Building pages with blocks can be pretty fun—and surprisingly flexible. But what if you create a section you really love and want to use it again on another page or post? Or maybe there’s a layout you keep repeating—like a testimonial quote, a call-to-action button, or a styled contact section. Do you have to rebuild it from scratch every time?

Luckily, no. This is where Reusable Blocks and Block Patterns come in—and they’re a huge time saver.

Let’s start with Reusable Blocks.

Imagine you’ve built a nice little section—maybe it’s a short “Call Now for a Free Quote” paragraph with a button linking to your contact page. You want to use this same exact block on several pages, and you want to be able to update it in one place later if needed. That’s what reusable blocks are for.

To create one, click on the three-dot menu on the block you want to reuse (you’ll see it when you hover over the block). Choose “Create reusable block,” give it a name (like “Contact CTA”), and save it. That block is now stored in your site and can be added anywhere, just like any other block.

The beauty of reusable blocks is that if you ever update one, the change automatically applies everywhere it’s used. So if you change your phone number or update the wording, you don’t have to go page by page—WordPress handles it for you.

Now on to Block Patterns.

Where reusable blocks are something you create and manage yourself, block patterns are pre-made layouts that WordPress (and your theme or plugins) provide for you. They’re like ready-made building blocks that help you design beautiful sections with just a few clicks.

To use one, click the plus (+) button to add a block, then switch to the “Patterns” tab at the top of the panel. You’ll see a list of categories like “Text,” “Media,” “Call to Action,” and more. These patterns might include things like a two-column layout with an image and text, a testimonial layout with a quote and name, or even full-page templates with a mix of different sections.

You can browse, preview, and insert these patterns just like regular blocks. Once they’re on your page, you can edit them however you like—they’re just regular blocks underneath.

Some themes come with their own unique patterns that match their overall design style, and there are even plugins that give you access to huge libraries of patterns if you want more variety.

So, when should you use reusable blocks vs. patterns?

Here’s a quick way to think about it: if you plan to use something again and want it to stay the same everywhere—or update everywhere at once—make it reusable. If you just want a quick design head start, and you’ll probably customize it each time, use a pattern.

Both tools can make your workflow much faster and more enjoyable. Instead of building everything from scratch, you can focus on the creative part—your content and your message—while letting WordPress handle the heavy lifting.