Are premium themes worth it?

14 years ago

There are some premium themes that make life much easier. It all depends on what type of site you are creating. There are a lot of free themes that work well for personal blogs and some business blogs, but if you were trying to make an online magazine, then go with a premium.

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jverley 14 years ago

You can find tons of themes for free. I would only go with the premium if you are not great with modifications, or you need to pump out a high volume of sites.
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- TravisVOX 14 years ago
  
  I purchased Thesis for my sites last week and have been fooling around with it. It's very useful for making tweaks and adjustments, but ultimately, I'll still need a designer to go in and really make it look how I want. I don't regret the purchase, as there is definite use, but I do see where I shouldn't wasting time on tweaks and designs, and instead be producing content that grows revenue long term more than a logo placement.
  
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frankken2

14 years ago

now a days,themes are most important.All are used this themes by purchase also.the themes costs are lower&higher also available...

Thank you...

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fskcramer

14 years ago

I use them for micro niche blogs. Adding adds and adsense and content is usually all I do. Other than a little seo with Seo platinum.

But I intend to build a list of 100 or more sites. Would premium themes be a good Idea? Where are some good theme packs for sale for this style of sites?

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NoGuru

14 years ago

Originally Posted by fskcramer

I use them for micro niche blogs. Adding adds and adsense and content is usually all I do. Other than a little seo with Seo platinum.

But I intend to build a list of 100 or more sites. Would premium themes be a good Idea? Where are some good theme packs for sale for this style of sites?

There are lots of nice free themes out there that work just fine -- I haven't seen any real SEO benefit to using premium themes. For your purpose, I'd find a few free themes that you like and get comfortable making minor appearance edits, and stick with that. It keeps it simple for cranking out lots of micro-niche sites.

Use the All in One SEO plugin, have keyword permalinks for each article, and have some internal linking between articles, and your on-page SEO will be the least of your worries. Think about a premium theme if you decide to do more of a repeat reader blog, or some other "flagship" blog, rather than one geared toward search traffic. Good luck!

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Abledragon

14 years ago

The short answer to your question is 'yes' - they do make a difference.

Here's an article where I discuss how themes will affect your site's performance in the search engines:

http://www.wealthydragon.com/blog/20...earch-results/

Cheers,

Martin.

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Leslie B

14 years ago

Are they worth it? Yes

Do you really need them? Depends

You can create great blogs and have them optimized for ranking in the search engines with free themes, but you'll need to take a close look to make sure you have "clean" themes (themes without too much hidden links in them).

I started out with only using free themes, but after a while I started investing in some premium themes and a lot of my sites got a boost in ranking once I changed them. Could be coincidence, but if it happens with almost every site, I don't think so.

Now I either use a premium theme, or I create one myself.

Leslie

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SeanIM 14 years ago

I've used WP for years to hit nice results online...there is only ONE premium theme I recommend going with -- Thesis

It's uber SEO friendly, AND I hired an outsourcer to make the design exactly as required by one of my clients -- an oncology surgeon in a major US city...and they're very happy with the design and SEO results so far.

:thumbsup

S
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GeorgR.

14 years ago

I love thesis and the occasional "premium" theme - but to be honest:

NO, THEY ARE NOT WORTH IT.

Why?

a) There are zillions of free themes out there, some w/ far more features
b) You can get the same SEO functionality with almost any free theme PLUS SEO plugin like "all in one seo"
c) Thesis is way too "complex" and newbie unfriendly, simply adding a header can take hours and it needs PHP and CSS knowledge. Price <----> Value ratio is rather bad, IMO. I myself am a programmer and i needed hours the last time simple adding a header image the way i like it.

The "strength" of WP is that almost everything is free and opensource, and a $147++ theme simply doesn't fit in there. Thesis doesn't lay golden eggs either.

Thesis is GOOD but it shouldn't cost more than $25 in my opinion.

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GeorgR.

14 years ago

They insert post titles and post tags inside the body classes thus creating keyword density.

ok now you totally blow my mind because i cant follow you.

Each "post" is in the <body> anyway...and i just checked some other themes and the titles/tags are about in the same order and created in the same way using DIV elements.
Sorry..whatever you read there about a "magic" way how thesis is supposedly using a "trick" is...bizarre.

