How to build a responsive WordPress website

Start with a theme that states it supports responsive layouts and has a current update history. For a block theme, go to Appearance > Editor; for a classic theme, look under Appearance > Customize. WordPress uses the Site Editor for block themes and the Customizer for themes that support it.

Do not assume that a theme demo will behave the same after you add your own logo, fonts, galleries or page-builder sections. Install the theme on a staging site if the existing site is live.

List the pages visitors need, then sketch each page as a small number of sections: header, navigation, main content, calls to action and footer. Use Group, Row, Column and Stack blocks, or the equivalent layout controls supplied by your theme.

Keep the main content width limited and let sections expand or contract with the viewport. Avoid building a page from fixed-width columns, large left and right margins or dozens of nested containers. Those choices often look acceptable on a wide monitor but create horizontal scrolling on phones.

In a block theme, open Appearance > Editor > Styles and set the site-wide colours, typography, spacing and layout before styling individual pages. These settings can apply across the site and help prevent each page from developing different heading sizes or padding.

Use a readable base font size, a clear heading hierarchy and moderate line length. If your WordPress version and theme expose responsive style controls, adjust supported typography, spacing or layout values for tablet and mobile rather than duplicating whole sections.

Upload appropriately sized images to the Media Library and select a suitable image size when inserting them. WordPress normally adds srcset and sizes attributes so browsers can choose a more suitable file for the available screen width.

Give images useful alternative text, avoid placing text inside images, and check banners, logos, videos, tables and embedded content on a narrow screen. A very large custom logo or an element with a fixed width can force the entire page to overflow; one recent support case was caused by custom CSS overriding the theme’s mobile image limit.

Preview the header, navigation, forms, buttons, columns and footer at desktop, tablet and phone widths. On a classic theme, use the Customizer’s device preview buttons; in a block theme, resize the Site Editor preview or use its responsive editing controls where available.

Check that the mobile menu opens, the logo does not push the menu off screen, buttons have enough space to tap and no section creates sideways scrolling. A common failure is a navigation column with excessive padding or a minimum width that remains active on mobile.

Open the important pages on a real phone as well as in browser device emulation. Test the home page, contact form, menus, search, checkout if applicable, cookie notice, image galleries and any page built with a builder.

Fix the cause rather than hiding the symptom. Remove unnecessary fixed widths, oversized margins and desktop-only CSS; then clear any caching layer and test again. Publish only after checking both orientations and several screen widths, because a layout that works at one mobile width can still break at another.

For the fast route, use PenNews: install the theme, import a suitable demo and replace its content using the drag-and-drop editor. Its responsive layouts and AMP compatibility can shorten the setup, but you still need to review your own content and test the finished pages on real devices.