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How to Redesign a WordPress Website (Beginner’s Guide)

Published

5 days ago

September 22, 2024

How to Redesign a WordPress Website (Beginner's Guide)

Is your WordPress site underperforming? Dropping traffic, low conversion rates, poor mobile experience, or slow loading times are clear signs it’s time for a redesign. But tackling a redesign can be daunting, as you might worry about losing SEO rankings.

At WPBeginner, we’ve redesigned our site multiple times, learning what works and what doesn’t through trial and error. Along the way, we’ve developed strategies to make the process smoother and more effective.

In this guide, we will walk you through every step of redesigning your WordPress site, from determining if you really need a redesign to choosing the best redesign method.

When Should You Redesign Your WordPress Website?

You might be tempted to redesign your WordPress website simply because you’re feeling bored with its current look. However, a redesign can be time-consuming, so it’s important to consider several factors before diving in.

Mainly, you will want to be sure that redesigning your website is actually a worthwhile undertaking.

For instance, if your existing WordPress website is losing traffic, it might be time for a redesign. A drop in traffic often indicates that your site no longer meets user expectations.

Also, first impressions matter online. If your site looks old-fashioned, it may not reflect well on your brand or business.

A poor user experience, like visitors struggling to find important information, is another clear sign that a WordPress website redesign is needed. We once addressed this in a previous redesign by improving content discoverability with helpful sidebar links and mega menus.

WPBeginner Full Screen Mobile Search and Sidebar Search Widget

Speed is another important factor if you are considering a redesign of your WordPress website. Maybe you’ve tried everything to optimize your site performance, but it’s still not up to par. This could be a sign that your current WordPress site design is too heavy and you need to make it more lightweight.

The same goes for mobile-friendliness. Perhaps you’ve tried various responsive design tips, but your site still doesn’t work well on mobile devices. This could be because your current theme is simply too old, and you need to switch to a more mobile-friendly theme.

If your website no longer accurately represents your brand or offerings, consider a redesign. We recently revamped the WPBeginner homepage to better reflect our expertise and authority in the WordPress space.

Last but certainly not least, if your site isn’t turning visitors into customers or subscribers as effectively as it should, then a redesign could help improve your bottom line and strengthen your online presence.

If you check some or all of these boxes, don’t worry. The next section will walk you through our go-to WordPress website redesign checklist. We’ll cover what you need to do before, during, and after the design process.

Feel free to use the quick links below to navigate through the steps:

1. Collect Website Performance Data

You might be thinking, ‘I already know I’m losing traffic and conversions, so why do I need to collect website performance data before I redesign WordPress?’

Well, it’s important to confirm these issues with hard data. Plus, when you redesign your WordPress website, you’ll want to know if your efforts are paying off.

By collecting performance data from your current website, you create benchmarks to compare against after the redesign. This way, you can measure whether your new design actually translates to better results.

To make this process easier, we recommend using the MonsterInsights plugin for Google Analytics. We have used the tool extensively to help improve the performance of our websites. We even wrote a full MonsterInsights review.

This plugin allows you to connect your WordPress site with Google Analytics, giving you access to vital performance metrics right in your WordPress dashboard.

Viewing real-time stats in MonsterInsights

For a WordPress website redesign, we suggest checking and using these marketing data points as benchmarks:

Overall traffic – The total number of visitors to your site. It can help you understand your website’s reach and whether the redesign improves overall visibility.
Bounce rate – The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page. It can tell you whether your new design better engages users and improves your site speed.
Conversion rate – The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action (like making a purchase or signing up). You can determine if the redesign improves your site’s effectiveness in achieving its goals.
Top performing pages – Which pages visitors view most often, helping you protect popular content during the redesign and understand what your audience likes.
Top traffic sources – Where your visitors are coming from (search engines, social media, etc.), helping you design your new site to better cater to these channels and maintain or improve traffic flow.
Average session duration – How long visitors typically stay on your site so that you can see if the redesign makes your content more valuable to users.
Page views per session – How many pages a visitor typically views. It can indicate whether your new design improves navigation and encourages users to explore more content.
Mobile vs desktop traffic split – The proportion of visitors using mobile devices versus desktop computers. You can use this information to guide your redesign efforts and cater to the most widely-used devices.

You can learn more in our article on the most important metrics you must track on your WordPress site.

With MonsterInsights, you can also use the ‘Conversations AI’ feature to get quick answers about your data.

MonsterInsights conversational AI preview

For example, you could ask, ‘What was my conversion rate in the last month?’ This feature makes it easy to access the information you need without diving deep into complex analytics reports.

2. Run a WordPress Website Audit

Before you start to redesign WordPress, you need to understand the actions and factors that led to the performance metrics you collected in the previous step. This way, you can make informed decisions about what to change and what to keep.

To gain these insights, you need to conduct a website audit, which is a series of actions you do to understand the user experience on your existing website.

We recommend asking for your users’ opinions directly so that you can understand their needs, preferences, and pain points straight from the source.

The UserFeedback plugin is an excellent tool for this, allowing you to add surveys to your site and quickly collect visitor opinions. We use the plugin on our own websites, and you can learn more in our complete UserFeedback review.

You can check out our comprehensive guide to learn more about gathering website design feedback in WordPress. We’ve also compiled a list of user experience feedback questions to ask your website visitors.

You will also want to evaluate your user journey. Visitors typically follow predictable steps before making a purchase or submitting a form, and there may be obstacles in their journey.

If you’re using MonsterInsights, the User Journey addon can help track customer journeys on popular WordPress eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and MemberPress.

For instance, in WooCommerce, you can view a user’s entire journey, including all interactions, times, and durations.