The thesis people should rather work on user friendlyness and make possible what OTHER themes can do for ages already - and NOT legitimate pricing with bizarre stories about keyword stuffing using CSS or other fantasy stories.

I love thesis since it produces very clean sites and because of basic funtionality and robustness + the fact you dont need a SEO plugin.

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Harrison Ortega

14 years ago

[DELETED]

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GeorgR.

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Harrison Ortega

Body classes = div classes/ css classes

E.g.

Code:

   <div id="post-1687" class="post-1687 post hentry category-seo  tag-internet-marketing-resources tag-meta-tags teaser">

and:

Code:

<div class="post-1698 post hentry category-wordpress tag-blogging tag-wordpress-blogs teaser" id="post-1698">

hmm... bizarre stories!!!

How do you know google reads those even? I still think it's weird since the CONTENT is what gives keyword density...why should the class name matter?

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Harrison Ortega

14 years ago

[DELETED]

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Krisism

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Harrison Ortega

Yes, many people think that only CONTENT gives keyword density. But I believe that is wrong. A common example it is inserting keywords inside the image alt tag.
Now as I have said I am no SEO guru, so I would like to hear the other side of the story.

Keyword density is a result of on-page factors, body content, headings, meta tags - but css classes do not play a part. Also - keyword density, though important, is not the only ranking factor and would not result in one theme being "uber" seo friendly compared to the others.

There are several factors that could cause the difference - likely a combination of multiple factors though if it is a noticeable difference.

In this day and age, search engines use "load time" and server speed as one major indicator of value - and thesis is a very clean and fast loading theme. Additionally, it may be compliant with new css/xhtml or mobile standards that have changed recently.

Bottom line - any theme can be equally seo-friendly with the right knowledge and tweaks.

Food for thought: When keyword density is TOO high, your site is at risk of receiving a penalty by Google. (Typically a 20-30% threshold depending on total volume of keywords)

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GeorgR. 14 years ago

Originally Posted by Krisism

Bottom line - any theme can be equally seo-friendly with the right knowledge and tweaks.

I agree, it's really merely the fact that Thesis has those SEO options "built in"..while with another theme you would simply use a plugin, but the result is the same.

HOWEVER - i do not want to hide the fact that many free themes indeed make big "SEO Mistakes"...best example those themes where the site name is always in H1, nonsense like that.

But at this point there are indeed many very GOOD free themes out.
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SageSound

14 years ago

If you spend much time looking at the free themes in Wordpress.org, you can start to see how many of them are all derived from a few common ones by simply changing the graphical elements and maybe the CSS tags.

Premium themes are usually more complex, based on a unique framework, have a more flexible architecture, and frequently work much better with widgets. There are still lots of free themes that don't work well, if at all, with widgets.

WP 2.8 introduced a new widget interface, and it simplifies the heck out of the way themes are built. Look at newer themes, and properly written premium themes, and compare them with most other free themes that were simply hacked to work with the new widget interfaces -- you can usually see the difference without much effort.

Originally Posted by Harrison Ortega

Yes, many people think that only CONTENT gives keyword density. But I believe that is wrong. A common example it is inserting keywords inside the image alt tag.
Now as I have said I am no SEO guru, so I would like to hear the other side of the story.

You don't have to be an SEO guru to understand the value of ALT elements on IMG tags.

You merely need to be blind.

Which is precisely why the search engines DO pay attention to them.

For the most part, CSS attributes are invisible to SE spiders, from what I've heard.

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humbledmarket

Banned 14 years ago

Originally Posted by fskcramer

I was wondering if paying money for premium wordpress themes are worth it. They say SEO ready and such but do they make any real difference?

It really depends sometimes on those theme site their prices are unbelievable.

With the same amount you pay for a premium theme I can get my designer to design a completely custom template for use of my site only.

It really depends what features are provided with the theme and the pricing. It can give you a huge advantage or it can be a big rip off for you.

All the Best,
Benjamin

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affiliated survivor

14 years ago

What about the argument that Premium Themes get updated whenever Wordpress gets a new update? Free themes will not be updated and therefore may form a security risk?

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sbucciarel

Banned 14 years ago

I use only premium themes in the sites I sell. One huge advantage to working with say ... Woo themes (one of my favorites) is that they upgrade along with Wordpress upgrades so your theme is always going to work.

