If your WordPress website feels like it’s stuck in 2018 (clunky, slow, and hard to update) it might be time to meet Gutenberg.
Gutenberg is WordPress’ native block editor, and it’s changing the game for brands and organizations who need a website that’s faster, more flexible, and easier to manage. Best of all? It’s built directly into WordPress, no plugins or subscriptions required.
Here’s the kicker though: if your website was built more than a few years ago, there’s a good chance you’re not using Gutenberg yet. To take full advantage of it, you’ll likely need a custom website rebuild. It’s not something you can just toggle on, but it’s absolutely worth considering as part of a future-ready digital strategy. Because in our opinion, nobody should have to deal with website drama.
So, What Is Gutenberg?
Gutenberg is WordPress’ block-based editor. It was introduced in 2018 and has come a long way since then. It replaces the old “classic” text editor with a sleek, visual, drag-and-drop interface that uses blocks to create content. We began using Gutenberg in our custom website designs in 2024.
Each piece of content – text, image, button, column, form – is a block that you can easily add, rearrange, and customize. The result? A flexible, user-friendly editing experience that gives you more control without needing to touch any code.
The best part is, it’s not a plugin or add-on, it’s part of WordPress core. And it’s free! At White Canvas, we build fully custom WordPress sites that take full advantage of Gutenberg’s block-based editing. Our team designs and develops custom blocks tailored to your business, so you can update your site easily while maintaining a cohesive, on-brand look. The result is a website that’s both beautifully designed and incredibly easy to manage.
Why Marketing Teams Love Gutenberg
Marketers are often stuck in a frustrating cycle: needing to launch landing pages, update content, or test campaigns, but getting bottlenecked by clunky editors or dev backlogs. Gutenberg was built to solve that.
Here’s how:
1. Design and Launch Pages, Fast
Gutenberg lets you build and update layouts using pre-styled blocks. No coding, no shortcodes, no mystery interfaces. Just click, drag, and go.
This makes it easy to spin up campaign pages, promos, or announcements without relying on a developer for every change. It also ensures that all new content follows consistent brand styling and spacing, so your website stays polished even with frequent updates.
Need to pivot fast during a campaign? Gutenberg makes that simple.
2. Gutenberg Delivers When Speed Matters
Gutenberg is lightweight and optimized for performance. Faster websites aren’t just good for user experience, they’re essential for SEO and conversion. Gutenberg helps your content load quickly, especially on mobile devices where attention spans are shortest.
3. Better On-Site SEO
Clean, semantic code is easier for search engines to read. Gutenberg’s block-based structure creates more organized HTML than many traditional page builders, making it easier for Google to understand your content.
It also integrates seamlessly with SEO tools like Yoast or RankMath, so your team can manage metadata and keyword optimization without juggling multiple tools.
4. Fewer Plugins, Less Maintenance
Relying on third-party page builders often means relying on a slew of plugins, each one with its own updates, compatibility risks, and licensing fees.
Because Gutenberg is built into WordPress, it reduces the need for extra tools. Fewer plugins means fewer potential conflicts, simpler updates, and less time spent troubleshooting.
5. Easy, In-House Content Edits
With Gutenberg, your team can own the content updates, no HTML knowledge required.
Yes, you really can swap out that banner image yourself, add a testimonial, or change that headline that always kind of bugged you. It’s all drag-and-drop, right in the page editor. This empowers marketers to move faster, test messaging, and keep the website aligned with current campaigns, without needing to ping a developer for every tweak.
Am I Already Using Gutenberg?
If your website was built before 2018, it’s unlikely.
The best way to check is to log in to your WordPress dashboard and try editing a page. If you see a visual interface that looks like the frontend of your website with blocks and a “+” button to add new ones, you’re likely using Gutenberg. If your editor looks more like a basic Word document, you’re probably still on the classic editor or using a third-party page builder.
It’s important to know that simply installing Gutenberg on an old website isn’t a good solution. To truly benefit from it, your website’s theme and architecture need to be built with blocks in mind. In most cases, that means a redesign or rebuild.
Gutenberg vs. Other Page Builders
There are tons of third-party page builders out there. While they do let you create custom layouts, they often come with trade-offs, like slower performance, plugin dependencies, and bloated code. Many third-party page builders can be heavy, loading unnecessary scripts and slowing your site down.
Gutenberg takes a different approach.
Because it’s part of WordPress core, Gutenberg works with your theme, rather than against it. It’s faster, more stable, and designed to evolve alongside WordPress itself.
For marketing teams that value speed, SEO, and editing independence, Gutenberg is the clear choice.
Should You Make the Switch?
If your current website is slow, hard to update, or overly reliant on plugins and workarounds, it might be time to consider a rebuild with Gutenberg.
This isn’t just about keeping up with WordPress trends, it’s about setting your team up for long-term success. With Gutenberg, your marketing department gains more control, your developers spend less time on content requests, and your audience gets a faster, better experience.
At White Canvas, we build custom WordPress websites using Gutenberg from the ground up. No templates, no bloated plugins, and no shortcuts. Just thoughtful design, powerful UX, and an editing experience your team will actually enjoy.
If you’re looking for Vancouver website design that’s modern, fast, and flexible enough to grow with your business, we’ve got you covered.
Ready to Level Up Your Website?
If you’re curious whether you should upgrade to a site with Gutenberg, or you’re planning a rebuild and want expert input, our team’s here to help. Give us a call! We can chat about your goals, your wishlist, and how we can make your next website your best one yet.