Many of the business owners I know have the Genesis Framework installed on their website. I had been holding out because it’s pricey. A while back, decided to do some research on the Genesis Framework and its benefits. After taking a good look at it, and at my budget, I finally bit the bullet and installed the Genesis Framework on my website. I bought it for my business website, ericalynnmartin.com and liked it, so I thought it might be a good idea to install it here. I liked the nice clean look it gave my business website, but I wanted a different child theme for this website. I’m happy with the choice I made, and know it could benefit other business owners’ websites, so I wanted to share my experiences and what I found out.
Benefits:
It helps you get the most out of your site’s SEO.
The basics of any site are clean code and a well-built site; Genesis provides both. Also, the Genesis optimize all their child themes for search engines before they release them.
It’s easier to update to new versions of WordPress.
With the Genesis Framework, you make customizations in the child themes.
Genesis automatically installs updates regularly.
This helps improve website safety – websites that aren’t updated regularly are more vulnerable to virus attacks and hackers. The damage they can cause is expensive and time-consuming to fix. Genesis makes it easy to update your website and keep it safer.
Run and update several websites.
If you have the Genesis Framework installed, you can update the code easily without affecting the installed child theme.
Install the same child theme on multiple websites.
If you buy a child theme, like I did for this website, you can install it on multiple websites. I could install the child theme I have on this site, on my business website if I wanted to, but I will keep it the way it is for now.
Make your website even more functional.
Genesis makes it much easier to customize the different WordPress widgets. You can also have different layouts on different pages, create simple sidebars in different parts of your website, add custom post types, or make a home page that has nothing but widget areas on it.
If you know CSS, PHP, and Genesis Hooks, or know a developer who knows these technologies, you can make the website even more functional by customizing the code.
Theme updates go in a separate file, so the structure of the website won’t be affected.
You’ll get the benefits of HTML5 code.
HTML5 is the latest standard, so using it on your site ensures that it works well with later updates. Your website will perform better, it will be compatible with all browsers, and your visitors can access the website on their mobile devices. Site pages also have shorter load times, and and audio and video perform better on your site.
Genesis developers are always keeping it updated.
The developers at Studiopress are always keeping it updated, and they use the best practices in the coding industry. Themes purchased from other developers can get outdated quickly, but Genesis will always stay up to date no matter what.
You can use their preferred hosting platform, Synthesis, to get great performance.
Synthesis’ servers are designed to handle WordPress Genesis sites. This means your website will load even faster, and they won’t crash during heavy traffic times. If you have a lot of images or data on your site, consider switching to Synthesis. Be aware though, if you’re a small business owner on a tight budget, Synthesis may not be for you – their prices start at $47 a month.
Genesis integrates with all your favorite WordPress features.
These include:
- Comments
- Widgets designed to advertise products
- Sidebars, headers, and footers.
- Featured images – Genesis gives you the option to change its size to suit your needs.
- Any WordPress plug-in, plus some made especially for Genesis. You don’t have to use Genesis-specific plugins, but they’re convenient because you know for sure they’ll work with your site.
My experiences with the Genesis Framework
I love the Genesis Framework. It’s easy to download, install and customize the child theme. There are limits to what you can do with the default child theme that comes with the site, so if you don’t like it, you may want to consider buying a different child theme for your website. The one I chose for this website is called Lifestyle Pro. It works great for this website, but you’ll want to take a look at the other child themes StudioPress has available and think about what kind of look you want to give your website, and what the purpose of your website is, before you purchase a child theme.
If you’re a small business owner, I highly recommend investing in the Genesis Framework. It’s pricey, but well worth what you’ll pay for it. It comes with a starter child theme which you can use while you get used to Genesis. Once you’re ready though, I highly recommend purchasing a premium child theme. My business website still has the starter theme installed, but I purchased the Lifestyle Pro Child theme for this website, and I love it. I can change the color scheme to anything I want, and there are other changes I can make if I choose to. Genesis is definitely worth the investment.
If you have Genesis installed on your website, I’d love to hear your experiences. Please comment below.
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