5.3%
of PI firms
1,885
adopters

WPBakery

WPBakery Page Builder (formerly Visual Composer), originally released in 2011, is one of the oldest WordPress page builders and remains surprisingly widespread — used on approximat…

Category Page Builder SI Lift +9.1 pts wpbakery.com
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What is WPBakery?

WPBakery Page Builder (formerly Visual Composer), originally released in 2011, is one of the oldest WordPress page builders and remains surprisingly widespread — used on approximately 1,900 PI firm websites in our data despite being widely considered technically inferior to newer alternatives. WPBakery was for years the default page builder bundled with premium ThemeForest themes (Avada, Enfold, Bridge, and dozens of others), which explains its adoption: firms didn't choose WPBakery, they inherited it with their theme purchase. The plugin costs $69 for a regular CodeCanyon license (one site) and was acquired by wpbakery.com after splitting from the Visual Composer brand in 2018. WPBakery stores page content using WordPress shortcodes — the same approach as Divi, and the same critical drawback: deactivate the plugin and your page content becomes a wall of unreadable [vc_row][vc_column] tags. This creates severe vendor lock-in. Among PI firms, WPBakery adoption correlates strongly with older website builds (2015-2019 era) that haven't been redesigned. The plugin's output is notably heavier than Elementor or Gutenberg — more DOM elements, more CSS, more JavaScript — which directly impacts page speed scores and Core Web Vitals. If your firm's site is on WPBakery and performing well, there's no urgent reason to migrate. But if you're experiencing speed issues, SEO problems, or planning a redesign, WPBakery should be the first thing replaced. Modern alternatives produce faster sites with better SEO characteristics and more design flexibility.

Common Use Cases for Law Firms

  • Edit page layouts using front-end or back-end visual editors
  • Customize theme layouts without modifying PHP template files
  • Build content sections using a library of 50+ design elements
  • Use the back-end editor for structured content editing without live preview overhead
  • Extend functionality with 250+ third-party add-ons from CodeCanyon

How We Detect It

WordPress plugin (often bundled with themes) Detected via vc_row and wpb_ CSS classes Paid plugin — often included with theme purchase
Market Overview

WPBakery is a page builder tool used by 1,885 personal injury law firms, representing 5.3% of all tracked firms. Adopters score 37.3 SI on average, +9.1 points higher than firms without it, suggesting WPBakery correlates with broader technology investment. The heaviest adoption comes from the Basic Tech Adopters segment (11.3%), followed by Engagement Specialists (14.3%). The most common co-occurring tools are WordPress (found on 97.9% of WPBakery adopters) and Google Analytics (65.9%).

WPBakery Quick Facts

Company
Founded 2009
Founder Michael M
Headquarters United States
Market
Category Content & CMS
Subcategory Page Builder
Pricing Pay-per-use from $64 one-time · Free tier
Competitors Elementor, Visual Composer Website Builder, Divi Builder
Trend ▬ Stable
5.8M+ Websites powered
100+ Predefined templates
50+ Content elements
Why PI Firms Use WPBakery

PI firms use WPBakery to quickly build professional, marketing-heavy websites with custom layouts for contact forms, testimonials, case results, and hero sections that convert visitors into leads. Its drag-and-drop interface enables non-technical staff to create SEO-friendly, responsive pages optimized for mobile inquiries from accident victims. Compatibility with sliders, forms, and WooCommerce supports intake funnels, live chat embeds, and performance enhancements critical for competitive PI marketing.

