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13 Best Reasons Why Authors & Bloggers Should Use Artisan Themes
Whether you’re a self-published author looking to set up your first author website or you’re looking to start a blog, you need a beautiful site that will keep visitors coming back for more (and keep them on the site longer). You also need a site theme that does not impede a visitors experience: what you need is a theme that works well with your platform and loads quickly, is SEO-ready and mobile responsive!
When I first launched my author website, back in 2019, I decided to launch my page through WordPress and, not because I didn’t have the money, but because I was being cheap, I went with one of WordPress’s free themes. And immediately I wanted to change things to it; I had to add in plugins and CSS code to change the way it looked and performed, and still, I wasn’t happy with it. If anything, all these additions just slowed the load-time and overall performance of my website.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know what I was doing and I soon gave up and lost interest. However, at the beginning of 2020, I realised I really wanted to make a go at being a self-published author, but with that comes a lot of self-promotion and if I was going to take it seriously I needed to have a website that I was happy with. Let’s be honest, if I didn’t want to go on my site then no one else would.
I also wanted to incorporate a blog into my website and this meant I needed to hone down on what I wanted my website to be:
- I wanted it to look professional
- aesthetically pleasing (if your website looks good, people are more likely to spend time on it)
- easy to navigate (clear and precise main menu for visitors)
- SEO-ready (with categories that would make it easier for me and search engines when trawling my site)
- mobile optimised (so I didn’t have to add more code or plugins for it to perform well when viewed on mobile)
- and quick and easy to use so I could build my website fast, and without bugging my partner for help every five minutes
I looked at themes on Etsy, I even bought a really beautiful cheapish design off there but, and no disrespect to the designer, once again it made my site performance incredibly slow and I had to add CSS code and plugins to try and help improve the performance, without success.
Fed up, I decided I needed to search for a WordPress theme that looked amazing, loaded really fast and was already SEO-ready to help me rank my site in google faster, and that is when I came across Artisan Themes, and I am so happy with the end result.
They have several beautifully designed themes to choose from and I decided to go with their Pepper+ Theme. And yes, I went for one of their paid-for themes and not just because it looks good but for several really good reasons.
1 | Artisan Themes Front-end-editor
If like me, you are impatient and not very tech-savvy (my partner was adding in the CSS code on my previous themes, that wasn’t me), looking at your WordPress dashboard can be really confusing, so trying to learn to use a theme, and going back and forth between the dashboard and preview (front-end) pages or posts of your website can be frustrating and slow going.
However, Artisan Themes incorporate a front-end-editor into their themes so you can build your site as you’re looking at it. And because they use module stacking, you can add, edit, duplicate, remove or re-order these modules right on the front-end of your website. This considerably cuts down on the time you spend moving between your dashboard and front-end, so you end up building your site much faster.
Anything that saves me even a couple of seconds (I am that impatient) gets the thumbs up!
2 | Artisan Theme Module Stacking
As mentioned, Artisan’s use module stacking as the building block of their themes. And that’s exactly what they are, like building blocks stacked on top of each other.
Take my homepage for instance, each section you see is a module stacked on top of the other:
- Coming Soon! (slogan module)
- Large image of Benaghar book two (slogan module)
- Book two book blurb (slogan module)
- Order book two (insights module)
- Online retailers (Logo Module)
- Order book series (insights module)
- Join my newsletter (leadbox module)
- Follow Me on Social Media (socila media module)
So instead of using WordPress Gutenberg, and alternative Page Builders or flooding your page with code, the modules are made to stack like a “lego Megapark.”
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the time to worry about website margins or padding, searching for a plugin that will help me animate some of my graphics, or waiting for my partner to get back from work to help me design the look of my website. My time should be spent writing books or content for my blog, and not worrying about how to use WordPress or a theme.
With Artisan Themes modules, you can really learn how to use WordPress the easy way, without any need to learn code. Just using the theme I chose, Pepper+, has given me a huge confidence boost when navigating the WordPress platform and knowing I no longer need someone to hold my hand.
In the maze of WordPress themes out there, what I find Artisan Themes do really well is allowing you the options to build your page as you want: choose what modules you want, where you want them and how you want them stacked, or you can use their module presets and ready-made module pages with a click of your mouse, again saving you so much time!
Word to the wise: when I tried to edit a theme I bought from Etsy, it just broke on me. I couldn’t move sections about, change image sizes or text without making the theme look worse or it not responding at all. Some designs out there are designed to not be edited, paid or free, which means you can’t ever update or freshen up your site.
3 | Module Presets
Another time-saving hack is Artisan Themes module presets. This means although you can have lots of fun building a page by customizing, styling and editing each module as many times as you want, if you are strapped for time Artisan’s has more than 20+ pre-made modules to choose from.
