Should I spend the money on a PAID wordpress theme?

Then, wait for the right theme from the market. Try some other blogs to check what theme they are using and get the similar ones for you.

No, it is not totally necessary to buy a theme. Some sites that get a boat load of traffic are some of the ugliest you've ever seen. So just sit tight until you find one you like.

Not at all necessary to spend the money on a custom or paid theme.
If you decide to do so, like has been said above, find what you want and don't assume a paid theme will make you money, or better off.

That said, if you do want a paid theme at some point, consider spending that little bit more and get the developer license. You can then use your purchase on multiple sites, client sites and quite often developer rights come with many extras - Depending on the site/creator you purchase from anyway.

The one I use comes with plugins, themes and more for a very reasonable rate at the developer level. it is an annual license but I consider it an investment. They do have an offer too of lifetime... nice deal.

Themes aren't just about looks.

Some of the themes out there add a whole new level of functionality to your WP Install. Often these themes can replace plugins for certain tasks.

Its all going to boil down to "what do you want your WP Install to do?"
Once you have a firm idea of what you want to achieve then some of the paid themes are worth the investment.

Having said that I am yet to find 1 theme that will do everything I need so take a good look around before buying.

Hope that helps

ODA

I agree it's not essential, there are some good free themes but if you are looking for ultimate customizability i suggest you look at Headway (It's basically drag and drop)...

Themes can be changed pretty easily. For a new (or even an old blog) the focus must be on developing content that users like/need and promoting the heck out of it.

No one visits a blog or tweets about a blog because of the pretty colors. They tweet about a blog or share it on FB or come everyday or sign up for a list because of the compelling content. For that, any of the nice free ones can get you started. But remember that every minute we spend looking for perfect themes or other such things is not helping get eyeballs on the content we've written.

Mark

If you do decide to buy a theme, go with Theme Forest. Best themes I've seen online hands down.

there are tons and tons of free ones out there

Not something you need to do but if you find one that does all you want then great.
I use quite a lot of free themes but have also paid themes on other sites too so it all
depends on what you need it to do. if a free one works for your needs and you like the way it looks stick with it untill you find one that you really want.
With so many out there just a matter of searching a while

There probably is a theme you want already but you just haven't found it. No need to wait for the right one. Just search harder. There are thousands of themes available.

Over the years I have seen many good free and paid themes. To me it is a personal preference. Whatever you decide make sure it is a responsive theme and is mobile friendly. You can check that out here: https://www.google.com/webmasters/to...bile-friendly/

No, it is not totally necessary to buy a theme. If you decide to buy it I suggest you studiopress.

Once you are branded and you are rolling with sales I would recommend that you do such a thing but just starting out save your money. Focus on taking notes as to what you want from your new site and than find a programmer that can make all your dreams come true.

Not necessary. When I started out, free themes were pretty crap. Now there are a ton of aweome, responsive, fast themes with nice white space. Just make sure whatever theme you get is fast and responsive - both are very important. Do a Google search for "fastset free WordPress themes 2015" and you'll find some. Just a word of warning. If you download something outside of WordPress.org, use he theme checker plugin to make sure no nasties lurk in it, and use virustotal.com to check it out too. Try a few and use GDaddy's free P3 plugin (in he WP repository) to scan for the theme speed and any plugins that are slowing it down and make decisions based on that. Google don't like sites that take longer than 4 seconds to load (according to a youtube vid about SEO they released recently) so try to hit the 2-3 second load time and you are laughing!

I invested $99 in Genesis framework and a child theme both from studiopress. Not particularly cheap but they are built for speed, stability and SEO. I can use them on as many sites as I want and I get lifetime support. I researched other options from other vendors but a lot of custom themes seem to be extremely bloated.

If you can afford it, then yes, if you can't (there is no shame in this), then just keep looking for a free theme for now. With free themes you can often modify them a fair bit to suit your needs.

IMO there is nothing wrong with using a free theme to start, then updating later on if you can.

