WordPress is an excellent platform for first-time blog owners. Nevertheless, choosing a design for a website can be challenging as there are tens of thousands of WordPress blog themes to choose from.
so which ones are worth considering? Fret not, this article will not only show you ten of the most recommended premium themes but also what aspects to look out for when picking for a design.
What to Consider When Choosing a WordPress Theme
There are criteria webmasters should think about before getting a premium design. When you decide to get a paid theme, you should pick one that will satisfy you for a while. After all, changing it every other month will be a waste of money.
Below are a couple of insights to help you choose a theme for your blog:
- Usability — your website should be easy to navigate for better user experience. Thus, your website’s design shouldn’t be cluttered.
- Responsiveness — since most people don’t just use desktop devices, but mobile ones too, your blog should look great on all screen sizes.
- Appearance — it should also fit the site’s niche. Using a food-related theme for a travel blog might not be the best idea.
- Reviews and ratings — make sure to pick a theme that has positive reviews and good ratings. This is your first indicator of the theme’s quality.
- Support — see if the developer provides support if you ever run into trouble with your theme.
- Plugins — some themes recommend you to install certain WordPress plugins. For the ones that do not, you should check if they are compatible with useful plugins.
- Price — make sure that the price you’re paying is fair to the features you get with the theme.
- Top 10 Premium WordPress Blog Themes Worth Buying
Without further ado, let’s check the 10 recommended WordPress blog themes, based on their prices, features and user experience.
1. Vlog
For those who want a unique video website, Vlog is an excellent choice.
With this theme, users can upload or embed videos and even enable advanced features. Which include but are not limited to playlists and cinema mode.
What is more, coding is not necessary for using Vlog. It offers an intuitive theme options panel to help you design your website.
Vlog is available on Theme Forest for $69. You only need to pay once, but the email customer support costs $21.38 for 12 months of customer support.
The Good
- Vlog comes with a built-in “watch later” feature – similar to what Youtube has. Thus, your visitors can save videos in a list.
- This theme allows users to adapt their website’s interface to match phone and tablet displays.
The Bad
- You need to install different plugins to enable one-click video import and playlist creation.
- The theme’s customer support is limited to six months upon purchase and requires a costly license renewal.
The Verdict
If you want to build and manage a video website without coding, installing Vlog can be very helpful. On top of that, the theme only costs $69 if you do not wish to extend your support license.
2. Rosemary
Websites with minimalistic design can emphasize your content. If that is your goal, Rosemary is one of the best themes to get.
Apart from its clean appearance, Rosemary can save you from spending too much time on customization. You only need to select your homepage and blog post layout, while the theme takes care of the overall design.
Last but not least, Rosemary costs only $49 without the support license.
The Good
- The homepage already comes with the option of enabling a featured posts slider. Otherwise, you need a plugin for this feature.
- In addition to that, users can display their Instagram posts on the footer area.
- Rosemary’s sticky header allows visitors to navigate the site even when they are not on the top of a page.
The Bad
- Rosemary offers five types of post list layout but does not enable in-depth customization.
The Verdict
Rosemary is a suitable option for users who dislike cluttered website design. Moreover, it comes at a low price.
3. Zelle PRO
If you are running a blog for a small business, having a homepage with recent posts is not enough to capture your audience’s attention. In this case, what you need is to show who you are and what you offer — which requires a static homepage.
Zelle PRO is a theme that can help you to design this type of homepage without hassle. It comes with various sections that you can enable or disable with one click.
On top of that, the theme customization panel allows users to modify each section.
However, Zelle PRO can be expensive for some people as the price starts at $199 for the lifetime license. You can also opt for the annual plan, which starts at $69.
The Good
- Zelle PRO’s theme options give users control over the color of various design elements, including but not limited to texts and backgrounds.
- In terms of background, users can use either a static one, an image slideshow, or a video. What is more, the theme has a parallax scrolling out of the box.
- To help you use Zelle PRO, the developer has many knowledgebase articles and video tutorials.
