08 Feb StudioPress Membership Review

It’s a well-known name in the WordPress industry. Almost every blogger or internet marketer online is aware of StudioPress’s products and no doubt, it is popular. But, is it really worth? Keep in mind, I’m referring to the StudioPress membership program. Not about a particular theme.

Let’s get into the details and find out if it is really worth or not. Here is the StudioPress membership review you have been waiting for.

StudioPress Membership review

The first and obvious reason why people prefer their products are because they are the best as per the industrial standard. The products are updated regularly, they are lightweight, SEO-friendly, and always manages to deliver what’s being promised.

Moreover, the support team is working all the time, and they are available via live chat and support over email. You can even put up a question in the dedicated forum. Although, tweeting them is the quickest way to grab their attention!

Genesis framework

It is the Marco-Polo feature of every theme developed under StudioPress belt. This is the core framework which drives the engine and delivers all the features. It not only does that but also ensures that all the features and parts are working well in harmony so that the end results are always satisfactory. It also works well with third-party plugins and is kept updated to meet compatibility with the latest WordPress version.

Features

One of the cool feature offered by StudioPress is their support. The team behind is highly capable of solving toughest to toughest queries and issues. Their products are so well-coded that the chances of getting an issue are very rare. Still, if you find one, then the support team is available to fix it.

The features and security updates are delivered quick and Over the Air. You can instantly update the theme right from the Dashboard with a single click. You don’t have re-download the fresh version and remove the existing one.

Their love for HTML5 can be noticed in each of the modern products they have released. HTML5 markup is placed in order to ensure the theme stays both modern and responsive to work perfectly on smartphones and tablets. Although, all the themes are responsive and mobile friendly but the one with HTML5 markup are also lightweight and quick to judge a mobile browser. This helps in delivering a snappy and top-notch experience to the smartphone and even featured phone users.

They offer a set of widgets to match the overall features and a lot of layout options are also packed. You can quickly change the overall layout and switch between the available ones. Most importantly, their new products allow placing widgets on the homepage itself. This particular method of customising the front page is not that fancy but it is very simple to operate and get the job done.

Each of their products is Blog ready, allowing the webmaster to quickly set up a blog if the website is meant to be used to showcase a business profile.

The code behind the themes and the framework itself is very lightweight and minimal. It’s a challenge in itself to find a code which doesn’t have a significance role. This particular feature helps their themes to stay extremely lightweight and capable of delivering top-notch performance scores.

Simplicity

Simplicity is one of the reasons which drives the overall design part of the World Wide Web. If a website isn’t simple to look and operate then it will rarely be liked by the visitors. So, in order to gain the maximum chance of getting your website appreciated, you need to focus on finding themes which look simple. Themes which offers features which are very specific to the niche and nothing else. No junk or additional features which might not be useful at all!

This is another area where StudioPress developers are a master. They are expert in creating themes which say lightweight and looks lightweight. You can check any of their products and I can assure you that you’ll find tough to pick one of them which doesn’t look simple or manages to grab your attention.

This rule of simplicity doesn’t only apply to the existing products but it is well maintained in every future theme they make and put in the public domain.

There is a negative part too, which you should be aware of. Sometimes, too much simplicity can also hurt the user experience. A simple thing will surely be simple to understand but it might fail to look attractive. This has been a story with their old products. They looked simple but not that attractive. But, that was in past!

Now, each of their new products is looking not just simple but also managing to hold an attractive attire. This is a crucial feature in 2016 as users are liking the products which look simple and attractive. Not just simple!

Performance and SEO

This particular section is the branded feature of StudioPress products. They are known for their quick page load time and top-notch SEO scorecard. Each of their products is designed in such a way that it stays lightweight, even if you enable all the available features. And, most importantly, the products are coded right so that there are zero chances of getting SEO related issues.

Throughout my journey as a blogger, I have used many themes. But, in most of the cases, I have managed to rank a website using StudioPress theme, easily in compare to the other cases.

So, SEO part is a pure bliss and when it is added up with a top-notch performance, then the package becomes tough to ignore.

Talking about the performance section, Google and other search engines are trying everything they can to promote websites which load faster than other. Google has stated clearly that speed of the website is one of the major ranking factors.

No matter which theme you are using, it will always be delivering the best possible performance. It will rarely take the time to load up as the coding at the base is highly efficient.

Customisability

This is the area where their products fall short. Themes can be used for the way they look in the particular demos. There are some customization options available here and there but they are very basic and doesn’t add up to what competition is offering.

I have used MyThemeShop, ElegantThemes, and many other developer’s products and the Theme Panel they offer allows a lot of customization options. But, on the other side, the number of options also increases the overall weight. And, here in the case of StudioPress, they are always trying to keep things on the lightweight and to-the-point. Nothing less and nothing more!

In my opinion, once a website is established, it shouldn’t be thinking about changing its overall look. Because users get addicted to how a website looks and if the design changes are not that good and user-friendly, then you might lose valuable readers which can hurt the future.

Security

I have been using StudioPress themes for last four years and I haven’t seen any of their products getting any issues related to security. Four years of experience and zero security issues!

This is not an easy thing to achieve for a developer in the age of cybercrime which is becoming bigger day by day. The developers are very keen to fix loopholes, bugs and they also take the feedback very keenly.

This security feature increases the overall health and authority image of a website where the theme is being used. Moreover, if you need tips regarding hardening your WordPress website even more, then the support team is always ready to help out.

Not to forget, they have managed to make a big name with the quality of their work. This trust helps them to make new products and sell them in a good number. You’ll find most of the reviews online in their favour which means a lot to a product’s success. Also, this trust part is not that easy to grab and it doesn’t happen overnight.

Cost

Last year, StudioPress increased the total price for the membership program by $100 straight. Earlier it used to cost $399 and now it is $499. However, they didn’t offer any theme from third-party developers which is now included in the new package.

If you’re buying four of their themes, then the price of them is equal to the price of getting all of them. So, if you have gone through the collection and have the plan to use four or more of their themes on different projects, then going with the Pro Plus plan is a good choice. Otherwise, you should buy one or two themes and continue the work.

The price you pay here is covered for keeping the latest themes available to download, followed by their regular updates, and dedicated support by the developers.

Now as you are aware of the total features, everything they offer, and particularly the standard of their work, I hope it is easy to make up a mind. If you are still confused, then explain the situation in the discussion section so that I can come up with a working solution.

My favourite StudioPress themes

eleven40 Pro – One of their best selling product which is perfect for running a blog. It is lightweight and works perfectly throughout the year.

Altitude Pro – This particular theme is an eye catcher. It is flexible, business ready, blog ready, and also have some cool parallax effects.

Maker Pro – Do you run a creative agency? If yes, then check out what Maker Pro is all about. I’m sure you’ll not be disappointed.

Workstation Pro – As the name suggests, it’s a perfect theme for a small agency or a freelancer to run a digital profile. It is a clean theme which primarily focuses on highlighting your prime services.

Simply Pro – It is extremely lightweight and extremely simple, yet attractive theme. It primarily focuses on the content and targets to grab maximum readership score.

These are my favourite. Share yours!

Conclusion

So these were the details you came here to know and I hope it all helped you to know things better. Once you start handling a network of blogs and websites, you will be needing a lot of premium themes. And, what StudioPress offers is seriously tough to ignore.

Of course, their pricing is a bit too high as per the competition, but then their products have been delivering what’s being promised. In my opinion, StudioPress service offers peace of mind which is very crucial factor to grow our online business. Agree?