Should You Pay for a WordPress Theme?
If you choose to design your own site in WordPress, it can be overwhelming to sift through the sea of themes. When I first started out I would spend DAYS if not WEEKS trying to find “the perfect” theme. It was completely overwhelming!
With some of the themes it was almost impossible to make simple changes like changing the footer copyright or move the logo. I tried to source the code but then you get into creating Child Themes and the possibility of overwriting your code when the theme is updated. It was a nightmare so trust and believe when I say I’ve been there and done that.
After swearing off WordPress and pledging my allegiance to Squarespace, I was approached by a prospective client who needed a redesign of his WordPress site. It was a big opportunity for me so I decided to give WP one more chance. Then he said the words that sent chills down by spine, “I’ve already chosen a theme”. Yikes! What have I done I thought but I’d already committed so I decided to at least give it a few hours.
Fast forward a few hours and my relation to WordPress was changed forever. No, really. With the introduction of the Astra theme and the Elementor Pro plugin I had a sudden surge of all things possible.
So what’s the difference? Thanks for asking.
First of all the free version of Astra is highly customizable. Things that should be simple are. You can select theme fonts, colors, page widths, borders, logo location, menu, whether or not to include a sidebar or on what type of pages or posts. Total game changer. There is also a Pro version with even more options but I’ve never used it.
Another advantage of Astra is that it’s lightweight which simply means it doesn’t use extraneous code . This improves your site speed, load times and has a direct impact on your Google ranking.
And then there’s Elementor Pro. The best way to describe it is if WordPress and Squarespace had a baby. It’s true WYSIWYG drag and drop editing tool allows for complete design control. There are pre-built blocks in the Pro version and three settings so you can adjust for tablet and mobile. And if you want to speed through the design process, they offer Kits which are pre-built sites that you can use as a starting point, similar to what you would find in Squarespace or Wix.
If you are looking for a highly customizable and user friendly WP experience, I encourage you to learn from my trial and error and give the Astra theme and Elementor a try.