For more details, see our guides enabling customer tracking in WooCommerce and tracking the customer journey using MemberPress.

For websites focused on lead generation, using WPForms alongside the User Journey addon is a great solution. It shows the referral source that brought users to your site and the path they took before submitting a form.

Note: We have personally used WPForms on several websites for our other brands and have helped customers set it up on their websites. We think it offers the best and most straightforward approach to form building, and it integrates seamlessly with lots of the most popular WordPress plugins. For more details, check out our WPForms review.

This information helps you understand which content engages users most effectively. Learn more in our complete guide on tracking user journey on WordPress lead forms.

Heatmap tools are another essential part of your website development audit. They visually represent how visitors navigate your pages, providing insights that raw data alone can’t offer.

We personally recommend Microsoft Clarity, which we use across many of our brand websites. It’s a free tool that offers heatmaps, scroll tracking, and click tracking.

To get started with Clarity, check out our guide on installing Microsoft Clarity analytics in WordPress.

Heatmap showing user interactions on a website

3. Decide to Keep Your Site Live or Put It in Maintenance Mode

One of the most important decisions to make when you redesign WordPress is whether to work on your live website or put it in maintenance mode. This choice can significantly impact your user experience and search engine rankings during the redesign process.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you make the right decision:

How extensive is your redesign? For example, are you just changing the homepage or redoing the whole site?
How long will the redesign take? Is it a quick update you can do in a few days, or a big change that needs weeks?
Can your site be offline for a while? Think about if your business can handle being down for some time.
How many visitors does your site get? A high-traffic site will suffer more from downtime than a smaller, personal blog.
Will you change how your site is set up? Are you just updating how it looks, or are you moving things around and changing web addresses?
Does your site run important parts of your business? For instance, do you have an online store that needs to stay open, or is your site mainly for information?

In general, we recommend keeping your site live during the redesign, especially if the process will take a while and/or if your business operations will be significantly impacted by downtime. It’s also a good option if you don’t want your site’s SEO to get impacted.

In this case, you’ll need to set up a staging site or local development environment. This allows you to experiment with your redesign without affecting your live site.

A staging site is essentially a copy of your live website where you can safely make changes. These days, many hosting providers offer one-click staging features, including SiteGround (where we host WPBeginner).

For more information, check out our guide on how to create a staging environment for WordPress.

Alternatively, you might consider a local development site. This option involves creating a copy of your website on your personal computer, offering even more privacy and faster development times.

We recommend using the Local WP tool for this purpose, which many of our team members use to test new features. You can learn more about this in our article on how to install WordPress locally on Windows and Mac.

If your redesign is relatively quick and won’t disrupt critical business functions, putting your site in maintenance mode for a short period might be acceptable. That being said, you should be aware of the risks.

Putting your site in maintenance mode can impact your SEO and may require you to set up some redirects. This isn’t a big problem for small, personal websites, but it can be tricky for bigger sites with lots of visitors.

Our preferred method is to use the SeedProd page builder. Besides turning on maintenance mode for your WordPress site, it lets you make a nice-looking page to tell visitors about your upcoming changes and even generate leads by creating a waitlist landing page.

What’s more, it can tell search engines your site is just temporarily down by sending a special signal called the 503 status, which is what Google suggests doing.

If you are interested in this option, you may want to check out our full SeedProd review.

4. Choose a WordPress Redesign Method

When it comes to redesigning your WordPress website, you have 3 main options: customizing your existing theme, choosing a new theme and customizing it, or hiring a professional WordPress design service.

Let’s explore each method’s pros and cons to help you decide which is best for your redesign process.

Option 1: Customize Existing Theme

Best for: Site owners who are generally happy with their current design but want to refresh its look or add new features.

Pros of customizing your existing WordPress theme:

Familiar with the current setup
Potentially quicker, easier, and more affordable
Maintains consistency for regular visitors

Cons of customizing your existing WordPress theme:

Limited by existing theme structure

If you want to stick with your current theme but want to get more customization options, then we recommend using plugins like CSS Hero and WPCode.

CSS Hero is a visual CSS editor plugin that lets you customize your WordPress theme’s CSS visually. That means you don’t need to touch any code to modify the theme, but any changes you make will affect its CSS.

You can learn more about the plugin in our CSS Hero review.

On the other hand, WPCode is a code snippet plugin that lets you add custom code snippets to your theme without dealing with the theme files directly. Whenever there’s an error in the code, the plugin will disable it, and your theme won’t get affected.

The best part is it can preserve your code changes even when your theme gets an update, so you won’t lose your customizations.

You can read our WPCode review for more details.

Setting a default fallback image with WPCode

If you need some inspiration on what you can do to customize your current website, here are some articles you can check out:

Option 2: Choose a New Theme and Customize It

Best for: Those looking for a significant design change without the cost of a fully custom solution. Or people who want to take advantage of new theme features.

Pros of using a new WordPress theme:

Fresh start with modern design options
Access to new features and layouts
Potential for improved website performance

Cons of using a new WordPress theme:

Potential learning curve with a new theme
Careful setup is required to avoid compatibility issues

When selecting a new theme, make sure to pick one that is fast, responsive, compatible with your current plugins, and regularly supported. You should also think about its value for money and customization options so that you can edit your WordPress site exactly how you want it.

If you’re considering a premium theme, you can read our guide on free vs premium WordPress themes to help you make your decision. Also, make sure to follow our guide on properly changing a WordPress theme to avoid common errors.

For a more flexible solution, we recommend SeedProd, a drag-and-drop page builder with dozens of theme kits and templates. This is also what we use to design custom landing pages for ourselves and our brands.