I rarely see a free theme that I really like.

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GeorgR.

14 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

I use only premium themes in the sites I sell. One huge advantage to working with say ... Woo themes (one of my favorites) is that they upgrade along with Wordpress upgrades so your theme is always going to work.

I rarely see a free theme that I really like.

One of my best #1 sites in Google i custom made the Theme(s) with Artisteer. I still use a relatively old theme which i didnt update often, and i already updated WORDPRESS and plugins many times without a problem.

Its not the case that you update WP and then your theme stops working EXCEPT the themes where you pay $147

Come on...

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sbucciarel

Banned 14 years ago

Originally Posted by GeorgR.

One of my best #1 sites in Google i custom made the Theme(s) with Artisteer. I still use a relatively old theme which i didnt update often, and i already updated WORDPRESS and plugins many times without a problem.

Its not the case that you update WP and then your theme stops working EXCEPT the themes where you pay $147

Come on...

I'll take the regular updates and support that I get with premium themes. I've seen more than one person post a thread in there about porn links and other bad crap coded into their "free themes".

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Igor Kheifets

14 years ago

The only premium theme I can recommend for an internet marketer
is Thesis Theme. I can't say anything about other premium themes out there.

However, when someone says that the theme is SEO ready and such, it doesn't
make any real difference because there are plugins to help you make any theme
SEO friendly.

Such plugins are: HeadSpace, All in one SEO, SEO Booster Pro, SEO Doctor and more.

Igor

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pavionjsl

14 years ago

No free themes are way uglier and harder to work with and are not updated and I like that extra effort. Whens the last time you got something free worth more then free?

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Intrepreneur 14 years ago

I much prefer free premium themes.

When you go paid premium it seems there are lots of unecessary features that are sure to get on your nerves at some point. This jQuery fad is also damn annoying because it's ruining web design in most cases. You only have to look at the themes on Theme Forest to see all the pointless jQuery themes.
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GeorgR.

14 years ago

Originally Posted by pavionjsl

No free themes are way uglier and harder to work with and are not updated and I like that extra effort. Whens the last time you got something free worth more then free?

Very funny

You obviously dont work with wordpress much. By the way..check out the "Atahualpa" theme...or any of the 900.000 other free themes out there.

And yes...because Thesis is "...so easy to work with", right?

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MrDay

14 years ago

Originally Posted by pavionjsl

No free themes are way uglier and harder to work with and are not updated and I like that extra effort. Whens the last time you got something free worth more then free?

I am mostly working in the "make money" niches currently, and some of my best competitors that are on the very first page in the serp's for many of the "make money" keywords use 100% FREE themes or templates. Some of these sites rake in 1000's of dollars a month, using FREE themes or templates.

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bgmacaw

14 years ago

Originally Posted by fskcramer

I was wondering if paying money for premium wordpress themes are worth it. They say SEO ready and such but do they make any real difference?

For SEO purposes, they don't really make any significant difference. Most are well coded with on-site SEO in mind but so are a lot of free themes. Free plugins, such as Platinum SEO and All-in-One SEO, can also help. But, at the end of the day, what matters in terms of SEO are your links and your content.

Some premium themes come with a lot of built-in options to help you manage the look and feel of a site without you having to know much CSS/HTML/PHP. If you don't know this stuff, if you shudder at the idea of changing out a header graphic, this might be a factor for you.

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wiseleo

14 years ago

I use premium themes.

They are more likely to look good out of the box. Additionally, premium themes typically come with multiple page-specific templates feature enabled and configured. Your sales page can look very different from the rest of your site.

Premium theme authors test their themes with major premium plugins and can basically provide you with support when things aren't working.

Join the War Room, there is a free premium theme there called Privateer, for a few more days at least. Very robust product and yes it sells for over $100 for non-members.

I personally use Flexsqueeze and Abundance. Abundance is a WSO and was just updated to version 6.0 - $10 for single user, $35 for developer license. Stop thinking http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...iors-only.html

A very cute (in my opinion) free theme is Azul. WordPress › Azul Free WordPress Themes I use it on several sites not yet converted to my premium themes (I own an unlimited domains license for a reason

)

Premium themes often come with tutorials and user guides.

