When it comes to starting a website or blog, WordPress is undoubtedly one of the most popular platforms. One of the reasons for its popularity is the thousands of free themes it offers.
However, many website owners wonder if using a premium WordPress theme is worth the investment.
Purchasing a premium WordPress theme can be an excellent way to give your website the professional look and feel that it deserves. Premium themes typically come with more features and options than free themes, allowing you to customize the design of your site to match your branding and visual identity.
Furthermore, many premium themes also come with technical support and updates, which can be invaluable for sites that require frequent maintenance and security patches.
However, it’s important to consider whether the extra cost is worth it for your particular project, since there are some great free themes available as well.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the pros and cons of using a premium WordPress theme and help you decide if it’s worth the investment. So, if you’re considering purchasing a premium WordPress theme, keep reading to learn more.
What Is A Premium WordPress Theme?
A premium WordPress theme is a professionally designed and developed template for a WordPress website that requires payment for its use. Unlike free themes, premium themes offer a higher level of design, functionality, and customization options.
These themes are created by skilled web developers or designers who devote more time and effort to building advanced features, ensuring that the theme meets the latest requirements and standards of WordPress updates.
Premium WordPress themes come with numerous benefits, including better quality, security, flexibility, and future-proofing.
One of the key features of premium WordPress themes is that they are typically optimized for search engine optimization (SEO), which means that they are built in a way that makes it easy for search engines to crawl and index the website’s pages. This results in improved website traffic and better search engine rankings.
In addition, premium WordPress themes usually come with a range of advanced features that enhance the user experience for site visitors, such as responsive design, social media integration, drag-and-drop page builders, and a range of pre-built page templates..
Additionally, premium themes provide access to ongoing tech support, automatic updates, and compatibility with popular plugins such as WooCommerce.
Investing in a premium WordPress theme is generally worth the cost, as it offers a unique and professional look for your website, along with user-friendly features and functionalities.
The initial cost of purchasing a premium theme can pay for itself within the first few months of running your site, thanks to the inbuilt security features, ongoing updates, and potential savings on hiring developers or SEO experts.
The difference between free and premium WordPress themes (in brief)
When it comes to websites built on the WordPress platform, there exist two types of themes: free and premium.
Free themes are those that can be easily downloaded from the official WordPress theme repository, whereas premium themes are paid for, either on a per-theme basis or via a subscription to a theme provider.
While free themes may seem like an attractive option due to their low cost, they often come with limited functionality and design options.
In contrast, premium themes are usually more robust and offer greater flexibility in terms of customizability, advanced features, and technical support.
The primary difference between free and premium WordPress themes lies in their features, customization options, and overall quality.
Free themes, available for download at no cost, often have limited features and functionality compared to their premium counterparts. Premium themes, on the other hand, require payment and offer a higher level of design, more customization options, and better support. The average price for a premium theme is between $40 to $60.
Free themes are not unique and may be used by numerous websites, while premium themes offer more variation and a richer customer experience.
Additionally, premium themes come with ongoing support and updates, making them more secure in the long run. While free themes undergo a strict review process, they may lack the build quality and advanced features found in premium themes.
Top 8 reasons to Choose a Premium WordPress Theme
When considering a WordPress theme for a website, one may be tempted to go for a free option. However, selecting a premium WordPress theme is essential for creating a successful website or blog as it comes with several advantages.
1. Quality and Functionality:
Premium themes are developed by professional web developers and designers, ensuring a higher level of quality compared to free themes. They come with more features and customization options out of the box, allowing you to create a unique and feature-rich website without needing extensive coding knowledge.
2. Higher Security & Updates:
When considering the difference between free and premium WordPress themes, it is important to note the security measures that come with the latter. Premium themes are designed with clean code and fewer opportunities for exploitation, making them less susceptible to malicious attacks.
With ongoing support and regular updates, premium themes are more secure in the long run. Free themes may not receive updates as frequently, leaving your website vulnerable to security risks.
By choosing a premium theme, you can rely on a consistent update cycle to keep your site secure and up-to-date with the latest WordPress requirements.
While free themes may be tempting, remember the saying “you get what you pay for” – investing in a premium WordPress theme can provide added benefits in terms of security and functionality.
3. User-Friendly Experience:
Premium WordPress themes are designed with user-friendliness in mind. They offer built-in features and easy navigation, making it simple for you to manage and adjust your site’s appearance while maintaining your sanity.
4. Support and Documentation:
When you purchase a premium theme, you gain access to excellent support from the vendor’s team, along with comprehensive documentation to guide you through the setup process. This can save you hours of searching forums and troubleshooting issues on your own.
5. Customization and Flexibility:
It offers a polished, high-quality design that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional, instilling a sense of professionalism and trust in visitors. Additionally, premium themes provide advanced customization options, enabling users to tailor their website to their unique brand or niche.
This includes the ability to adjust various aspects of the website’s layout, color palette, and typography, among others.
Furthermore, a premium theme often includes helpful features such as optimized code for faster page load times, search engine optimization (SEO) tools, and dedicated customer support.
These features are critical to ensuring that the website is efficient and user-friendly while attracting and retaining visitors.
