When you are choosing the layout and look of your Wordpress blog, you will most undoubtedly come across hundreds of themes to choose from. Nearly all of them can be downloaded free of charge, but you will probably find a few that come with a price tag. When you see something that normally is free, you may wonder if the “premium” themes are actually worth the money.
There are many different themes you can pay for, but one theme I see mentioned quite often is Semiologic Pro. I have a good amount of experience with this theme and will tell you what I think about this theme and premium themes in general.
I have used Semiologic for a long time. It is what I originally used to start this site and many of the sites I’ve started for others. It is simplistic, SEO optimized, and built for marketing and Adsense sites. The strength behind Semiologic Pro is split between the theme and the selection of plugins that come with the package. My experience with using this theme for a blog has been positive. After installing, it is very easy to customize your site to add features you want, and delete the ones you don’t.
Using Semiologic Pro as your theme will give you the ability to simplify your blogging. With less to fiddle with, you can post your articles knowing that your site will be presented to the search engines in the most flattering way possible. My past experience has shown that any articles I published using this software has ranked higher than it would have if I had used a different theme setup.
Semiologic Pro has a price tag of about $300 and this allows for a year of updates. As Wordpress updates their software and Semiologic updates their theme, you can keep an up to date version as long as your subscription is current. Is paying $300 a year for your blog theme worth it to have an optimized blog that attacks the search engines with fierceness?
It was for me, and a lot of other people as well. But I have also come to the conclusion that you can get the same benefits by using the free Semiologic theme and a good selection of plugins. There are a few plugins that come with the Pro version that you can’t get unless you’re a subscriber, but the lack of those plugins will not hinder your progress in a major way.
If you want to experience what Semiologic can do for you and your blog, I would first try out the free version of the theme before committing to purchasing the Pro package. If you like what you see with it, then you can take it a small step further by becomming a paid subscriber at their site.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
To a point I would agree with you. Semiologic Pro is expensive – (but it is $300 for the first year and $170 a year after). I use it not only for my sites but for the sites I build for others, and have just changed most of mine over to the new Reloaded theme.
I guess you get what you pay for. I am willing to support Denis for the massive work he has done to build and keep the software current to WP upgrades – and the level of personal support in the forum.
Sure makes my job as a website marketer who supplies blog sites to local businesses a lot easier.
Both the free and paid versions are <a href=”http://www.getsemiologic.com?aff=miami”
here.
And I ‘d be happy to answer any questions about using the software…
Good post!
I’m a fan of semiologic, but I let my subscription expire. My concern wasn’t inner workings of the theme, but the appearance. I felt the theme was falling a little behind the time and I didn’t want my blogs looking dated.
Im’ wondering if this has been addressed in recent updates? Any thoughts?
.-= Dan´s last blog ..Eight Easy Ways to Get Out of Debt =-.
if you like the semiologic pro theme, then why use thesis for this site?
Wow! Adam good catch! Good question! If this person likes Semiologic so much, what’s up with the use of thesis?