I don't know what kind of blog you run but if you are newbie I advise you to choose a free wordpress theme. In internet the wise recommand that if you do not earn money don't spend more. Most of the time it is easy to newbie to lost money in internet marketing. Be vigilant.

Olympio

I usually use a paid theme or one of the standard series - Twenty ten, eleven, twelve. etc.
Having said that It took me many years and many purchases to find a set of themes that I could use properly. In the end it comes down to how much you want to learn the ins and outs of Wordpress. I have now settled on Thrive Themes as they are very flexible and have good support.
As other people have said, you need to look around and clarify exactly what you want your site (s) to do.
Good Luck with your search.

KenJ

My suggestion would be to...

1. Get a designer on Fiverr that will create a design template that actually you like. You could get this anywhere between 5 to 50 bucks from my experiences.

2. Take the PSD from the designer and get a programmer to turn that PSD into a responsive design wordpress template. 15 to 50 bucks from my experiences.

3. Upload the code the developer gave you to your hosting provider.

This is very important because it will teach you the process of wordpress setup.

Just a thought.

Mark

If it is one you want, then........Yes

If it is one you do not want, then.......No

Very simple, you have to do a little thinking for yourself

al

I never fooled with it and did just fine.


Robert Andrew

Any way, its not necessary to spend money on a theme that you don't find accurate. I advise you to review your plan first and know what is your objective exactly.

If you know a little CSS you can customize them a bit and make them look the way you want. For example, here is a good free theme: https://siteorigin.com/theme/vantage...n=demo#vantage

One client said he wanted a Wordpress website ('cause he has some knowledge of using WP) but didn't want to pay much so just by editing the CSS (created a child theme for it) it looks like this Nova Scotia Septic System Specialists

Doesn't take much to do a little something like this.

Regards,
Steve MacLellan

The are a ton of good clean free themes you can use. The "Admired" theme can be a good one to use for a affiliate site.

Use a free one until you find one that suits your needs or until you can afford getting a customized one.

You don't have to, there are plenty of free themes that you can use for your blog.


Best regards,

CPA Beyond

What kind of features are you looking for in a theme?
Wide layout - boxed layout
home page categories
2 column - 3 column

I always make a list of the primary features I need before I go off and buy one. I usually end up spending about an hour or 2 looking at themes before I make a buying decision.

Once you buy one, you will find others that are more enticing.

If you are starting and tight on budget, use a free theme, and manage it to the best.

What you like might not be what your visitors like.

Best Regards,

Heru Muskita

As a rule, it is not necessary to get a paid wordpress theme to start your blog. If you have looked and found nothing that suits you taste then you can just settle with the free theme. Later on, when you found a paid theme that would fit your preferences then by all means purchase it.

No, it is not necessary to buy the paid theme. But you can use, if you want. there is no problem. It is fully depends on your mind. There are many people who are using the paid theme, on the other hand there are many people who are using the free theme. Thanks.

The looks of a website are important, but you don't necessarily have to spend money on a theme. You could first look through the free ones, and only then start browsing the paid ones.
Also, if you still don't find anything you like you could get a custom made theme just for you. It's gonna cost you a few hundred bucks though.

its definitely not needed, but if you do come across a theme that you know or feel will help generate more leads or just help you feel overall better about your site presentation, then go for it!

When I first started using WordPress I used a free theme called Graphene, which has loads of customizable features, is very well supported and is continually being updated.

I used Graphene to set up sites for clients, affiliate sites and to sell my own products. I also used Graphene as my demo theme when I ran seminars and training workshops for local businesses on how to grow their business using WordPress. Part of what made the presentations so exciting to business owners was realizing the power and flexibility of WordPress and that they didn't need to spend thousands of dollars on web design or wait around for weeks before launching their website,

What I would tell my clients and workshop attendees, was to not get hung up on web design when starting out, but to use a theme like Graphene instead to just get their web presence up and running as quickly as possible and focus on publishing great content, getting traffic to their site and improving their conversion rates.