The Bad
- Zelle PRO has three plans. The most basic one, however, does not get priority support. There is also an option for live chat support, but only with the most expensive plan.
The Verdict
Zelle PRO is one of the themes on this list that offers in-depth customization without a page builder plugin. If you have the money for it, I suggest getting this theme. After all, its developer has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
4. Oblique PRO
As you may already guess from the name, Oblique PRO comes from the same developer as Zelle PRO.
The theme does not offer as many customization options as the previous one. Nonetheless, it serves as a fast and easy-to-use theme your blog can rely on.
In terms of cost, Oblique PRO has the same pricing plans as Zelle PRO.
The Good
- This theme features a hidden navigation bar, which is docked to the left side of the page. Should you ever want to declutter your site’s design, this feature is beneficial.
- Users can put widgets on the navigation bar. Thus, the main interface will not be cluttered with sections like the post archives and the blog author’s biography.
- Oblique PRO allows for further customization through WordPress page builders such as BeaverBuilder and Divi.
The Bad
- At $69 per year, the most basic plan of this theme is too expensive for the features that it has.
The Verdict
Oblique PRO is considerably expensive for the features offered. However, the theme is an excellent option should you want a theme with hidden menus. Plus, it enables users to edit fonts and text sizes.
5. Zeen
Not sure what kind of design to get for your blog? The solution to that problem is an all-in-one theme like Zeen.
This theme offers 18 unique demo websites that cover various niches. What is more, users can clone these ready-to-use design templates.
Zeen is available on Theme Forest for $60 with an additional cost of $18 for a customer support license.
The Good
- Apart from an in-depth theme options panel, Zeen also comes with a native page builder plugin.
- The page builder is a part of the 24 plugins bundle that this theme offers. These plugins consist of but are not limited to, MailChimp, Yoast SEO, and WooCommerce.
- There are 18 website templates to choose from. Whether you want to build a travel, tech, or fashion blog, Zeen works for all of them.
The Bad
- The wide range of design options that the theme has can be confusing for first-time users.
The Verdict
Zeen can be a decent upgrade for those who need more freedom when it comes to customization. Plus, the plugin bundle saves users from having to download them one by one.
6. Newspaper
WordPress is easier to use than many other CMSs. However, the Newspaper theme takes it further by providing section and page template collection, namely TagDiv Cloud Library.
With this template library, users can browse and use different styles of pages and sections. Thus, you can create a professional-looking blog in a couple of clicks.
Since the Newspaper theme is only $59 on Theme Forest, it is a deal you should not miss.
The Good
- There are more than eight hundred templates for pages and sections in the TagDiv Cloud Library.
- With the theme’s Header Manager, users can design custom headers for their blog. Plus, this tool uses the drag-and-drop function.
- This theme can adjust your blog’s theme and content to fit mobile displays.
The Bad
- The Newspaper theme has tons of functionality and customization options. However, some users may find it confusing.
The Verdict
If you cannot wait to launch your blog, the Newspaper WordPress theme is worth a try. Creating your blog will be as quick as choosing a demo site and picking the necessary page sections.
7. Authentic
Many WordPress themes support responsive design, but the Authentic theme is more than that. Authentic’s developer, Codesupply, built the theme with a fast mobile browsing experience in mind.
Thanks to the theme’s Low-Quality Image Placeholder function, images will only fully load when visitors view them.
On top of that, Authentic comes with AMP support — meaning that the mobile version of your blog can load even faster.
If that sounds good to you, I suggest getting this theme. It is only $59 in Theme Forest and allows you to change between demo sites anytime.
The Good
- The theme allows users to choose from six header designs. Not only that, the header can use parallax or video background as well.
- Because of authentic’s post header feature, you can use the featured image of each article as their background.
- Users can enable a sticky sidebar. This is a helpful feature if you put important widgets, such as social media links or call-to-action buttons in the sidebar.
The Bad
- For those who are looking for a large demo website collection, Authentic may not be the solution since it only has 13 templates.