With a click of the mouse, you can import modules that have been premade for different content purposes. Whether you need pricing tables or a gallery, a testimonial or a carousel, there is a preset module waiting to be used. All you need to do is swap out or import any images and change the text.
Did I also mention that any module you use on your site, including the ones you have created, can be used as many times as you want? You can duplicate them and use them more than once on a page, organise them to be wherever you want on your page using the front-end editor, or use one module across many pages without having to re-create it.
4 | Artisan Themes Ready-made Pages
If you are stuck for ideas on how you want a page to look, or you need a beautiful idea for a page fast, you can choose one of Artisan Themes ready-made page designs.
Each of their themes comes with a catalogue of pre-designed pages, built using their modules. I decided on this option for my About and Contact page. I always knew what I wanted my homepage and blog page to look like, but I had no clue on how to present information about myself. So, I created a blank new modular page, clicked on the browse pages button, and searched their about & contact page tabs.
I wanted something simple but sleek and therefore ended up choosing their About Photographer 1 and Contact Photographer 1 pre-made page. All I had to do was click the button to build this option into my new page, I deleted one of the modules for the about page because I didn’t need it, and then swapped out the text and images for my own – it was that easy.
They have some really great options for about pages, magazines, shops and contact pages. But also, if you are a creator like me, they have options for landing pages, podcasts, subscriptions, courses, services and webinar pages to suit your needs.
This is definitely one of my favourite features about Artisan Themes because depending on what stage you are at in your business, blog or journey, they have come up with the solutions to help you grow without you having to do all the difficult tech work. And we all know how frustrating it is when you start to expand your ideas, you’re on roll and then you’re stopped in your tracks because you now have to slow down and start building another page.
So when you’re ready to create your shop and sell products, or if you’re looking to launch a course or podcast, there are already pre-designed Artisan Themes pages waiting for you. Just choose your favourite one, tailor it and keep on rolling.
5 | Create Your Website in Less Than 1 Hour with Ready-made Sites
In their quest to help creators, business owners and bloggers provide their clientele with purposeful, aesthetically beautiful and converting websites, Artisan Themes has created a collection of Ready-Made Sites (RMS).
This is great for all creators, regardless of whether you are a newbie blogger or have dabbled with WordPress in the past. If you are just starting out and reading this post because you don’t know where to start when it comes to themes, Artisan Themes collection of mini-sites will enable you to start up a brand new website in under 1 hour with just a click of a button. For WordPress veterans, it means you can have a fresh and up-to-date look in an instance.
And just like Artisan Themes ready-made modules and pages, all you have to do is import. Just head on over to the Theme Options in your WordPress dashboard, select Tools from the menu, open the Importer and click Import on your chosen RMS. Next, replace the content with your own and you can launch your site from scratch to a professional swanky looking website in less than an hour!
If an RMS is your favoured route to launching your website then head on over to Artisan Themes to browse their collection of pre-made sites, click on them to get live previews, and once you decide on how you want your site to look, just click to import – and hey presto, you have a new website!
6 | Responsive Mobile Optimised Themes
An essential feature for any blog website is for it to be mobile responsive. According to latest statistics, over 50% of global website traffic comes from mobile devices, so having a website that incorporates the technology to automatically re-size your content and images, regardless of what device a visitor to your site is using, is a must.
If you have a theme that cannot do this or struggles with some of your images but not others, you’ll lack consistency across all devices and this can put visitors reading your blog and potential customers off buying your product.
However, with Artisan Themes, you don’t need to worry about your website pixels, as their themes are made to automatically optimise your site for a great mobile experience.
7 | On-site SEO Ready
I mentioned earlier that I first discovered Artisan Themes after searching for SEO-ready themes. This was really important for me in a theme – the last two themes I had used (a free WordPress theme & a paid for design by an online blog designer) needed a lot of extra plugins and code for it to get to do what I wanted – mainly, fast loading times, search engine readability and overall good quality performance.
When it comes to owning and running a website, Search Engine Optimisation of it is not just about creating content that will help maximise the number of visitors and ensure your website appears high in the top ten of results returned by a search engine. It’s not that simple.
Yes, you need to be creating good SEO content and consistently, but your site’s performance can affect if someone even looks at your site for half a second, let alone how long someone stays on your site or makes a purchase from it. Even images or videos that are too large for your theme to process will also slow down your sites loading time, which means it will look very amateur to a visitor; they’ll more than likely click off your site before the first page has even loaded. This is called a bounce rate and if it happens too often, search engines such as Google can see this and they will count that against you when ranking your site in searches.
With Artisan Themes, I haven’t encountered any of these problems. Because they have tailored their themes with SEO tools, you don’t have to worry about fast performance or the right coding structure for proper semantics. Since using the Pepper+ theme, I’ve not once had to add a plugin to help reduce loading times on my content or stress about if my site will run slow (and FYI, the more plugins you add to your site will also negatively impact your website’s performance).
