If you are not a web designer, and you are creating a WordPress website, how do you know whether you need to purchase a free or premium theme? Here are three questions to consider when choosing between free and premium themes.
What’s the big deal about being able to update your theme?
Because the web is ever changing and growing, themes that aren’t updated consistently can break over time. Sometimes web developers design a free theme, and then move on to a new one. Good questions to ask:
- When was this theme last updated?
- Will the designer continue to update the theme as the web and WordPress updates.
What’s the big deal about being able to customize your theme?
Your business, thoughts and ideas are uniquely you. Here are some good questions to ask. Can I:
- Change the colors of the fonts or background?
- Choose what I want to highlight?
- Add my own logo?
What flexibility would I need?
For example:
- A rental website may need a booking calendar that a real estate website doesn’t.
- On the other hand, a real estate website would want potential clients to be able to search through MLS listings that a rental website might not need.
- A construction company website might want to add a portfolio of their work, where a service company might not.
Depending on your business, you might need to add specific functionality to your website.
Now, let’s look at the differences between free and premium themes:
Free
Can’t always update
Can’t always customize
Very Basic Functionality
Premium
Can be updated
Can be customized
Much more flexible
I recommend purchasing a premium theme. I use premium themes developed by StudioPress that work on the Genesis framework. StudioPress is one of the top theme publishers for the Genesis framework. The Genesis framework is a widely used framework on the WordPress platform.
Here’s what I particularly like about StudioPress:
- They frequently update their themes to keep up with changes in WordPress and the web in general.
- There are many types of themes available that are organized in ways that will fit my clients’ needs.
- They have great documentation to help me set up the theme like the demo (which is a great starting place to make your website). This makes it quicker and easier for DIY website design.
- I can show potential clients a demo website for a particular theme that helps them see what their website could look like.