Next up: designing your website. Yes, you want a beautiful website, but you don’t want to shell out thousands of dollars for a web designer. And you don’t know the first thing about building a beautiful website.
I have good news: You don’t need to be a designer. You don’t even have to hire one. And you don’t have to try to figure it out yourself. All you need is a premium WordPress theme. So we've compiled the top 100 WordPress themes you should consider (sorted by category):
Not ready to hire a designer yet? No problem. These creative multipurpose themes come with dozens of templates and endless customization options so you can design your dream website without a drop of code.
Because they come with multiple variations, you can use them for literally any project: a DIY blog, a fashion blog, an e-commerce store, coaching services, graphic design services, and anything else you want.
They’re pretty handy if you have multiple sites because you can simply use different templates from the same theme.
One more perk is that if you get tired of your current design, you don’t need to invest in another theme. All you have to do is choose a different template and you’re set (they look so different it’s almost like having unique themes!).
Throughout the years, this site has gone through a few changes. It started out looking pretty DIY, until I finally hired a web designer and changed it to look how it does today:
I shelled out thousands of dollars to have Unsettle professionally designed and my web designer used X Theme. X Theme comes with several “stacks” and “demos” (variations of the theme) so it feels like you get several themes in one (hint: Unsettle’s on Renew).
Totally customizable with a badass DIY design center (called Cornerstone), you can do almost anything with X Theme.
If you want a customizable but super simple theme, Thesis is a decent one to consider. Thesis has a rock solid visual editor that may look a little 1990s, but is super easy to use even if you don’t have a techie bone in your body.
You can’t have a top WordPress themes list without mentioning this theme. Avada is one of the best selling themes on ThemeForest and it makes sense: it’s versatile, comes with variations for seemingly every single business, and has a clean, professional feel. While Avada does have a blog theme, I still think it’s best left for ecommerce or service based businesses (their blog layout isn’t as email opt-in friendly as the other options above).
These themes are perfect if you want to start a lifestyle, travel, DIY, fashion, or food blog. Their simple and classic design is ideal for showcasing constant blog posts and updates.
If you could have a website designer create a $10,000+ design for you, test it out, iron out the kinks, and make sure it was perfect to help you reach your goals… for just $100, would you? Of course you would. And that’s pretty much exactly what you get with Smart Passive Income Pro. This theme is so good it almost feels like cheating to use it. Created by Pat Flynn’s design team, he spent tens of thousands of dollars creating the perfect design for his website. He’s one of the internet’s most notorious digital marketers. He makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. Why wouldn’t you use the tools he uses? The theme is fully customizable and seriously effective. If you want a high-converting theme that’s beautiful right out of the box, this one is an awesome option. Smart Passive Income Pro is a theme in the StudioPress suite. You can either buy them individually or get them all with the Pro Plus All-Theme Package here.
This is a super popular theme, and when you do a live demo, you can definitely see why. The theme didn’t make it farther up on the list because it’s specific to food and recipe blogs, but Foodie Pro is a beautiful choice no matter which niche you’re in.
It’s highly recommended by popular food bloggers (such as Minimalist Baker, whose design looks similar) because of the minimalistic approach with plenty of whitespace which allows the visual content to stand out. You don’t have to use it on a food blog. It’s design elements remain refreshingly clean no matter what niche you’re in. This approach makes it a great choice for travel, photography, product, or lifestyle blogs that rely heavily on imagery. Many blogs use Foodie Pro outside of its intended niche:
So don’t let it’s name fool you. Foodie Pro is a theme in the StudioPress suite. You can either buy them individually or get them all with the Pro Plus All-Theme Package here.
Ready to offer your coaching services, freelance services, ebooks, challenges or ecourses? These themes are a great place to start. They’re optimized to draw your audience’s attention, capture emails, and turn readers into clients. Their simple and full-width design lets your ideal audience focus on the valuable services or products you’re offering.
It’s simple, clean, and works perfectly well for your MVP. Parallax Pro is a theme in the StudioPress suite. You can either buy them individually or get them all with the Pro Plus All-Theme Package here.
Aspire is perfect for bloggers. It has a feature box built-in (on most themes, you have to add that feature through a premium plugin) to collect more emails. It incorporates an action color and almost everything you need to start converting your visitors into email subscribers.
Aspire Pro is a theme in the StudioPress suite. You can either buy them individually or get them all with the Pro Plus All-Theme Package here.
Magazine-style themes are ideal for websites with a constant stream of content. If you are frequently updating your readers with articles, videos, infographics, and expert advice, this theme design might be just what you’re looking for.
Minimal themes are perfect to showcase what’s most important to you, whether that’s your writing, photography, services, or online products. Their sleek and clean design is what you need if you like to keep things simple and let your audience enjoy your work with minimal distractions.
