Most of you will agree that it’s getting increasingly hard to separate your blog from the competition. Starting a blog can be overwhelming and there are many different things to consider when designing your site. One of the best (and easiest) decisions you can make to help your blog stand out from others is to use a premium WordPress theme. There are many reasons to choose a premium theme and in this post I’m going to share some of the best blog themes to use with WordPress.
When I first switched to a premium theme, I noticed an immediate difference in time on my site and the number of new sign-ups I got to my e-mail list. In this post, I’m going to share with you five reasons you should be using a premium WordPress blogging theme, so you can get similar results.
Premium WordPress Themes Give you the Technical Support You Need
Free WordPress themes usually limit their support to online forums, which are not always the most helpful. You might find an answer to your question (it might take a while) or you might not– it depends on the developer and the other people using the theme and contributing to the forum. When you purchase a premium WordPress theme, you get online support from the developer included in the price of your theme.
In my experience, premium themes also come with comprehensive theme documentation that helps you with every step of setting up your new theme and customizing it as you wish. This is SO HELPFUL if you are not as technically savvy, but want to be able to tweak your theme as needed!
I have had to contact the developers of premium themes I have used, and I have always received a speedy and comprehensive answer to my questions. Keep in mind that they can only provide support for the theme as is, so if you change your stylesheet or do other things to manipulate the theme, they may help you.
Because free WordPress themes are free, they are not obligated to respond to support queries or offer warranties, so you’re on your own if it doesn’t work correctly!
Get New Features and Updates for Your Theme Delivered to You Automatically
Premium WordPress themes are updated regularly to ensure that the theme is working properly, and occasionally new features are added. Since you pay for the theme, these added features are added as a part of the purchase price.
You Have the Freedom to Customize Your Site to Fit Your Brand (and it’s Easy!)
Premium WordPress themes offer SO MANY more ways to customize your blog. Whether it’s shortcode (to make adding features easier), buttons, landing pages, opt-in forms, different layouts and more, you have a lot more choices that allow you to make your blog unique.
Don’t Look Like Every Other Blog Out There!
As I mentioned above, there are many more ways to customize your site with a premium WordPress theme. Additionally, free WordPress themes are used much more often than premium themes, so you will see them on a lot of different sites. If you want your blog to stand out, a premium WordPress theme is a better option.
There are premium WordPress themes for every possible type of website, whether you are writing a book review blog or setting up a site for a restaurant! I’ve shared some of my favorite premium themes below!
Best Blog Themes WordPress
These premium WordPress themes work with the Genesis framework. Once you’ve purchased it, you can add as many child themes as you would like!
Bluchic
Bluchic has some very beautiful, feminine premium WordPress themes. I have been very impressed with how user-friendly the installation process is, thanks in large part to the very detailed tutorials that Bluchic provides. Bluchic will guide you step by step from uploading the theme to putting on the finishing touches like widgets.
They even have accompanying YouTube videos to show you where things are on your WordPress dashboard. Another huge benefit is how SEO-friendly they are. Their themes come with schema.org microdata built-in, so your content can be read and indexed easily by search engines.
Pretty Darn Cute
If you like the clean, minimalist design of this blog, you will love Pretty Darn Cute Design who crafted it! If you have experience tinkering with themes, you can customize the themes easily. You can also pay a fee to have them upload your logo/photo banner, change fonts, colors, etc. all within a 24-hour time frame! They were very easy to work with and super responsive.
Restored 316
Restored 316 offers clean, modern themes that are timeless. They are WooCommerce compatible, so it’s another great option if you want to sell items on your blog. I love that they even have a quiz that helps you decide which of their themes would work best for your site!
The themes above work on self-hosted WordPress blogs and they are easy to set up with this step by step guide to starting a self-hosted WordPress blog.
If you are new to blogging, you may also want to check out How to Become a Blogger – 7 Tips from an Expert.
Thanks for this post Jessica! I did not know that I could get online support from the developer included in the purchase price. Nice tip!
You’re welcome! The technical support is such a benefit! 🙂
technical support is HUGE! I’m clueless!
~ http://www.momsavestimemoneysanity.com ~
Thanks for the valuable post! Clicked to get notified of new posts x
This is really good information! I am a new blogger, so tips like these really help!
These are great points! I have been considering upgrading for a while and I think you just helped me decide to get it done!
I totally agree a premium theme is the way to go — I wrote a post about the exact same topic haha!