In fact, our friends at OptinMonster used SeedProd to redesign their landing page and increased their conversions by 340%.

With this drag-and-drop page builder, you will get a theme and a flexible tool to customize it, so you can make a unique design without any technical skills. Plus, you’ll get access to AI tools to generate content and custom images for your pages.

You can learn more about SeedProd in these guides:

Alternatively, you can browse our list of the most popular WordPress themes.

Option 3: Hire a Custom WordPress Website Design Service

Best for: Business owners or bloggers who want a unique, professional design tailored to their specific needs and don’t have the time or skills to create it themselves.

Pros of hiring a professional WordPress design service:

Unique, professional WordPress theme design
WordPress theme that’s tailored to your specific needs
No need for personal design or coding skills

Cons of hiring a professional WordPress design service:

If you’re tired of cookie-cutter designs, then this is an excellent option for you. Of course, the challenge is finding the right WordPress designers to work with. We have a list of top WordPress agencies if you want some hand-picked recommendations.

That being said, you may want to check out our WPBeginner Pro Services.

WPBeginner Pro Services for designing a custom WordPress site

For designing a custom WordPress site, we offer:

A dedicated project manager to oversee the redesign process
Multiple WordPress website design revisions
Training for you to learn how to manage your new site
Full WooCommerce setup for online stores
Search engine and performance optimization

Rebuilding an existing site starts at $599, which will get you a responsive website design of up to 5 pages, 2 rounds of revisions, and analytics setup.

Think of it as an investment for your online presence that can lead to improved user experience, better search engine rankings, and, ultimately, increased conversions and revenue for your business.

If you’re not sure, you can book a free consultation with our team today.

5. Back Up Your WordPress Website

Let’s say you’re already redesigning your site. Before you make it live, you need to do one step that you should not skip: back up your current WordPress website.

Here’s why backing up is so important:

Protection against errors – If something goes wrong during the transition, you can easily restore your site.
Protection against backlash – If users react negatively to the new design, you can quickly revert to the old one.
Preserving important data – It ensures you don’t lose any valuable content or settings during the redesign.
Peace of mind – Knowing you have a backup allows you to launch your site with confidence.

We recommend using a backup plugin like Duplicator for this task. Duplicator makes it easy to create and manage backups directly on your website.

Once created, you can store the backup file on your computer. Or, for added security, upload it to cloud storage services like Dropbox.

Restoring your site with Duplicator is also straightforward – you can simply drag and drop the backup file. The plugin also allows you to set a recovery point, enabling you to quickly restore your site to a prior date if needed.

6. Launch Your Site and Run Another Audit

At this stage, you’re ready to publish your newly redesigned site and show it to your audience.

If you’re putting your website on maintenance mode with SeedProd, then you can just deactivate that mode so that everyone can access your site. You can refer to our guide on WordPress maintenance mode for more details.

If you’ve been developing your site locally, then you can read our guide on how to move WordPress from a local server to a live site.

Meanwhile, if you have been using a staging site in your WordPress hosting, then you can simply use its deploy feature to make your site live. For example, with Bluehost, you can use the Bluehost WordPress plugin to deploy all your changes in a few clicks.

You can learn more about it in our guide on WordPress staging environments.

Choose the Deploy All Changes option from the Staging Site option

Once your site is live, you can’t relax just yet. You need to make sure everything works right.

One thing you need to pay attention to is your SEO settings. If you decide to restructure your web pages, then you will need to set up redirects and update your internal links to reflect any URL changes. Otherwise, search engines won’t be able to crawl your site properly.

This process can take a long time, so we recommend using the All in One SEO (AIOSEO) plugin for this. It’s also what we use for WPBeginner to make sure our site is always optimized for search engines. For more details, check out our complete All in One SEO review.

You can use AIOSEO to easily find broken links on your entire website content. If it does, you can quickly replace the existing URL with a new one so that users don’t end up seeing an error page.

AIOSEO also lets you set up 301 redirections easily. This will be handy if your redesign involves restructuring your website hierarchy.

You can read our beginner’s guide to creating 301 redirects in WordPress for more information.

Other than that, we also recommend doing an SEO audit to check for missing SEO titles, meta descriptions, canonical link tags, SSL certificates, speed issues, and more. These are important elements that can make or break your visibility on search engines.

Check out our WordPress SEO audit checklist for a step-by-step guide.

Lastly, do the same checks we talked about in step 2 when we said to run a website audit. Use heatmaps and look at your Google Analytics data to make sure no one is having trouble with your new site.

7. Continuously Maintain Your WordPress Site

The job of a website owner is never ending. Even after you launch your site, you still need to do some routine maintenance tasks to make sure that your site doesn’t become slow, vulnerable to attacks, or start showing errors.

Don’t be intimidated, though. We have a guide that breaks down the most important WordPress maintenance tasks you should do, from changing your passwords and updating your plugins to reviewing your security logs.

But if you find all this too hard and you have some budget to spare, then we recommend hiring our WordPress maintenance experts at WPBeginner Pro Services. You’ll get:

24/7 WordPress maintenance and support
Around-the-clock uptime monitoring
Consistent WordPress core, theme, and plugin updates
Routine cloud backups and malware removal
On-demand emergency support

Our maintenance services start from $57.50 per month. While this costs some money, you can think of it as similar to getting a WordPress security plugin, but this one is a real person maintaining your site.

We can spot and solve complex issues that automated tools might miss and make decisions based on your specific needs and website goals. If you want to learn more, feel free to book a free consultation with us today.