The Verdict
At $59, Authentic packs a lot of benefits. Not only does it allow users to change between templates, but also to customize post headers.
8. Trawell
Documenting your travel hobby in a blog is fun. However, you might not have time for designing the blog. For that reason, Trawell comes in handy.
This theme consists of four website templates that users can modify effortlessly. You can reorder its homepage sections in a matter of clicks. Plus, there are multiple post and category page layouts to choose from.
What is more, Trawell offers five styles of Google Maps display to make your blog posts look unique.
If you think this WordPress theme is a good choice, Trawell is available on Theme Forest at $69.
The Good
- Apart from custom typography settings, Trawell users can upload their own logo.
- For added aesthetic value, users can assign different header backgrounds for each post category.
- There is an option to set specific sidebar widgets for different post categories or pages.
The Bad
- To get the Google Maps style options, you need to download a separate plugin called Meks Easy Map.
- The theme is expensive – users need to pay $21.38 per six months to extend the support license.
The Verdict
Even though it is expensive and only offers four website templates, Trawell is still a great option for building a travel blog. Moreover, the theme settings enable you to create a design that stands out in the crowd.
9. Jannah
A blog is incomplete if you do not engage with your readers. There are many ways to do it, including sending newsletters and displaying related blog entries at the end of a post.
With Jannah, you do not have to look for plugins that provide those functionalities. Plus, the theme has many other built-in features.
On top of that, Jannah costs only $59 for lifetime use. It comes with free customer support for six months. If you want to extend it for another half of the year, there is an additional $17.63 fee.
The Good
- You can enable a slider at the bottom of every blog entry that displays related posts. With this feature, you can encourage readers to stay longer on your site.
- Jannah enables users to prompt web notifications for new posts. They can also set the notifications’ title, description, and thumbnail.
- You have the option to place an email subscription form on the blog’s footer area.
The Bad
- Although each user may find different downsides to this theme, many people in Theme Forest reported that its customer support is not very reliable.
The Verdict
Jannah is no ordinary WordPress blog theme. With its features, you can increase the chance that readers will follow your blog.
10. The Voux
Do you want a WordPress blog theme that simplifies affiliate marketing? If you do, then Voux can be your choice.
With its built-in features such as the Image HotSpots, it is possible to upload images and tag the products in it. Your blog visitors can click on these tags to see the products and order them right away.
Like the previous theme, Voux is also offered for $59 at Theme Forest.
The Good
- Apart from the Image HotSpots feature, users can monetize their self-hosted videos using Voux’s video player.
- This theme comes with more than 20 demo websites and a section template gallery to help users design their blog.
- With its Adaptive Images feature, Voux will resize your pictures for different screen ratios.
The Bad
- Apart from templates, the theme does not provide an in-depth design setting.
The Verdict
Voux is a suitable choice if you want to make money from your blog using affiliate programs. What is more, it simplifies the website design process with its page section templates.
Spice Up Your Blog!
The right WordPress blog theme should not only match its niche but also has additional features that serve its purpose.
To help you decide, I summarized the main features of each theme in this article:
- Vlog — turns your blog into a video website with the “watch later” feature and distraction-free cinema mode.
- Rosemary — comes with a sticky header, featured posts slider, and Instagram feeds display at an affordable price.
- Zelle PRO — allows for slideshow and video background with parallax scrolling effect.
- Oblique PRO — offers a hidden navigation bar.
- Zeen — adds 24 plugins with various functions at only $60.
- Newspaper — has a section template gallery with more than 600 options.
- Authentic — provides the option for enabling a sticky sidebar.
- Trawell — allows users to reorder homepage sections and use various Google Maps map styles.
- Jannah — can encourage visitors to keep up with your blog, thanks to the web notifications and email subscription form.
- The Voux — provides an easy way for affiliate marketing campaigns through the Image HotSpots feature.
Which one fits your style and niche? If you have a favorite that I did not mention, which WordPress blog theme is it? Let’s discuss it in the comment section below!
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