I’ve been a long-term user of Genesis themes. Ever since Studio Press changed their business model, I started rethinking that strategy. In the past, if you had the all-themes subscription, you could find a child theme that came pretty close to the look and feel you were going for. Now, unless you get a different subscription, those options are limited.

I’ve also to a lesser extent had some experience with Avada. I didn’t go all in with it because it had issues. The starter or demo content was limited and not particularly easy to install. The theme was bulky and site loading speed was not a priority. Over the last year or so, that has all changed. 

There are now 87 prebuilts and more are regularly added. There is now a performance wizard that helps you optimize your website for speed.

Layouts are the key to making your life easier. A layout can contain a Header, Page Title Bar, Content and Footer that are all highly customizable. Then each Layout can be assigned to various pages (pages, posts, custom post types, taxonomies, search, 404, etc). Once you create a layout and assign it, those pages in the assignment automatically take on the layout options. All the prebuilts come with layouts that you can keep, customize or delete.

One of the keys to choosing a WordPress theme is finding help if something goes wonky. Avada in its advertising says:

“Avada is the #1 selling WordPress Website Builder on the market and has been continuously for more than 9+ years. 800,000+ beginners, professionals, agencies, businesses, and creatives trust Avada for total design freedom.”

That means that a lot of people know this theme inside and out.

The days of choosing a free theme is basically over. Performance and security require dedicated and talented designers/techies and that requires paying a competitive wage — not easy to do if you have a “free theme” business model.

Avada has a very active Facebook group and top-notch support.

You know the drill — you get a theme and then you or your client want it to do more. Then you start adding plugins to do those things. You start with the free versions but just like my comment about themes, to get the really good stuff, you go premium.

Avada has so many elements already built in like:

So basically you can get rid of many plugins you are currently using and paying for.

Bottom line: Avada does cost money but you get so much value and if you expect to monetize your website (and why wouldn’t you), the cost is very reasonable (as of this writing, a license plus 12 months support is under $100).

I highly recommend Avada. In just a few steps, you’ll be on your way to creating or updating your website. First go to Themeforest to get your license and download the full files and documentation to your computer. Then go into your WordPress dashboard, Add a Theme and Upload the Avada.zip file. When you activate the theme you’ll be prompted to go through the setup wizard. If you don’t have a design in mind, choose a prebuilt website and then have fun making it your own.