But with Artisan Themes, they have taken care of the on-site SEO, leaving the SEO content creation up to you – which is the only thing you should have to worry about once you have launched your website.
8 | Artisan Themes Prices & Packages
Although Artisan themes offer a handful of free themes, I deliberately went for a paid theme (Pepper+) because I could get access to all the extra features they offered for this that didn’t come with the free Pepper theme, and also because it offered some great benefits:
- access to Artisan Plugins (advanced styles & pages)
- 1 year of theme updates
- 1 year of expert support
- access to the collection of Artisan ready-made sites
- Training webinars
- and access to their knowledge base, help forums, and video tutorials.
So, I bet you are wondering how much this costs, right?
9 | Theme Package
Artisan Themes offer three types of Theme Packages, depending on your needs:
- The Theme Package
- The Deluxe Package
- and Pro License
Because I only needed one theme and I already knew quite a bit about WordPress, I went with The Theme Package for $129 (about £93 in Sterling, give or take a few pennies). And before you choke on your tea and biscuit, this is NOT expensive for a paid theme.
Considering the number of WordPress websites, and even privately designed website themes out there, that don’t come close to looking as professional as Artisan Themes, but can cost you $1,500+, Artisan Themes offer an unbelievable price for their designs and the support they provide you (I will talk about their amazing support shortly).
I have spent way more money buying a previous theme off of Etsy, logo designs, and paying out for market bookstalls in one month, than what I pay in a year for my Artisan Theme. I love it and it has been absolutely worth every penny and more.
And if you gave up your favourite barista coffee every day for approximately 30 days, at the cost of £2.55 per coffee, you will have paid for your Artisan Theme License. Not bad, right?
10 | The Deluxe Package
Whether you’re a pro at WordPress and can install the theme yourself, or you’re new to the platform but you want to learn by yourself, then definitely go for Artisan’s Theme Package, as I did. However, if you feel like you need more support then consider The Deluxe Package. For an extra cost, Artisan Themes will carry out an optimised installation of your chosen theme for you, including security, backups, SSL setup (a great option if you are starting an eCommerce site) and cache, as well as a one-on-one strategy call to help you create your website.
11 | Pro Licence (for multiple websites)
But if you’re looking to build multiple websites for yourself or even clients, Artisan Themes have a Pro Licence package that will help you create your work faster, whilst enabling you to deliver a professional service. With this Artisan Package you get:
- an unlimited amount of domains under one account
- gives you access to all their themes for the period of the license
- enables the cloud import/export for user-generated Artisan Pages
- adds you to their PRO Artisans Directory
- and gives you a private dashboard for your own clients with video tutorials you can use to help educate your clients on how to use WordPress and their site.
And all this for only $37 per month!
But enough about prices, I want to share with you my experience with the support they offer.
12 | Great Support Team & Tutorials
From the start of my journey using Artisan Themes, I have had nothing but praise for the support on offer and the help they have provided me when I have got stuck.
This Argentinian duo, of Mia and Javier, have helped me out when I have made mistakes or didn’t know how to get something to work; from wondering how I could get a call to action button to change colour when a visitor hovered their mouse over it, to getting my site back up and running when it crashed after a plugin update went wrong.
They have always got back to me in under 24hrs. They are incredibly supportive, encouraging and always willing to share their knowledge with you to make sure you create the website you want. No question is too small or too stupid and their Knowledge Base page, webinars, forums and video tutorials are insightful and really helpful.
I literally cannot stress this enough – I still can’t believe how much I get for my money just from the support they offer. I can honestly say that their support has given me more confidence with using WordPress and helped me become the writer, blogger and creator I want to be. I now talk like a veteran WordPress nerd and I’ve had so much positive feedback on the new look of my site from friends and family – Artisan Themes make me look good!
13 | Look Like a Professional Author & Blogger from the Start with Artisan Themes
Looking forward, as an author, blogger and content creator, I now feel like I finally have a website design that is professional as well as sleek, elegant and fun, and represents me and my branding. My pages look consistent with my content without being cluttered or clunky. And I have noticed how I put more thought into how I approach the design of each page or post I create, keeping everything consistent.
Artisan Themes have helped me deliver a professional-looking author website, without the stress. My only negative would be that I wish I had discovered them sooner – it would have saved me so much hassle, money and time!
My advice to all you authors, bloggers and content creators out there, if you want to look like a professional from the start, then you’ll want a professional-looking site designed by Artisan Themes.
So, make yourself a cup of tea or a mug of coffee and head on over to Artisan Themes to start browsing for the website that will help turn your ideas and business into reality.
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