Sources: help.wprentals.org/article/wpbak... wpbakery.com/features/ help.visualcomposer.com/docs/get... docs.stylemixthemes.com/pearl-th...
1,885 Firms Using
5.3% Adoption Rate
37.3 Avg Adopter SI
+9.1 SI Lift vs Non-Adopters

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Commonly Paired With co-occurrence

WPBakery Best Practices

1
Use WPBakery's back-end editor instead of the front-end editor for faster editing. WPBakery's front-end editor loads the entire page with editing overlays, which is slow on content-heavy pages. The back-end editor uses a clean, block-based interface that loads in seconds. You lose the live preview, but you gain speed and stability. For a 2,000-word practice area page, the back-end editor is dramatically more usable. Save the front-end editor for final visual checks before publishing.
2
Minimize the number of nested rows and columns — every level of nesting adds performance overhead. WPBakery makes it easy to nest rows inside columns inside rows, creating complex layouts that generate enormous amounts of DOM markup. Each nested row adds wrapper divs, CSS classes, and JavaScript hooks. Flatten your layouts: use a single row with multiple columns instead of nested rows. The visual difference is often invisible, but the performance difference can be 0.5-1.0 seconds of load time on mobile.
3
Disable WPBakery's front-end editor on pages that are finalized. If a page is published and not being actively edited, WPBakery still loads editor-related assets on the front end for logged-in users. Use a performance plugin like Perfmatters or Asset CleanUp to conditionally disable WPBakery CSS/JS on pages that don't need it. For pages where you've switched to Gutenberg blocks, you can disable WPBakery entirely on that specific page.
4
Add a caching plugin immediately — WPBakery sites without caching are unacceptably slow. WPBakery generates HTML dynamically with every page load. Install WP Rocket ($59/year) or LiteSpeed Cache (free for LiteSpeed servers) to serve pre-built static HTML to visitors. On a typical WPBakery law firm site, caching reduces page load time from 4-6 seconds to 1-2 seconds. This isn't optional — uncached WPBakery sites consistently fail Google's Core Web Vitals thresholds, which directly costs you search rankings.
5
Before migrating away from WPBakery, export all your content with shortcodes intact. If you're planning to switch to Elementor or Gutenberg, export your pages first (Tools → Export in WordPress). The shortcode content is ugly but preserves your text. Several migration plugins (like "Visual Composer to Elementor" by developer Jehan Azad) can automatically convert WPBakery shortcodes to Elementor widgets, saving hours of manual rebuild work. Never just deactivate WPBakery without a migration plan — your pages will break instantly.

Alternatives to WPBakery

1
Elementor — The market leader and the most common migration target for WPBakery users. Elementor is faster, more flexible, and produces significantly cleaner code. The free version handles 80% of what most law firms need; Pro ($59/year for 1 site) adds theme building, popups, and dynamic content. The migration from WPBakery to Elementor is the most well-documented path, with multiple conversion tools available. If you're redesigning, Elementor is the default recommendation.
2
Divi — Elegant Themes' builder with a unique value proposition: $249 lifetime access for unlimited sites. Divi's visual builder is more intuitive than WPBakery but also stores content in shortcodes (same lock-in problem). If vendor lock-in isn't your primary concern and you want the best long-term value, Divi's lifetime pricing is unbeatable. If lock-in is a concern, skip Divi for the same reason you should skip WPBakery.
3
Gutenberg (WordPress block editor) — The built-in WordPress editor has matured significantly. With Full Site Editing in WordPress 6.x, Gutenberg can handle most page layouts without any plugin. It produces the cleanest, fastest code of any option on this list. The trade-off: the design flexibility is more limited and the editing experience is less visual. Best for firms that prioritize performance and want to eliminate plugin dependencies entirely.
4
Beaver Builder — A lightweight page builder beloved by developers for outputting clean code with minimal bloat. Beaver Builder sites consistently outperform WPBakery and Elementor on speed benchmarks. The design flexibility is more limited than Elementor, but the content is stored in a portable format (not shortcodes), making future migrations easier. Best for firms working with a developer who values clean code over maximum design freedom.