WPBeginner WordPress website maintenance service

Remember, regular maintenance is key to keeping your newly redesigned WordPress site running smoothly and securely. Whether you choose to do it yourself or hire experts, make sure you have a plan in place to keep your site in top shape.

We hope this article has helped you learn how to redesign your WordPress website. You may also want to check out our article on things you must do before starting a WordPress design business and our expert picks of the best WordPress theme builder plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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Automattic sends WP Engine its own cease-and-desist over WordPress trademark infringement

Published

1 day ago

September 25, 2024

Max

Automattic sends WP Engine its own cease-and-desist over WordPress trademark infringement

The brouhaha in the WordPress community looks likely to escalate into a legal battle around trademarks.

Just a day after WordPress hosting service WP Engine sent a cease-and-desist notice to Automattic asking its CEO to stop publicly trashing WP Engine, now Automattic has sent its own cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, saying the latter has infringed several trademarks like WordPress and WooCommerce.

This comes after Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic and co-creator of WordPress, last week criticized WP Engine for profiteering off the open source WordPress project, calling it a “cancer to WordPress,” and accused the company of contributing very little to the community.

In its letter dated Monday, Automattic alleged that WP Engine has built a business of over $400 million in revenue based on unauthorized use of its WordPress trademark, which Automattic claims it has the exclusive commercial rights for from the WordPress Foundation. Automattic also said WP Engine has misled consumers into believing that there is a direct affiliation between the two companies.

“Your unauthorized use of our Client’s trademarks infringes on their rights and dilutes their famous and well-known marks. Negative reviews and comments regarding WP Engine and its offerings are imputed to our Client, thereby tarnishing our Client’s brands, harming their reputation, and damaging the goodwill our Client has established in its marks,” the letter read.

“Your unauthorized use of our Client’s intellectual property has enabled WP Engine to compete with our Client unfairly, and has led to unjust enrichment and undue profits,” it added.

Automattic is also demanding compensation for the profits made by WP Engine by using its trademarks and said that if WP Engine doesn’t amicably resolve the matter, the company has the right to file a civil injunction case.

For context, here’s a good summary of the WordPress community by my colleague Paul Sawers:

WordPress powers more than 40% of the web, and while any individual or company is free to take the open source project and run a website themselves, a number of businesses have sprung up to sell hosting services and technical expertise off the back of it. These include Automattic, which Mullenweg set up in 2005 to monetize the project he’d created two years earlier; and WP Engine, a managed WordPress hosting provider that has raised nearly $300 million in funding over its 14-year history, the bulk of which came via a $250 million investment from private equity firm Silver Lake in 2018.

In the cease-and-desist letter WP Engine sent to Automattic on Monday, the company defended its right to use the “WordPress” trademark under fair use laws. The company added that Automattic has “a profound misunderstanding of both trademark law and WordPress Foundation’s trademark policy.”

It also said Mullenweg demanded WP Engine pay Automattic “a significant percentage of its gross revenues — tens of millions of dollars in fact — on an ongoing basis” for a license to use trademarks like “WordPress.”

“When his outrageous financial demands were not met, Mr. Mullenweg carried out his threats by making repeated false claims disparaging WP Engine to its employees, its customers, and the world,” WP Engine’s letter said.

Notably, Automattic’s letter doesn’t mention Mullenweg’s remarks about WP Engine.

In the last week, Mullenweg has accused WP Engine of not contributing enough to the community and offering “a cheap knock-off” version of WordPress. WP Engine pushed back against this characterization and called out Mullenweg for launching a smear campaign against the company, saying it has already affected some of its business.

This might be the start of a long legal tussle between the two entities. A lot of folks also pointed out that this battle might be harmful for providers offering specialized WordPress hosting.

Earlier today, WordPress Foundation changed its Trademark Policy page, and it now calls out WP Engine, alleging the hosting service has confused users.

“The abbreviation ‘WP’ is not covered by the WordPress trademarks, but please don’t use it in a way that confuses people. For example, many people think WP Engine is “WordPress Engine” and officially associated with WordPress, which it’s not. They have never once even donated to the WordPress Foundation, despite making billions of revenue on top of WordPress,” the updated page reads.

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New WordPress.com Themes for September 2024 – WordPress.com News

Published

2 days ago

September 25, 2024

Max

New WordPress.com Themes for September 2024 – WordPress.com News

Four of our favorite new themes.

The WordPress.com team is always working on new design ideas to bring your website to life. Check out the latest themes in our library, including great options for brats, foodies, and beauty bloggers. Take a look below.

Tap into your brat summer vibes all year round with our brand new Partygurl theme. Inspired by the now-iconic bright green and simple typography from Charli XCX’s Brat album, this styling will immediately identify you as someone who’s done with the “clean and polished” aesthetic of sameness that you see across the web.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

RecipeBook WordPress.com theme homepage and blog post page.

RecipeBook is a warm, vibrant theme made for foodie content creators who want their recipes to shine. Inspired by the charm of old-school cookbooks, RecipeBook pairs eye-catching colors with bold typography. The homepage invites discovery with a handy category list and flexible Query Loop block, making it easy to showcase your culinary creations. Whether you’re sharing recipes or creating food collections, RecipeBook offers a playful yet functional design to help you dish out your passion for cooking.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

Goodskin is a great theme for beauty bloggers and skincare enthusiasts. With its light, calming aesthetic and clean layout, Goodskin provides an elegant space for sharing your routines, product reviews, and more. The theme includes thoughtful features like a sidebar for easy navigation and a product rating pattern to highlight your favorite finds. Available in three soothing color variations—Jojoba, Blush, and Eyeshadow—Goodskin offers a serene, sophisticated platform that allows your content to glow.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

Luxus WordPress.com theme homepage, in three style variations.