Think of themes as complete web applications. They contain a lot of custom PHP code in addition to a pretty look and feel.

So, I just gave you two options for good premium themes. One is free with War Room membership, and one is $10.

It really beats spending the time trying to find a good free theme. Trust me on that part.

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LibertyUnc

14 years ago

Originally Posted by wiseleo

Join the War Room, there is a free premium theme there called Privateer, for a few more days at least. Very robust product and yes it sells for over $100 for non-members.
...
So, I just gave you two options for good premium themes. One is free with War Room membership, and one is $10.

Being the developer of the Privateer, I'd like to correct the above and add my own thoughts on premium themes.

You can get a copy via the war room, but doing so is no guarantee of future updates or any other content ( such as plugins ) that I provide to those who have purchased a copy. Still, I believe 1.6 to be fairly solid and perfectly usable.

Why a premium theme?

People who are good with php, css, and html can simply create their own themes or find ones that look good and modify them to suit their tastes.

However, many people are not good with all three and a good quality theme will have things built in at the code level that other themes would require multiple plugins to do...which slows down server response times significantly if you aren't comfortable editing templates to add support for your plugins inline rather than using filters and action hooks.

Another possible reason for using a premium theme is that you might want some high end looks that most free themes lack...or a design type theme that lets you build a lot of different looks without having to constantly editing templates.

There are some quality premium themes out there that can save one a lot of time ( and/or money ) on development or design...and for those who put up a lot of sites they can be worth way more than the price tag.

That being said, no one needs a premium theme, but for many it can be a good investment when one considers time vs money. Depending on how much money you make doing your own thing each day, you might choose to spend a bit of cash to get a theme that does what you want out of the box rather than taking days, weeks, or months and/or hiring a designer and/or developer to get the look you want.

If you are flat broke and have nothing coming in, a premium theme might be very unwise. If you make decent money, it might make more sense to spend $30 to $300 on a good theme...as doing so could save you a lot of time in the long run.

Truthfully, if you are a good php programmer and/or are going to be running a site that gets heavy traffic, then it would be better to simply build a good base render class in php and build your site with that as such sites have _way_ less overhead than wordpress does.

There is no one best theme out there, to my current knowledge, but there are a lot of good ones that may or may not suit ones purposes...and some of them are free.

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CanuckWarrior

14 years ago

Originally Posted by LibertyUnc

Truthfully, if you are a good php programmer and/or are going to be running a site that gets heavy traffic, then it would be better to simply build a good base render class in php and build your site with that as such sites have _way_ less overhead than wordpress does.

You know, this probably explains why (no matter how hard I try or what WP theme I use) I have yet to get a WP site to load anywhere near as fast as my XSitePro sites.

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LibertyUnc

14 years ago

Originally Posted by CanuckWarrior

You know, this probably explains why (no matter how hard I try or what WP theme I use) I have yet to get a WP site to load anywhere near as fast as my XSitePro sites.

Most likely.

WordPress loads a lot of things for every page built...so even with the simple default themes wordpress is going to be an unlikely candidate for a high traffic site...unless you get a solid cache plugin to add to the mix.

It really doesn't take much to build a simple php render class with a basic mysql database to generate entire sites for you which include search capability, rss feeds, and everything else that WordPress has to offer...if you are a good php programmer who understands databases.

Then again, most people are not good php programmers with a solid knowledge of databases...

But wordpress together with a good cache plugin can actually be nice and responsive...even under heavy traffic.

~Tony

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sluxent 14 years ago

you could also look them online and find free premium ones, won't have to pay..
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bgmacaw

14 years ago

Originally Posted by LibertyUnc

Truthfully, if you are a good php programmer and/or are going to be running a site that gets heavy traffic, then it would be better to simply build a good base render class in php and build your site with that as such sites have _way_ less overhead than wordpress does.

Exactly what I do a lot of the time.

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MrDay

14 years ago

I've purchased several premium wp themes. I need to quit doing that, I don't even use half of them.

As for SEO, none of them really make to much difference except maybe the Thesis theme.

If you're on a tight budget, then you probably can find a FREE WP theme that would be sufficient, since there's so many out there.

Or get a premium WP theme that is universal, so you can easily customize it. Like "Thesis theme" that way you can use it for more than just one niche or site.

