Paid WordPress Themes: Should You Use Them?

Joe — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:55:38 +0000

In this fifth and final article of our series as we wrap up our discussion to optimize WordPress and look at Paid WordPress Themes

But first lets wrap it all up.

Day 1 we improved our site with proper WordPress Maintenance,
Day 2 we setup our site to rank well in the search engines with WordPress SEO Optimization
Day 3 we changed our WordPress Layout to make more money.
Day 4 we saw how we can promote our blog with 3 cool WordPress Addons

And now its Day 5 – Premium Paid WordPress Themes. Yes those themes that you actually fork out your hard earned pay for! (gasp!) But…

Are Paid WordPress themes worth the cost?

Paid WordPress themes are becoming a more and more popular way to help your blog stand out from the crowd, yet there are still plenty of free themes out there. If you’re wondering whether it’s worth paying, here are the pros and cons of doing so.

Pro: No Credit Links

One big benefit of buying paid WordPress themes is that they don’t require you to link back to the person who created it. Some free themes will require you to do this in their license for use, and some may even link back to sites that you don’t want to be associated with.

Most free themes, on the other hand, don’t require this link back due to the fact that you’ve paid for the right to be able to use the theme more freely. Though do check the individual license before you buy!

Con: The Price

It goes without saying that you do have to spend money with paid WordPress themes! Some are relatively cheap, but they can cost hundreds of dollars for a good theme with a developers license. It really depends on the particular features of that theme as to whether it’s worth the price or not.

Pro: Better Support

Another benefit of choosing a paid theme is that they’re often better supported, and you’ll get upgrades in the future (useful when WordPress keeps on changing). This does vary from theme to theme, but generally there will be support.

Free themes, on the other hand, may get updated or they may not. It all depends on the owner and whether they have the time to do so. Without the monetary incentive for upgrades, many theme owners don’t support the theme into the future.

Con: Not Being Unique

Buying paid WordPress themes doesn’t automatically mean that your blog will be unique. In fact, some themes are so popular that you’ll see many different bloggers using them. The good news is that paid themes, can be customized, however, to help differentiate your site from others.

Pro: Extras

A massive benefit of choosing paid themes over free ones is that they usually come with extra features. This could mean additional menus within the WordPress dashboard that make the theme as easy to customize as possible. The options are usually a lot more detailed than with free WordPress themes.

Con: Complicated

One downside to the fact that there are more features included in paid WordPress themes is the fact that this means there’s more for you to learn. Some themes are more user-friendly than others, and some may have a huge learning curve before you can create the site you really want. Thankfully there are usually very detailed tutorials to make this easier.

Pro: Increase Your Site’s Value

Paid themes are a good way to boost the value of your site when it comes to selling. As long as you have the license to sell the theme along with the site, you’ll find that you can command a higher sale price just by emphasizing the fact that you’ve used a premium theme.

As you can see from the above, paid premium themes have many benefits, and also some drawbacks. The type of theme you choose really does depend on what exactly you’re looking for, and whether paid WordPress themes with extra features will ultimately end up saving you time and money in the long run.

Internet Marketing and Site Development