Luxus is the perfect look for beauty salons wanting to make a sleek, no-fuss impression. Designed with simplicity in mind, Luxus gives the essentials—services, location, hours, and contact information—right away on the homepage, making it easy for clients to find what they need.

Optimized for mobile right out of the box with a clean, single-column layout, Luxus offers a seamless experience for your busy, on-the-go clientele. With the luxurious Ojuju font for headings and the classic Hanken Grotesk for body text, this theme exudes elegance while keeping the focus on what matters most.

Click here to view a demo of this theme.

To install any of the above themes, click the name of the theme you like, which brings you right to the installation page. Then click the “Activate this design” button. You can also click “Open live demo,” which brings up a clickable, scrollable version of the theme for you to preview.

Premium themes are available to use at no extra charge for customers on the Personal plan or above. Partner themes are third-party products that can be purchased for $99/year each on the Business plan and above.

You can explore all of our themes by navigating to the “Themes” page, which is found under “Appearance” in the left-side menu of your WordPress.com dashboard. Or you can click below:

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9 Best Astra Theme Alternatives for Faster Loading (2024)

Published

2 days ago

September 24, 2024

Max

Finding the perfect theme for your WordPress website is crucial.

While Astra has long been a favorite among users, it has some limitations. Hence, you must explore alternatives that best fit your needs.

Tip

Based on my extensive experience over the past years, Kadence WP is the best WordPress theme. I’ve been with Kadence for the past three years, and it is for all my sites due to its smooth WP blocks, superior performance, ease of use, and advanced customization features.

Its lightweight structure ensures fast load times, while its robust design tools offer unparalleled flexibility, making it an ideal choice for many website projects.

I discuss the top Astra theme alternatives in this article, each offering unique strengths and capabilities.

Join me as I explore Kadence WP and other notable themes, such as GeneratePress, OceanWP, and Elementor Hello, to help you make an informed decision about your next website build.

9 Best Astra Theme Alternatives

Best Astra Theme Alternatives

1. Kadence WP Theme (Overall Best Alternative)

If you are looking for an Astra Theme alternative that offers a great user experience, Kadence WP Theme is an excellent choice. It is a multipurpose WordPress theme that is perfect for creating any website.

Kadence WP Theme is known for its flexibility, customization options, and user-friendly interface.

Kadence WP Theme Key Features

Lightweight and Fast: The Kadence WP Theme is lightweight and loads quickly, making it perfect for creating fast-loading websites.
Page Builder Compatibility: Kadence WP Theme is compatible with popular page builders like Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Gutenberg.
Customizable Header and Footer: Kadence WP Theme allows you to easily customize your website’s header and footer.
Advanced Typography: Kadence WP Theme offers advanced typography options, allowing you to choose from over 800 Google fonts.
WooCommerce Integration: Kadence WP Theme integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, making it perfect for creating online stores.
Starter Templates: Kadence WP Theme comes with various starter templates that you can use to create your website quickly.

Kadence WP Theme Pros and Cons

Here are the pros and cons of using the Kadence WP Theme:

Pros:

Lightweight and fast-loading.
Easy to use and customize.
Compatible with popular page builders.
Offers advanced typography options.
Comes with a variety of starter templates.
Integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce.

Cons:

The free version of the Kadence WP Theme has limited features.
The pricing plans are a bit expensive compared to other themes.

Kadence WP Theme Pricing

Free Plan: This plan is free and excellent for website creators wanting to start.
Essentials Plan: This plan costs $149/year and gives you all the essentials, like the pro versions of the Kadence theme and starter templates.
Full Plan: This plan costs $219/year and gives you full access to all the tools to help you sell.
Lifetime Plan: With this plan, you get every product in its complete bundle, lifetime support, updates, and all future products for a one-time payment of $799/lifetime.

2. GeneratePress

If you’re looking for a lightweight and flexible WordPress theme that can be easily customized, GeneratePress is an excellent alternative to Astra. It is a popular theme among developers and users known for its speed, security, and ease of use.

GeneratePress Theme Key Features

Lightweight and Fast: GeneratePress is one of the most lightweight themes available, which means it loads faster than most other themes. This is great for improving your website’s speed and overall user experience.
Customizable: GeneratePress offers many customization options, including typography, colors, layouts, and more. You can easily customize your website’s appearance without any coding skills.
Accessibility Ready: GeneratePress is designed to be accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities. It meets the WCAG 2.0 standards, so your website will be accessible to a broader audience.
SEO Friendly: GeneratePress is built with clean and optimized code, which makes it SEO-friendly. Your website will rank higher in search engines and get more organic traffic.
Developer Friendly: GeneratePress is designed to be developer-friendly, making it easy to customize and extend. It’s built with clean code and follows WordPress coding standards.
Great Support: GeneratePress has an excellent support team that is always ready to help you with any issues or questions.

GeneratePress Pros and Cons

Here are some pros and cons of GeneratePress to help you decide if it’s the right choice for you:

Pros:

GeneratePress is one of the fastest-loading WordPress themes available.
GeneratePress offers various customization options, including color schemes, typography, layout, and more.
GeneratePress is optimized for search engines, which can help improve your website’s visibility and rankings.
GeneratePress is designed with accessibility in mind, which means it meets the highest standards for web accessibility.
GeneratePress is fully compatible with WooCommerce, making creating an online store and selling products easy.

Cons:

Limited free version
Not as many pre-built templates

GeneratePress Pricing

Free Plan: This plan is forever free to use.
Yearly Plan: This plan costs $59/year and grants one year of access to the site library, all features, and one year of updates.
Lifetime Plan: This plan costs a one-time fee of $249. It grants lifetime access to the site library, updates, and all features.