Woo themes is pretty cool too. They have FREE WP themes and you can try their themes out for yourself before you make a purchase. Right now they are doing a special 3 for 1... Sweet deal!

cheers!

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JordanFrancis

14 years ago

You get what you pay for, most of the
time.

Premium themes often include support,
too. Which is a factor to consider.

...

With free themes, you might want to check
that whoever coded it knew what they were
doing. Hey, don't assume it's gonna be tight.

So is Premium worth it?

Yes and no. Both are valid answers and will
be justified by a reasonable mind

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Jamian

14 years ago

Sure there is some advantages but there are plenty of free themes are working just as good as premium paid themes, if you want to feel knowing that you using premium themes thats fine or just get the job done by using free solutions its all up to though.

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blogrev

14 years ago

I been working with wordpress last five years and feel using free ones has been just as effective as using paid versions. So stick with free and optimize through your plugins.

Take Care

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website design

14 years ago

Depends on your skill level as a design/coder

...and your product/customer

If you know how to code then do it yourself.

If you're not into coding then search for free themes. If one fits your product/customer then go free.

Otherwise look into premium and if you can run with it straight out of the box then go for it (would pay for itself through not paying to customize template).

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Fairuz Talib

14 years ago

If you're going for premium theme, make sure you check out the vendor's support
site/forum . I've purchased a premium theme that allows me to choose different layouts
based on pre-designed templates, but adding/editing post was a nightmare, so I visited
the support site and figured out that many customers were not happy with the theme.
And I ended up keeping the theme in my hard disk.

I visited another vendor, and their forum was lively, and the creator himself was actively
participating and solving people's problem, so I purchased the developer's license, and
yes, I'm happy with my purchase.

Fairuz Talib

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magnificent

14 years ago

Their price range $15 -$35, not expensive, and if they have support system, i personally recommend you to buy premium themes.

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kmckillop

14 years ago

The old saying you get what you pay for is true IMO. I've always gone the premium route. Now I will say, with the SEO plugins etc. I don't imagine there is any HUGE advantage to having them for SEO reasons over free ones. I'm sure people can technically list them, but I'd buy them for their aesthetics than I would for SEO purposes.

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Spot the Ball 14 years ago

Having played around with dozens of themes I can safely say PrimePress Free WordPress Theme | WordPress Themes Monster is by far my favorite free WP theme.

Why ? Because it is so easy to customize (if you know basic html or what can be deleted or added to) and once you do you have an extremely clean and fresh looking site that is very easy on your visitors eyes with little distractions and clean lines.

I love this theme, it looks very nice with minor tweaking and a few splashes of colour/images in your posts.
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Ilya Feynberg

14 years ago

Depends on your version of worth it and if working with the themes even suites you to begin with. I know plenty of big time folk that run their blogs on literally the very basic default WP templates and have no SEO problems what so ever.

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Steven Wagenheim 14 years ago

Depends on several things. Mind you, this is just my opinion.

1. Will the theme make your job easier?
2. Will it get visitors to stay at your blog longer?
3. Will it attract more buyers because you are taken more seriously?
4. Will it help you rank higher?

If you can definitively answer yes to any of these questions, then I'd say
yes, they're worth it. If you can't, they're not worth it.

You only spend money on things that are going to make a difference to
your bottom line.
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Sarah Harvey

14 years ago

Well I keep up to date with trends and noticed that Thesis supposedly is the latest thing. Yet I want to see the difference in comparison with some other good themes out there?

To be blunt Thesis is boring and has a generic look that looks like everything else. Anyone with a bit of brain will see that it is a theme created for a hungry market that really want to believe it's the next best thing to Smarties. Nothing beats Smarties by the way!

Unfortunately if people just look a bit more and take the time to look around, you will find fantastic gems hidden on the web.

If people are serious about their business/website, then take the time to be a bit unique. I am all for paying for a premium theme. I have paid for a premium theme membership myself and the decision came after having looked at several premium themes out there.

I had to look at several factors:

Cost- Was it within my budget? If I decided to purchase a more expensive membership from one of the competitors, would it be viable in terms of revenue gained/lost?

Design- Was it easy to install and customize the look? How hard is it to change some elements of the theme? Would I need a designer and if I did, how much would it cost me? Could I design my own logo and easily upload it in the admin side?

