Creating Motion and Hover Effects with Elementor

How to Create Motion and Hover Effects in Elementor (From Basic to Advanced)

Adding motion and hover effects is one of the best ways to make your website feel dynamic and engaging. With Elementor, you don’t need to write a single line of code to create animations that capture attention and guide your visitors’ focus. In this guide, you’ll learn how to create smooth animations and hover interactions — from built-in features to advanced CSS tricks.

Why Animations Matter

Animations can bring life to your content when used correctly. They can highlight calls to action, reveal elements on scroll, or create a sense of depth and movement that improves user experience.

• Visual engagement: Smooth animations make your website feel interactive and modern.
• Focus direction: Motion helps guide the user’s attention to key areas like buttons or sections.
• Brand personality: The right animation style reflects your brand’s tone — playful, elegant, or bold.

However, moderation is key. Overusing animations can slow down your site and distract visitors instead of helping them.

Using Elementor’s Built-in Motion Effects

Elementor makes it incredibly easy to animate any widget or section without touching code. Here’s how:

Step 1: Select the Element

Choose any widget, column, or section you want to animate. Then open the Advanced tab in the left sidebar.

Step 2: Choose an Entrance Animation

Under the Motion Effects panel, you’ll see a dropdown labeled “Entrance Animation.” Pick one from the list, such as:

• Fade In
• Slide In Up
• Zoom In
• Bounce In
• Rotate In

After selecting an effect, you can adjust its duration and delay for smoother timing.

Step 3: Preview the Animation

Click “Preview Changes” or view your page in live mode to see the animation in action. The element will animate as soon as it appears in the viewport.

Creating Hover Animations

Hover animations add a layer of interactivity when a user moves their cursor over an element — perfect for buttons, images, or cards.

Option 1: Using Elementor’s Hover Style Controls

Most widgets in Elementor include a Hover state. To customize it:

1. Select your element (e.g., a Button or Image widget).
2. Switch to the Style tab.
3. Click Hover to edit hover-specific properties like color, opacity, or transform.

For example, you can make a button scale up slightly on hover:

transform: scale(1.05);

Option 2: Adding Custom CSS Animations (Elementor Pro)

If you’re using Elementor Pro, you can add advanced hover animations using the Custom CSS field under the Advanced tab. Here’s a simple example:

selector:hover {
  transform: translateY(-5px);
  transition: all 0.3s ease;
}

This will create a subtle lift effect when the user hovers over the element.

Scroll-Based Animations

With the Scrolling Effects feature in Elementor Pro, you can create animations that trigger as users scroll down your page — perfect for storytelling and modern one-page designs.

To add them:

1. Select your section or widget.
2. Go to Advanced → Motion Effects → Scrolling Effects.
3. Enable effects such as Vertical Scroll, Horizontal Scroll, Transparency, or Rotate.

You can control speed, direction, and when the animation starts or ends for total flexibility.

Performance Tips

• Use animations sparingly — too many effects can slow your site and distract visitors.
• Keep durations short (under 1 second) for a snappy, modern feel.
• Test on mobile — disable or simplify effects that may not look good on small screens.
• Combine animations with meaningful content transitions rather than random motion.

Accessibility Considerations

Some users prefer reduced motion for accessibility reasons. Always ensure your design remains readable and functional even without animations. You can use the CSS media query below to respect users’ preferences:

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  * {
    animation: none !important;
    transition: none !important;
  }
}

Wrapping Up

Motion and hover effects are powerful tools for elevating your Elementor designs. Whether you use built-in animations or custom CSS, focus on subtlety, purpose, and performance. Well-balanced motion makes your website feel professional, polished, and alive — without overwhelming your visitors.

In the next post, we’ll take your design consistency to the next level with Global Colors and Typography Variables in Elementor.