Woo Themes WordPress Themes – A Critical Review

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In this critical review I compare Woo Themes to some other well-respected themes online so you can judge for yourself which is the best for building your online empire. I will also expose the truth and show you which premium WordPress theme I use on my personal blog and why. By the way… I have used all the themes in this review on my quest to finding the perfect theme to use for business or blogging.

If you already aren’t aware, WooThemes, is very popular premium theme designed for use with Wordpress.

Why Am I reviewing Woo Themes and the other premium themes?

Long story short… I want you to kick some serious butt online. In order for you to build the best business online you can, you’ve got to know all the little tricks, short cuts, and secrets of the top online marketers and mega earners. I’m in your corner every step of the way.

With that said… before I compare the WordPress themes…

Here are the “MUST HAVE” criteria I NOW have when evaluating website themes before purchasing (makes my life easier and yours too):

1. The theme has to be run on WordPress; the absolute best platform for building websites and blogs online P-E-R-I-O-D! Nothing compares for SEO, content, plugins, expansion, and usability. I couldn’t run my site without WordPress and neither will you. It’s a fact…all the internet “Gurus” and “Online Mega Earners” use WordPress and you should to. If you want to be the internet money making game go get WordPress right now. Go head and do it now if you don’t already have it.  Here’s the best part… it’s free and Hostgator (the best hosting provider in the world, has a one click installation that installs it in a snap) Click here to find out more abut hostgator.com. Hands down, they are the best place to host your website and I rank their support a 10 out of 10. (Check out my must read review on hostgator here)
2. It has to be easy to use. I want a theme I can use out of the box without having to spend all my time trying to figure the thing out.  The theme has to have the capabilities to be up and running fast. I know and you know…. time is money.
3. The premium WordPress theme has to have an active forum including participants, moderators, and support in case I ran into a snag.
4. The theme I choose has to be coded professionally so it won’t load slowly or be poor performing in search engines.
5. The theme has to be customizable so I can stand out from the crowd.
6. Without a doubt… The WordPress Theme has to look damn good.
7. Bottom line… I have to be able to make money with my website theme.

So once again… from this point forward… I use the above criteria when I review Woo Themes or any other premium WordPress theme for that matter. I will not use a theme ever again that doesn’t meet my requirements because I would be wasting my time and so would you.

Now that we’ve got the bases covered…

Onward to my quest for the perfect WordPress theme… and yes I have bought all these I am comparing.

First up… 

Thesis by Diythemes Review

Their website gets over 26,000 unique views a month and alexa rank of 1,146 in the US as of review. I searched the web and what sold me on Thesis at the time was its Showcase page. The sites they had showcasing their theme looked really good. Here’s the problem… when I downloaded my copy of thesis and I opened it up on my server… I saw nothing remotely similar to the “killer” designs on their site. The people who built their Showcase sites were not Newbies.

So, I spent four months trying to figure out how to use this thesis theme I had bought. Trying to figure this out sucked all my time. The smallest of tweaks or customization would take me a three or more days to figure out. Instead of marketing my website, I was spending all my time learning to “code” this thing. I wanted an easily customizable theme and thesis wasn’t it. What a nightmare.

Besides…

At the time I bought thesis theme, I couldn’t add a custom header or footer as built in options. These were not standard options. I had to learn their hooks system to modify just about everything… and the few people who were in their support forums talked way over my head… and support was basically non-existent.

Now to be fair… this was the first theme I tried to use on a niche blog I was working on a few years ago without any direction like you are getting here.

So if you are trying to make money with a blog and you are a newbie and get it up quickly… I can not recommend thesis theme. There are much better themes for you. Keep reading to find out what they are.  If my skillset is newbie or intermediate type I would want to have a theme that can be up and running fast and thesis doesn’t foot the bill.

However, if you do have some WordPress skills Thesis may be right for you. Advanced users thrive with this theme. Thesis has came a long way.  According to their website… they have over 42,000 users who love their SEO features, flexibility of design, and super fast loading times. So if you think you’ve got the skills… by all means go for it. Click here to find out more about Thesis Theme For WordPress.

Next up… 

Headway Themes Review

They get similar traffic as Thesis… approximately (20,000 unique views a month and have an alexa rank of 4,196 in US as of September, 2011). Now… what sold me on Headway themes was the custom drag and drop feature they have and the color scheme integration they have when you upload a header.

Reviews were good so… it sounded good right… I thought so… but not so fast…

Well, let me start here… I had built a few websites at this time and I was looking for an out of box, “let’s rock n’ roll”, style theme that I could use immediately.

However… that’s not what I got. Their “drag and drop” interface… which really wasn’t that easy to learn (but the next two themes I reviewed are) and looked like crap. In fact, the finished product just didn’t look good. Specifically it looked amateurish. The edges of my website noticeably didn’t line up. Also, I tested it on multiple browsers and it was slow to load.