3. OceanWP Theme

If you are looking for a powerful and flexible alternative to the Astra Theme, the OceanWP Theme is the perfect solution. It is a lightweight and highly customizable WordPress theme that offers a wide range of features and functionalities to help you easily create stunning websites.

OceanWP Theme Key Features

Here are some of the features of OceanWP Theme that make it stand out from other WordPress themes:

Multiple Demos: OceanWP Theme has over 130 pre-built demos you can import with just one click. These demos cover many niches, including business, portfolio, eCommerce, and more.
Fast Loading: OceanWP Theme is optimized for speed and performance, ensuring your website loads quickly and smoothly.
WooCommerce Ready: It is fully compatible with WooCommerce and has many eCommerce-specific features.
SEO Friendly: OceanWP Theme is designed with SEO in mind, ensuring your website ranks well in search engine results pages.
Translation Ready: If you want to create a multilingual website, OceanWP Theme is your solution. It is fully compatible with translation plugins like WPML and Polylang.
Elementor Integration: OceanWP Theme is fully compatible with the Elementor page builder, allowing you to quickly create custom layouts and designs.

OceanWP Theme Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of using OceanWP Theme:

Pros:

Lightweight and fast-loading
Highly customizable with a wide range of options
It comes with over 130 pre-built demos.
Fully compatible with WooCommerce and other popular plugins
SEO-friendly design
Translation ready

Cons:

Some features are only available in the paid version
Some users may find the interface a bit overwhelming

OceanWP Pricing

OceanWP offers both a free and a paid version of the theme. The free version has basic features and limited support, while the paid version unlocks additional features and premium support.

Here’s a breakdown of the pricing for OceanWP:

Free version: This is free to use
Starter Plan: This plan costs $35 per year and has a lifetime subscription of $141. It can be used for one website.
Personal plan: It costs $43 per year to use for three websites. A lifetime subscription is available for a one-time payment of $178.
Business plan costs $71 per year for up to ten websites. A lifetime subscription is available for a one-time payment of $285.
Agency plan: This plan costs $127 per year and can be used on up to 300 websites. A lifetime subscription is also available for a one-time payment of $509.

4. Divi Theme

Divi Theme is a popular option if you’re looking for an Astra Theme competitor. It is a multipurpose WordPress theme with a powerful page builder that makes it easy to create custom designs without any coding knowledge.

Divi Theme Key Features

Visual Page Builder: Divi’s drag-and-drop page builder is one of its most popular features. It allows users to create custom layouts and design elements without coding knowledge.
Responsive Design: Divi works on all devices, so your website will look great on desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
Customization Options: With Divi, you can customize your website’s colors, fonts, and layout. You can also use pre-made templates to get started.
Marketing Integrations: Divi integrates with popular marketing tools like Mailchimp, Aweber, and Google Analytics.
WooCommerce Support: Divi has built-in support for WooCommerce if you’re selling products online.
Support and Updates: Divi comes with a lifetime license, which means you’ll get access to updates and support if you use the theme.

Divi Theme Pros and Cons

Here are the pros and cons of Divi Theme:

Pros:

Divi’s drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create custom designs without coding knowledge.
Divi offers a wide range of customization options to create a unique website.
Divi integrates with popular marketing tools to quickly add email opt-ins and track your website’s performance.
Divi has built-in support for WooCommerce, making it easy to sell products online.

Cons:

While Divi is easy to use, learning its features takes time.
Some users have reported that Divi’s code can be bloated, slowing website performance.
While Divi offers a wide range of customization options, some users may find the design options limited compared to other themes.

Divi Pricing

Divi is a premium WordPress theme, so you must pay for it. Here are the pricing options for Divi:

Divi: This costs $89 per year and has a lifetime subscription of $249. It includes access to all of Elegant Themes’ themes and plugins, updates, and support.
Divi Pro: This plan costs $277 yearly and has a lifetime subscription of $297. It includes access to everything in the Divi plan plus Divi AI, Divi Cloud, and Divi Teams.

5. Blocksy

If you are looking for a substitute for the Astra Theme, Blocksy is an excellent option. It is a lightweight and fast WordPress theme that offers a range of customization options, making it a popular choice for beginners and advanced users.

Blocksy Key Features

Fast Loading: Blocksy is optimized for speed, so your website will load quickly and provide a better user experience.
Customizable Header and Footer: Blocksy offers a range of customization options for your header and footer, allowing you to create a unique look for your website.
WooCommerce Integration: Blocksy seamlessly integrates with WooCommerce, making it an excellent choice for creating an online store.
Gutenberg Compatible: Blocksy is fully compatible with the Gutenberg editor, making creating custom layouts and designs accessible.
Responsive Design: Blocksy is designed to be fully responsive, ensuring your website looks great on all devices.
SEO Friendly: Blocksy is optimized for search engines, helping your website rank higher in search results.

Blocksy Pros and Cons

Here are the pros and cons of using Blocksy:

Pros:

Easy to use and customize
Fast loading speed
WooCommerce integration
Responsive design
SEO friendly

Cons:

Limited free version features
No pre-built templates
No drag-and-drop page builder
Limited third-party plugin integration

Blocksy Pricing

Blocksy offers both a free version and a premium version of the theme. Here’s a breakdown of the pricing:

Blocksy Free: The free version of Blocksy includes basic features and customization options. It’s a good choice for users who are just starting and don’t need advanced functionality.
Blocksy Premium: Blocksy Premium is available in three pricing tiers:
- Personal: This plan is priced at $69 per year and includes a lifetime subscription of $199. It provides access to all premium features on one website.
- Professional: Priced at $99/year and a lifetime subscription of $299. This plan is ideal for online businesses and can be used on ten websites.
- Agency: Priced at $149 per year and a lifetime subscription of $499. The Agency plan includes access to all premium features for unlimited websites, making it a cost-effective choice for developers and agencies.