Support- What support is available to me? Did extra support cost? Was there a forum where I could interact with other users that has purchased the theme and get some feedback/support? How long does it take for a support ticket to be answered?

License- What license do I get with the theme? Does it allow me to keep the theme once I stop the membership? Can I sell the theme with a site already customized with content?

These are just some questions I ask myself when looking at premium themes.

Just because 24,000 people like one theme doesn't mean it is a success or that people like the design.

In my opinion you need to have a good theme, but one that looks good and will attract the readers attention.

I am much more likely to remember a well-designed forum or blog then one that doesn't look good. So you need to have a good balance between design and functionality.

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cryptone24

14 years ago

There are some good free, clean and attractive themes out there. Spend your money on a link building service.

Get a few good plugins and one for SEO and you can have some nice looking and SEO optimized sites.

I like WPSimpy theme. There are some other good clean ones.

I also enjoy themes with less clutter so people can focus on my content.

That said, you can get a premium theme once your sites takes off, so as to get more of the look and feel you are going for.

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stevecane

14 years ago

If you want a quick easy and professional looking theme then Yes... Thesis is great once you learn how to customise it.

Ste

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tyroneshum

14 years ago

Haven't used any premium theme yet and have always been to blogging themes and thesis since they're also easier to manage for me and my graphic designer. Well, I heard a lot of positive feedbacks with premium themes and I think it could be worth it as well and it depends upon great selection as well.

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paulie888

14 years ago

It all depends on your intended purpose for the blog. If it's just a casual personal site you're building, then by all means knock yourself out searching for the thousands of free themes out there. On the other hand, if you want to build blogs efficiently that are already optimized in terms of layout for conversion, SEO and quick modification, then stick with a really good paid theme (the one that comes to mind is Thesis). If you're going to be building multiple blogs that all need to be SEO optimized, you really want to stick with one good paid theme consistently. Otherwise you'll be wasting a lot of time trying to figure things out in terms of layout/changes/customization, and this will absolutely kill your productivity.

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Itmoln 14 years ago

I think that some premium themes (mainly Wordpress themes) are way too "bloggy" and tend to loose it's professional look and feel when used for other purposes than a blogg. But one theme that actually stands apart from the others it WP Remix, I bought it (single license) for a site job and as I looked at the way it is built, I can do pretty much any type of homepage with it as long as I follow basic html, css and php code.
Try to google for it as I can't remember the homepage of the theme itself.

/Itmoln
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Arun Pal Singh

14 years ago

The difference in the look, ease of use, support and feeling of uniqueness makes it worth for me.

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mikea262

14 years ago

I have only used a premium theme for specialized applications like a "shopping cart" type of blog. PM me if you are looking for a good one. I have found that imputing the products gets a wide range of keywords I never would have thought of.

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zachary0611

14 years ago

I use the free wp-cache plugin

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Clint Butler 14 years ago

Here are the three primary ones I use

Thesis
Ultimate Blogger Theme
and Privateer

Thesis is a very advanced there, and pretty hard for me to get right. It takes some time to set up and if you don't know what your doing you can mess it up pretty quick.

UBT is a pretty simple theme, however, I have problems changing things in it like the header for example.

Privateer is by far the best of the three and I will tell you why. One the manual is easy to understand, even for a dunderhead like myself, and setup is pretty much plug and play. The SEO is great, I havn't linked to it or even created a sitemap for submission the theme does it all on its own resulting in 54 uniques a day, 194 pageviews, and tons of spider traffic. (Doesn't sound like a lot but considering the site is maybe two or three weeks old and I don't promote it at all, I credit Privateer).
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metas

14 years ago

I just recently started using Wordpress. I had always had my sites created for me, but the lag time on updates and so on was driving me crazy... you know 2-3 days to change a line or two, not good.

Anyway, I did quite a bit of research and believe that Premium themes are worth it (and some results that kind of prove it).

Anyway, I didn't notice anyone recommending www.elegantthemes.com. Personally, I think they're the best. The charge a flat annual rate ($20) and offer dozens of super high quality theme and as others have pointed out, support is critical and I get a response within 24 hours on their massive forum.

I highly recommend them.

Best!

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Are premium themes worth it?

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