The final straw came after I was pulling out all my hair was when I decided to trash that entire Headway Themed project and bought a new theme from the company below (theme forest) and start from scratch… and I am glad I did.

I wouldn’t recommend this theme to an intermediate or advanced user because you’ve got to learn how to use their system, and their system is not at all like other premium themes on the market… but you can check it out for yourself here if you want.

We’ve got a good one coming up now

Themeforest Review

Theme forest has some AWESOME themes. I’ve used several of their themes to my complete satisfaction. They boast over 4000 themes and templates (you’ll never need that many). However they provide templates and theme for other formats other than WordPress. So… be careful not to buy a non-Wordpress theme… because we only want to work with WordPress right? I thought so.

Theme forest is a place where multiple developers can sell their themes. This is good and bad… The good is you get some really cool features that you don’t always find out of the box at any other premium WordPress sites. Also, many of these have cool sliders, short codes, and color pickers, (I can’t stand a theme that doesn’t have an easy way to change colors) which I absolutely “dig”, built in to the theme.

The best part is… You don’t have to code anything and they look great.

Themes at Theme forest actually look like the examples they provide for you. That is a big plus.

I would recommend theme forest for sure for newbies – experts but… they are not the best (see below for the best)

Here’s what you do… you go to Themeforest.net and begin looking through the WordPress themes. Many are interchangeable and can be used for business, personal, blog or a combination of all.

And the best part is because of the multiple colors and design options… you can really get a unique, one of a kind WordPress theme for a great deal.

The drawbacks…

You have so many developers you need to pay attention to their feedback, reviews and comments. They vary tremendously and many do not speak English as their first language. Also, not all of them are the easiest to set up.

Hint: I like to stick to designers/authors who have made a at least a few themes and glance through their entire body of work and choose from there. I often don’t choose the most popular theme a designer offers unless I am going to modify it.

Bottom line…. I would recommend themeforest for sure for newbies – experts. You can click here to find out more about Themeforest.net and pick up their themes if you want. You’ll find a great theme for your blog.

I saved the best for last in my critical Woo Themes review…

Woothemes.com Review

Woo Themes are the best of the bunch. These guys are doing something right… a lot right. They had over 80,000 visitors in August 2011 and their alexa Traffic Rank in the US is 935. They boast over 100 themes (they add 2 new themes each month) and besides… how many do you really need anyway when they are this damn good. The themes are all built on the Woo framework. Why is this important? Put it this way… I quickly figured out how to use the first woo theme I tried in no time at all and now I can use any of the themes they offer… they are easy as pie. This is not always true with Themeforest.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times… you only have to learn woothemes once and if you want to customize your premium WordPress theme… no problem. Customization is a breeze with woo themes.

This is key… WooThemes.com constantly updates their framework just like WordPress does so your online business stays super safe, super secure, and super up to date.

They’ve got all the bells and whistles and a beginner can easily use woothemes to build an online empire and become a top marketer. Beginning a business online should be an easy experience and it is when you have woothemes up your sleeve.

To review…  Woo Themes highlights include:

• Incredible support
• Active forums
• Atleast 2 new themes each month
• Allows you to add images easily
• Easily add custom header
• Seamless custom footer
• Functionality makes installing your woo theme a snap
• Stunning design
• Features Awesome sliders
• Customization is a breeze
• Packs custom SEO settings
• Solid Code Framework
• Has a backend that is the most user friendly on the market

To get your theme now and to begin to build your online empire quickly go to the woothemes.com website now.

And by the way… this very website, JohnOntal.com, is run on the Canvas Theme from Woo Themes and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can use any theme out there… but the rest just don’t stack up. I personally love their canvas theme for many reasons. To find out more about the canvas theme and why I use it, read my full review of the canvas theme.

FYI… I invested in the club package so I can have access to the forums, support and future updates… after all JohnOntal.com is my main business site and  another thing…  I get access to all the themes that I can use on unlimited domains for building other niche websites. When you invest in the club package, you will never need to search for a premium WordPress theme again.

Woo Themes sits at the top of my list for WordPress Themes and for blogging. Why? Because I’ve tried all the top tier premium WordPress themes and none compare to Woothemes for meeting all my standards. They are WordPress Ninjas.

Hint… everything is so easy my son tells me its like paint by numbers… it kicks butt! The choice is yours, but this Woo Themes review should put you on the fast track for blogging success. Click here to get more info on Woothemes.

 

See You At The Top,

John Ontal

P.S. —  One of the easiest ways to learn how to be successful online (I’ve found) is by closely following a system that produces ‘magical results’… Very similar to the one that you’ll see when you put your email in the form over on the right and hit ‘Get Instant Access’. 

P.S.S. — Leave us your thoughts, comments, and share on social media if you like this review.