6. Neve Theme

If you are looking for a lightweight, fast, and easily customizable theme, Neve Theme is a great option. It was developed by Themeisle, a popular WordPress theme and plugin development company. Neve Theme is known for its simplicity, speed, and flexibility.

Neve Theme Key Features

Lightweight and Fast-Loading Design: Neve is designed to be lightweight, ensuring quick load times and efficient performance, which improves user experience and can boost SEO.
Fully Customizable with a Drag-and-Drop Page Builder: Neve is compatible with popular page builders like Elementor, Beaver Builder, and Gutenberg, allowing you to easily customize your site’s layout and design using drag-and-drop functionality.
Optimized for SEO and Mobile Devices: The theme follows best SEO practices, helping your site rank better in search engine results. Neve is fully responsive, ensuring your site looks great and functions well on all devices.
Compatible with Popular WordPress Plugins: Neve works seamlessly with a wide range of popular WordPress plugins, such as WooCommerce, Yoast SEO, and Contact Form 7, allowing you to extend your site’s functionality easily.
Ready-to-Import Starter Sites for Various Niches: This lets you quickly set up a professional-looking website by importing a pre-built template and customizing it to fit your needs.
Built-in WooCommerce Integration: Neve includes built-in support for WooCommerce, making it easy to create and customize an online store with features like product pages, shopping carts, and checkout pages seamlessly integrated into your site’s design.

Neve Theme Pros and Cons

Pros:

Lightweight and fast
Easy to customize
Compatible with popular page builders
SEO optimized
WooCommerce ready

Cons:

Limited free version features
Some features require paid add-ons
Limited design options

Neve Theme Pricing

Free: This is free to use.
Personal: This costs $69/year. This plan is great for users just getting started with their websites.
Business: This plan costs $149/year and is best for online shops.
Agency: This plan is excellent for freelancers and agencies, costing $259/per year.

7. Elementor Hello Theme

The Elementor Hello Theme is a great substitute for the Astra Theme. It is an excellent choice if you are looking for a lightweight, fast, and highly customizable theme that works seamlessly with the Elementor page builder.

Elementor Hello Theme Key Features

Drag and Drop Page Builder: This allows you to create and customize website pages by simply dragging and dropping elements into place, providing a highly intuitive design experience without needing coding knowledge.
Customizable Templates and Widgets: These pre-designed elements can be easily tailored to fit your website’s specific needs, making it quick and easy to build professional-looking pages.
Mobile Responsive Design: This means your site will look great and function well on desktops, tablets, and smartphones, providing an optimal user experience across all platforms.
WooCommerce Compatibility: The Hello Theme is fully compatible with WooCommerce. You can use Elementor’s design capabilities to build product pages, shopping carts, and checkout pages, ensuring a cohesive and visually appealing e-commerce site.
SEO Optimization: The Hello Theme is lightweight and optimized for speed, which is crucial for SEO. Faster load times improve user experience and can lead to better search engine rankings. Additionally, the theme works well with popular SEO plugins like Yoast SEO, enabling further optimization of your site’s content and structure.
Multi-language Support: It is compatible with translation plugins like WPML and Polylang, allowing you to offer your content in multiple languages and reach a wider audience.

Elementor Hello Theme Pros and Cons

Here are the pros and cons of using the Elementor Hello Theme:

Pros:

Easy to use
Flexible and customizable
Mobile responsive design
WooCommerce compatibility
Free to use

Cons:

Some features require additional plugins
It can be slow on some hosting providers

Elementor Hello Theme Pricing

Elementor Hello Theme is forever free to use.

8. Avada Theme

If you’re looking for a versatile and feature-rich WordPress theme, Avada Theme is a great option. It has been around since 2012 and is continuously updated to keep up with the latest design trends and technology.

Avada Theme Key Features

Easy-to-use: A drag-and-drop page builder that makes it easy to create custom layouts
Pre-built Templates: There are over 70 pre-built website designs to choose from
Compatibility: Compatibility with popular WordPress plugins like WooCommerce and Gravity Forms
Responsive Design: A responsive design that looks great on all devices
Highly Customizable: Customizable headers and footers
SEO Options: Avada has built-in SEO optimization tools to ensure your pages are search engine optimized.

Avada Theme Pros and Cons

Like any WordPress theme, Avada Theme has its pros and cons. Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using Avada Theme:

Pros:

A wide range of features and customization options
A powerful page builder that makes it easy to create custom layouts
Built-in support for WooCommerce and other popular plugins
Regularly updated to keep up with the latest WordPress trends and technology
Excellent documentation and support

Cons:

It can be overwhelming for beginners due to the wide range of options and features.
The page builder can be slow to load on some sites
Some users have reported issues with compatibility with specific plugins.

Avada Pricing

Avada is a premium WordPress theme, which means it has a price tag. A regular license costs $69, which includes lifetime updates and six months of support. You can purchase an extended support package for an additional fee if you need more support.

9. Genesis Framework

Genesis Framework is a popular WordPress theme framework that offers a wide range of features and customization options. It is a great alternative to the Astra theme.

