wordpress, good themes?

[mosdef]

So im going to start a blog to attract more people to my products and i have started to use wordpress to build my blog. Im at the moment using the virtue theme.

I want my blog to look good but not have any gimmicks, i want it to be direct and easy. At the start im going to add contect and after a couple of weeks add some products. Do you guys think the virtue theme can do that? Or should i pay for a better theme, im a total newbie on coding.

The problem im facing is that when making a simply site it almost look little naked and not so proffesional. Myabe that will change when i add some content

 

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[greyhat]

The first thing I look for is speed. With speed being a big SEO factore I like to make sure my theme is lightweight and SEO optimised.

 

[ddzc]

Depends on the direction you want to go with your site. I suggest themeforest, awesome wordpress themes over there. I have a subscription with elegant themes, they're pretty good too. If you want any from there let me know, I'll hook you up.

Cheers

 

[SlowlaneJay]

I've recommended it before, but my favorite is still Pagelines DMS (I'm not affiliated). Really easy to use and your website end up looking custom-made not just a tweaked theme. Great support forums and documentation too.

 

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[eqttrdr]

absolute BEST wordpress/woocommerce theme I have seen and used myself is Flatsome

there are million dollar companies using that theme its ridiculous

 

[Durete]

I would not so much look at the "Theme" but at the "Framework"

The best frameworks I've seen so far where:
Genesis
and
Hybrid

A good framework, added with achild theme that you customize to your needs (and cut out any code's not needed) Will result in a good, fast and stable website.

 

[Red]

A good framework, added with achild theme that you customize to your needs (and cut out any code's not needed) Will result in a good, fast and stable website.

I've just learned this the hard way. I created my site with a theme purchased off ThemeForest. It looks great, don't get me wrong. But the javascripting conflicts with Visual Editor & a host of other things that make editing my site a nightmare -or flat out impossible in any kind of aesthetic manner. It's actually forcing me to re-create my site with Genesis (as suggested by @LightHouse), as the previous theme's creator has no updates & is not addressing what seems to be a pretty glaring issue.

Lesson learned. Damn.

 

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[SlowlaneJay]

I would not so much look at the "Theme" but at the "Framework"

The best frameworks I've seen so far where:
Genesis
and
Hybrid

A good framework, added with achild theme that you customize to your needs (and cut out any code's not needed) Will result in a good, fast and stable website.

Can you elaborate on this? How would you look for a good framework? What separates a good one from a bad one? I've seen a lot of wordpress advice but this is new to me... I'm worried now

 

[Durete]

Can you elaborate on this? How would you look for a good framework? What separates a good one from a bad one? I've seen a lot of wordpress advice but this is new to me... I'm worried now

There are several frameworks out there.

What a good framework has:

- Solid code to start up with (This aids in the speed it takes to create and optimize your website)
- SEO optimization
- Streamlined CSS/Codes (Speeds up the site)
- Easiness to change/add features.
- How well do they work together with WordPress updates+plugins.
- How well-established is their community. the bigger ones such as Genesis has a big community, so also more plugins and code snippets written for them, along with more places to get help.
- wide variety of child themes that you can customize to your need.
- Has optimization for pictures, galaries and the like.
- Responsive
- Security

Bad ones:

- Slow to load
- Lots of unnecessary clutter
- Hard to find support for
- Hard to customize
- not SEO optimized

And pretty much anything the opposite on what I listed under "Good frameworks"

There are a lot of different frameworks around,
From free ones such as "Hybrid-core" to premium ones such as genesis, woothemes and so on.

 

[marklov]

+1 for themforest, I use/d volcano/thumb/compasso for my blogs without all the bells and whistles added.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Didn't read all the other suggestions because I'm on mobile, but I just picked up a theme called X and it's pretty awesome. Works very well and is developed by Americans who seem to understand exactly what the end user needs.

 

[Clenrock]

The most downloaded theme is Avada theme. I also use it and it's a great theme. You can do almost everything you want to have on your site with it!

Good luck!