WPBakery Power Moves

1
Use WPBakery's Design Options tab to add custom CSS classes to sections for targeted styling. Instead of writing inline styles on every element (which WPBakery encourages), add a custom CSS class like "hero-section" or "cta-block" and write your styles in your theme's custom CSS area. This keeps your design maintainable and makes site-wide style changes possible with one CSS edit instead of updating 40 individual elements across 20 pages.
2
If your WPBakery theme came from ThemeForest, check if the developer released an Elementor-compatible version. Many popular ThemeForest themes (Avada, BeTheme, Bridge) now support both WPBakery and Elementor. You may be able to switch page builders without switching themes — keeping your existing design while gaining a faster, more modern editor. Check your theme's documentation or ThemeForest changelog for Elementor compatibility.
3
Create reusable templates in WPBakery for practice area pages and attorney bio pages. Build one perfect practice area layout (hero, case results, FAQ, testimonials, CTA), save it as a template, then apply it to every new practice area page. This ensures consistency and saves hours of layout work. WPBakery's template system is one of its better features — use it to avoid the common problem of every page looking different because someone rebuilt the layout each time.
4
Audit your WPBakery pages for unused elements that are hidden but still loading. A common WPBakery pattern: someone hides a section (sets it to display:none or uses WPBakery's visibility toggle) instead of deleting it. The hidden section still loads all its CSS, JavaScript, and images — adding weight to every page view. Audit your pages in the back-end editor and delete any sections that are toggled off. On a typical 3-year-old WPBakery site, this can recover 200-500KB of unnecessary asset loading.
5
Don't upgrade WPBakery until you've tested the update on a staging site. WPBakery updates have a history of breaking page layouts, especially on sites using older themes. Always test on staging first. If your managed host doesn't offer staging (another reason to consider WP Engine or Flywheel), install the WP Staging plugin (free) to create a testing copy. The firm that updates WPBakery on their live site during a marketing campaign and discovers all their landing pages are broken is the firm that regrets not spending 5 minutes on staging.

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Top Firms Using WPBakery by sophistication index
# Firm Segment Attorneys SI Score Grade
1 Leppard Law: DUI Lawyers & Criminal Defense Attorneys Deltona leppardlaw.com Conversion-Focused Firms 1 94.094 A+
2 Drummond Law Firm drummondfirm.com Conversion-Focused Firms 6 94.094 A+
3 Ferrer Poirot & Wansbrough lawyerworks.com Conversion-Focused Firms 32 94.094 A+
4 Philpot Law Firm, PA philpotlawfirm.com Conversion-Focused Firms 16 93.894 A+
5 TonaLaw tonalaw.com Conversion-Focused Firms 7 93.894 A+
6 The Shirvanian Law Firm shirvanianlawfirm.com Conversion-Focused Firms 61 93.894 A+
7 Dennis Hernandez & Associates dennishernandez.com Retention Innovators 38 93.093 A+
8 Kash Legal Group kashlegal.com Retention Innovators 59 93.093 A+
9 Parrish DeVaughn Law Firm parrishdevaughn.com Conversion-Focused Firms 11 92.893 A+
10 Freese & Goss freeseandgoss.com Retention Innovators 1 92.092 A+
11 Gay & Chacker gayandchacker.com Retention Innovators 20 92.092 A+
12 Kanner & Pintaluga kpattorney.com Retention Innovators 369 91.892 A+
13 Fillmore Spencer LLC fslaw.com Retention Innovators 5 91.892 A+
14 mhpslaw.com mhpslaw.com Retention Innovators 16 91.892 A+
15 Nipgroup nipgroup.com Retention Innovators 1 91.091 A+
16 Berg Injury Lawyers Inc. berginjurylawyers.com Conversion-Focused Firms 1 91.091 A+
17 Diamond and Diamond Lawyers diamondlaw.ca Retention Innovators 1 90.590 A+
18 Fraser & Souweidane eastsidelawyers.com Conversion-Focused Firms 1 90.390 A+
19 castelblanco.com castelblanco.com Retention Innovators 29 90.090 A+
20 Joshua Graham Trial Lawyers joshuagraham.com Conversion-Focused Firms 1 88.588 A+
See all 1,885 firms →
Jax
Jax Technology Analyst Top Law Dog