Genesis Framework Key Features

SEO optimized: Genesis Framework is designed with SEO in mind, making optimizing your website for search engines easy.
Mobile responsive: The theme is mobile responsive, ensuring your website looks great on all devices.
Customizable: Genesis Framework offers customization options, including custom widgets, page templates, and theme options.
Fast loading: The theme is optimized for speed, ensuring your website loads quickly.
Secure: Genesis Framework is built with security in mind, making it a safe and secure option for your website.
Developer-friendly: The theme is designed to be developer-friendly, with a wide range of hooks and filters for customization.

Genesis Framework Pros and Cons

Pros:

Wide range of customization options
SEO optimized
Mobile responsive
Fast loading
Secure
Developer-friendly

Cons:

Limited free child themes
The steep learning curve for beginners

Genesis Framework Pricing

Genesis Framework is free when you host on WP Engine or Flywheel. You can subscribe to Genesis Pro for more advanced features, which costs $360 yearly.

Why Should You Consider an Alternative to Astra Theme?

Astra is a popular theme that offers various customization options and is known for its speed and performance.

While the Astra theme is highly regarded for its flexibility, speed, and extensive customization options, it does have some limitations.

Firstly, Astra’s advanced features and customization options are only available through the Astra Pro plugin or additional add-ons. While Astra is compatible with many popular plugins, achieving certain functionalities may require third-party plugins.

Although Astra offers customization options for headers and footers, it lacks the advanced drag-and-drop builder in themes like Kadence WP. Users looking for highly intricate header and footer designs might find Astra’s capabilities somewhat restrictive.

While extensive, Astra’s pre-built templates and design options can sometimes feel limiting if you want to create a unique or unconventional website design.

Although Astra is user-friendly, beginners might find the extensive customization options overwhelming.

Some users might find that feature updates and new additions are slower than those of other rapidly evolving themes. While Astra is regularly updated for compatibility and security, significant new features might not be introduced as frequently.

Another limitation of Astra is that it might not suit everyone’s needs. Astra is a lightweight theme designed to work well with page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder. If you are not using a page builder, you might not be able to take advantage of Astra’s features.

Choosing the Right Platform

Several factors must be considered when choosing the right platform for your website.

Here are some key considerations to keep in mind:

1. Your Website Goals

Before you choose a platform, it’s crucial to determine your website goals. Are you looking to create a blog, an online store, a portfolio, or a corporate website?

Different platforms offer different features and functionality, so choosing a platform that aligns with your goals is essential.

2. Ease of Use

Another essential factor to consider is ease of use. If you’re new to website building, you’ll want a platform that is easy to navigate and use. Look for platforms with intuitive interfaces and drag-and-drop functionality.

3. Customization Options

Customization options are also important. You’ll want a platform to customize your website to suit your brand and aesthetic. Look for platforms with various themes and templates and customization options for fonts, colors, and layouts.

4. SEO Friendliness

Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for driving traffic to your website. Look for SEO-friendly platforms with features such as customizable meta tags, clean code, and fast load times.

5. Support and Community

Finally, consider the support and community offered by the platform. Look for platforms with active communities, support forums, and responsive customer support. This can be especially important if you run into technical issues or have questions about using the platform.

Final Thoughts on Astra Theme Alternatives

While the Astra theme remains popular for many WordPress users, exploring its alternatives can provide unique advantages depending on your specific requirements.

Kadence WP is the best alternative due to its advanced header and footer builder, dynamic content options, and built-in performance enhancements. It is an excellent choice for those seeking flexibility and speed.

Developed by Elegant Themes, Divi Theme is a highly versatile and popular WordPress theme that caters to a wide range of website needs. Known for its powerful drag-and-drop page builder and extensive customization options, Divi makes it easy for users of all skill levels to create stunning and functional websites without needing any coding knowledge.

Finally, the Elementor Hello Theme offers a minimalist, blank canvas that pairs perfectly with the Elementor page builder, giving users unparalleled design freedom and performance optimization.

By considering these alternatives, you can find a theme that aligns with your vision and enhances your WordPress experience, ensuring you build a website that meets your goals efficiently and effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions on Astra Theme Alternatives

What are some free alternatives to the Astra WordPress theme?

Some popular free themes are Kadence WP, Elementor Hello Theme, GeneratePress, and OceanWP. These themes offer a range of features and customization options that can help you create a professional-looking website without spending a dime.

Which WordPress themes are considered the best competitors to Astra?

These themes include the Kadence WP Theme, Elementor Hello Theme, GeneratePress, and OceanWP. These themes offer similar features and customization options and are known for their high performance and ease of use.

How does the Kadence WP theme compare to Astra in terms of features and performance?

Both Kadence WP and Astra excel in features and performance, making them top choices for WordPress users. But Kadence WP stands out with its advanced header and footer builder, dynamic content options, and built-in performance enhancements.

Can GeneratePress be a suitable replacement for the Astra theme for professional websites?

GeneratePress is a lightweight WordPress theme often considered a suitable replacement for the Astra theme. It offers a range of customization options and is known for its fast loading times and optimized code. It also has a built-in page builder and supports WooCommerce integration, making it an excellent choice for professional websites.

In terms of customization and ease of use, how does the Neve theme stand up against Astra?

Neve is a lightweight WordPress theme known for its ease of use. It has a built-in page builder and supports WooCommerce integration. It also has a range of pre-built demos and templates to help you get started quickly. Regarding customization, Neve offers a range of easy-to-use options, making it an excellent option for beginners.

Disclosure: We may earn commissions if you buy via links on our website. Commissions don’t affect our opinions or evaluations. We’re also an independent affiliate of many platforms, including ClickFunnels, Kartra, GoHighLevel, Podia, Northwest Registered Agent, and others. We’re not employees of these services. We receive referral payments from them, and the opinions expressed here are our own and are not official statements of these companies.

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