6. Directly Supporting the WordPress Developer Community:
By investing in a premium theme, you are directly supporting the WordPress developer community, contributing to its growth and the development of more high-quality themes and plugins in the future.
7. Peace of Mind:
Choosing a premium WordPress theme gives you peace of mind knowing that your site will function properly, offer security for your visitors, and attract potential customers with its chic and easy-to-navigate layout.
How Much Premium WordPress Themes Cost It?
Premium themes offer a higher level of design and functionality compared to their free counterparts, but they come at a cost. So, how much do premium WordPress themes typically cost?
The average price for a premium theme is $59/year. However, the range of prices for premium themes can vary greatly. Some themes may cost around $50, while others can be significantly more expensive depending on the features and customization options they offer.
For those looking for a custom WordPress theme with additional built-in features or companion plugins, the cost can range anywhere between $6,000 to $10,000. For complex enterprise-level projects, it’s not uncommon for custom theme project prices to go above $30,000.
Another option to consider is theme club subscriptions, which offer access to multiple themes for a yearly or lifetime fee.
The average price for a year’s subscription is $145, with a median of $139. Lifetime subscriptions have a mean price of $255 and a median of $249.
When calculating the yearly price per theme, the median price is just over $4.20/year, making it an incredible deal for those who require multiple themes.
While the average best-selling WordPress theme cost is close to the $59 price point, there is little correlation between price and sales for themes priced differently.
This suggests that low price is not necessarily a selling point, and theme vendors may want to focus on the number of sales and price their themes at the golden $59 price point.
Why You Should Avoid Free WordPress Blog Themes?
When starting a blog, it’s tempting to opt for free WordPress themes to save money. However, there are several reasons why you should avoid using free WordPress blog themes and consider investing in a premium theme instead.
1. Lack of Support and Updates:
Free WordPress themes often come without any support from the developers. This means that if you encounter any issues or need assistance with the theme, you’re on your own. Additionally, free themes may not receive regular updates, leaving your site vulnerable to security risks and compatibility issues with future WordPress updates.
2. Poor Coding and Performance:
Free themes may be poorly coded, which can lead to security vulnerabilities and slow loading times. This can negatively impact your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) and overall user experience. Premium themes, on the other hand, are typically well-coded and optimized for performance.
3. Limited Customizability and Features:
Free themes often lack the features and customization options found in premium themes. This can limit your ability to create a unique and engaging website that stands out from the competition. Premium themes offer more advanced features and customization options, allowing you to create a professional-looking site tailored to your specific needs.
4. Encrypted Links:
Some free themes may contain encrypted links in the footer, which can harm your site’s SEO and potentially lead to a drop in search engine rankings. Premium themes do not typically include encrypted links, ensuring that your site remains SEO-friendly.
5. No Theme Options Panel:
Many free themes do not include a theme options panel, making it difficult for non-technical users to customize their site without editing code directly. Premium themes often come with an easy-to-use options panel, allowing you to make changes to your site’s design and functionality with just a few clicks.
6. Not SEO-Optimized:
Free themes may not be built with SEO in mind, lacking built-in SEO options and clean coding. Premium themes are generally designed with SEO best practices in mind, helping to improve your site’s visibility in search engine results.
7. Potential Security Risks:
Using a free theme from an untrusted source can expose your site to security risks, such as malware or hacking attempts. Premium themes are typically developed by reputable companies that prioritize security and regularly update their products to address potential vulnerabilities.
Where to source free and premium WordPress themes
One of the key features of WordPress is the ability to use themes to customize the look and feel of a website. There are many places where free and premium WordPress themes can be sourced. Free WordPress themes can be found in the official WordPress repository.
This extensive collection includes thousands of free themes that have been reviewed and approved by the WordPress team. Some popular free themes include Astra, OceanWP, Neve, Hello Elementor, Rishi, Customizr, Vantage, and Zakra.
These themes are curated by the WordPress community and meet certain quality standards. They can be downloaded directly from the WordPress dashboard and installed on a website.
Another source for free WordPress themes is ThemeFreesia, which offers a variety of responsive and customizable themes for different purposes.
Premium WordPress themes can be sourced from many different marketplaces and developers. Some popular marketplaces include ThemeForest, Elegant Themes, and StudioPress.
These premium themes often come with additional features and customization options, as well as support from the developer or marketplace.
When sourcing themes, it’s important to consider factors such as quality, compatibility with plugins, and support options.
It’s also important to ensure that themes are regularly updated to maintain compatibility with the latest version of WordPress. Overall, there are many options available for sourcing WordPress themes, both free and paid.
Conclusion
In conclusion, paying for a premium WordPress theme is absolutely worth it. With the added benefits of customization, support, and security, the investment is a small price to pay for a professional and polished website.
Free themes can be great for beginners, but if you want to take your website to the next level and stand out from the competition, a premium theme is definitely the way to go.
So, if you’re serious about your website and want to make a lasting impression on your audience, don’t hesitate to invest in a high-quality WordPress theme.
However, it is important to keep in mind that not all premium themes are created equal, so it is essential to do thorough research before making a purchase.
