Review Of StudioPress

Over the past decade or so, WordPress has become one of the most popular CMS’s on the planet. During this time, it’s seen a significant amount of growth and change, with this being seen in a variety of ways. This is especially true for its themes.

Initially, these offered relatively little customization, although this has improved quite considerably in recent years. Alongside this has been the rise of frameworks, which has seen an increasingly larger market over the past few years.

While this has been a good thing for website owners using WordPress, it also has a few drawbacks. One of the most significant is that it may have made choosing frameworks and themes much more complicated.

While the technicalities of these frameworks may play a role in this, there are a few other factors at play. Chief among these is that there’s an overwhelming amount of frameworks to choose from. Coupled with this is the number of themes that you can pick.

To complicate the issue slightly more is that many themes may only work with specific frameworks. As such, it’s easy for many of us to be at a loss of where to start. However, there has continued to be a few notable highlights among the crowd in recent years.

One of the largest of these is StudioPress, which has gained a significant amount of popularity recently. There have been several reasons why this has been the case. Because of this, many of us may be considering implementing it into our WordPress site.

Before you do, however, there are a few things you should know.

What Is StudioPress?

StudioPress is a software developer that’s credited with creating the Genesis framework for WordPress. Alongside this, it has developed quite a large range of themes for the CMS. Perhaps the best way to define Genesis is as a layer of code that sits between your preferred theme and the WordPress software.

While this could be seen as a basic theme by itself, it’s best used in conjunction with one of its child themes. Each of these has been specifically designed for Genesis, with those used by other frameworks not being compatible with it.

Pricing

StudioPress offers three main products; the WP Engine, Premium WordPress Themes, and the Genesis Framework. While you can choose to buy these together, you can also do so separately. However, there’s a variety of different prices to be aware of. As such, it’s worth looking at each of them separately.

WP Engine All-In-One Price

The WP Engine is a hosting platform and includes the Genesis Framework and a large number of the StudioPress Premium Themes as standard. Naturally, this means that it’s the more expensive option to pick, although it does offer its benefits.

There are four plans you can choose from with this, with each offering various benefits. These are:

Startup:​Available at $35, this package is the better-recommended option for smaller businesses or blogs. There are a variety of things included in this plan, including 35 premium themes, 50gb of bandwidth, hosting for one site, three environments, and more.

Growth:This is a much more scalable option and is priced at $115. For the cost, there’s a significant amount on offer, such as hosting for five sites, three environments per site, the Genesis framework, 35 StudioPress themes, free migration, and much more.

Scale:Costing $290 per month, there’s a lot to take advantage of with this plan. This includes 35 StudioPress themes, the Genesis framework, 15 sites with three environments each, free migrations, and more.

Custom:The cost of this option will vary significantly depending on what you’re looking for. Typically, you should expect the Genesis framework, StudioPress themes, a dedicated environment, fast response time, and much more.

With the StudioPress plans that are available here, you shouldn’t have any problem finding the right one for you.

Genesis Framework & WordPress Premium Themes

Many of us mightn’t want to go for the all-in-one option with StudioPress, although there may still be a few things that you might want. With the Genesis framework and premium themes, there are two plans that you should be able to take advantage of. These are:

Basic Plan:​Coming in at $59.95, there are a variety of features to take advantage of here. This is a once-off cost and will grant you access to a large number of theme tutorials and the Genesis framework.

Pro Plus Membership: Available from $499.95, there’s quite a large number of features on offer with the Pro Plus Membership. On top of what the Basic Plan includes, you should also get an unlimited number of sites and support, the Genesis framework, access to all of the themes and tutorials, and more.

If you want to buy the StudioPress premium themes individually, then you may end up paying more than you might want. These are priced individually, although the majority fall into the $99.95 to $129.95 range.

While this isn’t too expensive if you’re getting only one theme, it could add up quite quickly if you’re planning on using several of them. This is truer if you couple it with the price of the Basic Plan.

Benefits of StudioPress

There are quite a large number of benefits to using StudioPress and the Genesis framework. The most obvious of these is the wealth of themes that have been developed for it, with these still growing. These are quite responsive and have been designed to quite a high standard.

Many of them have also been created with specific industries in mind. As such, you should be able to take advantage of them while still being able to customize them for your needs. Coupled with this is the fact that it’s built for SEO.

This is quite a notable benefit compared to many other themes. This is because it’s been designed to take advantage of various SEO details, such as semantic HTML5 markup, Schema data, and much more. These are often factors that many other themes may overlook or not pay too much attention to.

Security is also a notable issue for many website owners. While WordPress itself already offers a significant amount of protection, StudioPress takes this to another level. This has continued to be improved in recent years by a variety of experts and other developers.

The customer service that’s on offer with the Genesis framework is also much better than you may be used to. This should be seen as quite a significant benefit, as you’ll be able to take advantage of some exceptional service.

The variety of available themes is also a benefit. These have been designed to accommodate almost every business. Coupled with the fact that they’re ready to go, and you shouldn’t have any issues in implementing them into your site.

Cons of StudioPress

While there’s an extensive number of pros with StudioPress, it’s not without its cons. Perhaps the most obvious of these is the cost, as the themes and some other aspects are much more expensive than others. This could be quite an offputting factor for many website owners.

Coupled with this is that there’s quite a large learning curve with using the Genesis framework. While the basics of updating the website are relatively simple, anything beyond this can become quite complicated. Much of this can be seen in customizing the site.

This could mean that you’ll have to spend a significant amount of time learning how to use it. If you’re short on time, then you might be better off using a different framework and themes. However, this might not be too large of an issue if you have the time to invest in learning how to use Genesis.

Is It Worth It?

With all of the pros and cons that StudioPress offers, you might still struggle to decide whether it’s worth the investment. While much of this could depend on your needs, it could be a recommended installation for many WordPress websites.

There are a few notable areas where the framework and its related themes shine. This should mean that it’s well-recommended for site owners looking for a framework that’s SEO-friendly, scalable, and lightweight.

The themes that StudioPress offers are quite high-quality, with each of them being attractive and user-friendly. This should mean that a large number of them will be highly recommended. While these will depend significantly on your personal preference, many of them can be beneficial for specific industries.

With the level of customization that’s on offer with StudioPress and its themes, you shouldn’t have any problem personalizing it for your brand. This should let you take advantage of a high-quality theme that offers a unique website that most website visitors should find attractive.

Many of the themes that StudioPress has developed are designed for specific sectors. This should give you a high-quality foundation to start personalizing your website. The attraction doesn’t stop there, however, as you’ll be able to make sure that your website is user-friendly and mobile optimized.

All of this is available at a relatively affordable price, which should make this a cost-effective option for many website owners.

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References & Resources

• SudioPress, Official Website.