Using the free version for real work will tell you which limitations actually matter.

Reading a comparison table usually will not.

Final thoughts

Building a WordPress website can easily become a project about building the website rather than publishing what the website exists to contain.

Kadence Free helped me avoid some of that complexity.

It gave me enough design control to create a clean, recognisable site while allowing me to keep the setup relatively small.

The most useful decision was not choosing a particular theme.

It was defining what the site needed to do—and refusing to build much more than that.

Beyond Lazy did not need an elaborate digital experience.

It needed:

• a clear purpose
• useful articles
• readable pages
• trustworthy policies
• simple navigation
• a way for readers to stay in touch

The free setup was enough to get those foundations in place.

Everything else can be added when there is evidence that it is needed.