Once they had started building up traffic, felt more comfortable using WordPress, knew what they wanted improved or customized on their site, or just wanted the assurance of getting support because things were getting more serious with their business online, then, I would suggest they spend time browsing around for a premium theme they really liked, pay the $30 or so for the theme license, and upgrade the look of their site.

Personally, I never bothered to change the theme on my affiliate sites and only switched to a paid theme several years later for some of my newer online ventures. I recently sold one of my best performing affiliate sites which had been running on the Graphene theme since 2006

I would definitely invest in a good theme as you receive all the support and other help from the Author. The paid themes also have had more time and resource put into them for a better user experience as well as more added customisability.

I think it is not necessary to purchase theme. you can search in Google about free theme... there are lots of free themes available.. Good Luck

What's your criteria for the "right" theme?

When you are clear about that it becomes a simple matter of looking at any theme through the lens of your criteria. No different to buying a car or selecting any other item above all the available options for that matter.

Keep it simple and don't get paralyzed by analysis because you won't have anything if you do and a theme won't matter then.

I'm sure you can find an appropriate theme through the WP offerings. Good Luck!

First note down all of your business and functional requirements that your blog should fulfill.

If those requirements are fulfilled by a paid theme then only it is wise to spend money on it. Look for alternatives if you are going for paid theme as the theme you chose must fulfill almost 90% of both kinds of requirements.

I don't think it is necessary to buy a theme.

Do a Google search on Free Wordpress Themes and there is a host of sites that list the free ones - saves you ploughing through Wordpress trying to find free only.

In case you consider buying a premium theme, I highly recommend the canvas theme of woothemes.

As the name implies: it’s a blank slate, ready for your customization.

Everything is there ready to be turned on

There are so many features built into Canvas. As we build out WPU, we’ll get to them in more detail, but for now, even a list will give you an idea of the power and flexibility of Canvas.

Layout: choose sidebar left, sidebar right, multiple sidebars, even change the width.

Page templates: slider, blog, pages, archives, sitemaps, “Business” layout (large slider), “Magazine” layout (variety of layouts to view recent posts), etc.

Responsive design: built right in, the site looks good no matter the device: smart phone, large monitor, etc. You can also turn responsive off.

The best part? It just keeps getting better.
The WOO Ninjas just keep updating, improving, and maintaining WOO Canvas. It’s their flagship theme by a longshot and it gets the most attention, updates and love. Canvas has the most posts (and answers) in the forums, the most updates to its changelog, and the most features. You can then add WOO Dojo’s features, WOO Commerce, any slider, plugin or styling you want and still under the hood you’ll know you have a solid foundation that will keep things oiled and working.

I could go on and on … in fact, I will. But I’ll add more posts listing Canvas’s features in more detail and link to them from this page. If you haven’t checked out WOO Themes Canvas, at least give it a look and compare apples and apples to what you were thinking of using. Chances are, Canvas can do the job–and then some.

Only if you need to build a very huge and various website.
Otherwise a free theme is enought!

If you are using wordpress then why dont you look throught the free themes they have inside wordpress? The only time to really upgrade your theme to a paid is if you need more of a customized site. I have some wordpress blogs that I either need to hire a coder for or buy high end theme, but...

I have traffic coming to the site and I have been editing that one theme for over a year...

Get started don't worry about the theme or exactly how it looks.

It's more about the content and getting traffic.

Once you get decent traffic and you monetize then invest into your theme to make it the way you need.

Build out the content and traffic first, then over time change the theme how you like.

I see this alot, people spend way to much time on the right theme and never get going.

Not at all. I've created SEVERAL affiliate blogs and used free themes. With more traffic coming from mobile, the simpler the better. Google "free premium wordpress themes" or "free responsive wordpress themes" and you'll find plenty to get you started until you make money.

It´s all up to you, and is not necessary.
You can continue using the free one, and once you find the perfect theme for you you can make the changes, it doesn´t have to be premiun, the only different are that the premiun ones have more supports and more updates.