Did you know that your WordPress theme has a lot to do with core web vitals? It is important to find themes that are not bloated with unnecessary code, load fast, and can provide a great user experience. That’s why we have gathered a list of the best WordPress themes for Google Core Web Vitals.
In 2021, Google launched its Core Web Vitals update, a set of new metrics that play an essential role in measuring user experience on your website and ranking your website accordingly. It is a set of important factors like loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.
Let’s be honest: why do you pick one or the other theme at all? Most likely because of a specific design and functionality built-in. However, not every theme or builder is as good as you think. Yes, loading speed depends on a variety of factors.
BTW you can check out my previous post about: How to fix core web vitals for WordPress.
Table of Contents:
5 Best WordPress Themes for Google Core Web Vitals
1. GeneratePress
If you are looking for a theme that is fast, with minimalistic design, and attractive, you won’t find a better one than GeneratePress. It is one of the most popular WordPress themes having a rating of 5 out of 5. It pretty much tells why the theme is so popular.
First of all, it is a fully customizable theme. You can disable features that you don’t like. Also, it has a schema built-in for better content optimization for search engines. Out of the box, it is using the system stack font library which means fewer requests while loading (if not modified by you).
I am not a fan of any specific page builder unless it is Gutenberg blocks (comes by default). Yet the GeneratePress theme is compatible with most page builders and various WordPress Plugins. The theme is one of the best choices for bloggers and marketers in my opinion.
Features:
- Lightning speed and 100% responsive
- SEO optimized
- Compatible with most page builders
- Available in both free and premium
Pros:
- Fully customizable theme
- Premium available at affordable price
- Super fast
- Developer friendly
- Pre Build design templates
Cons:
- Customizing may require some research
2. Astra
Astra is another very popular WordPress theme available in both free and premium versions. The WordPress theme has a good reputation in terms of speed, performance, and customizability. Astra claims to have a load time of 0.5 seconds, about which we share almost the same opinion. In short, Astra has more reasons to be your choice than not.
Below we have mentioned some of the most attractive features of Astra.
Features:
- Fast loading time
- Well coded theme
- It comes with a page builder for drag and drops page building
- Extremely customizable
Pros:
- It comes with lots of pre-designed templates
- Developer friendly features
- Quick loading speed
Cons:
- Premium “Essential bundle” is a little bit pricey.
- The free version has a lot fewer features.
3. Kadence
Kadence is our next best WordPress theme for core web vitals. The theme is famous for its lighting loading speed, SEO-friendly optimization, and a lot of valuable features. Its speed helps it to rank well on Google.
Again, its speed is the very reason that the theme brings good results on core web vitals. It has a lot of plug-ins available, which are also developer-friendly. Most importantly, you can easily get all these features by buying a Kadence Membership.
Here are some of the features that helped Kadence climb up on our list of best WordPress themes for core web vitals.
Features:
- Fast loading time
- SEO optimized theme for better ranking
- Includes features like built-in social links, scroll to top
- Extremely customizable
- Comes with lots of plug-ins for easy use
Pros:
- Fast loading time
- Easy to use
- Developer friendly features
- Extremely customizable
Cons:
- Costs more than most other WordPress themes
4. Elementor (Hello)
Elementor started its journey in 2016 and now has become one of the best page builders, with more than 5,000,000+ active websites built so far. While many developers think that Elementor might slow down your web page, Hello is one Elementor theme that has proven these conceptions wrong.
It means that if you use Elementor to build a page, you need to pick a suitable theme for it as well. Hello is simple, fast, and popular. However, Elementor alone offers you tons of themes to pick from. But the best part about Hello is that it is entirely free.
Features:
- Blazing fast performance
- The minimalist design and fast loading time
- Developer-friendly code
Pros:
- It is free
- Works best with Elementor page builder
- Minimalistic and fast loading speed
- Ranks well on core web vitals
Cons:
- Fewer features than other themes mentioned above.
5. Twenty Twenty-one
If you have used WordPress before, you would know that Twenty Twenty-One is WordPress’s default theme. With every new update each year, its name gets changed. The theme works best with Gutenberg page builder, making it more flexible and easy to develop.
If you look at the stats: the theme got 1 million+ users. However, this is a bit misleading as many times, with every fresh WordPress installation it is installed by default.
You can download this theme from the WordPress repository completely free. The theme, like most others on the list, is customizable. Also, many developers think that it has better integrations with WordPress since it gets updated each year by WordPress contributors.
Here are some of the features of Twenty Twenty-One which might interest you more:
Features:
- Fast loading speed
- Easily customizable
- Free to use
- The well-coded theme for faster and more stable performance
- Ranks well on core web vitals
Pros:
- Free to use
- Build by wordpress.org team
- Fast loading
Cons:
- Fewer features comparing to other on the list
- Fonts can impact slower speed
Does a website theme matter for SEO?
Conclusion
WordPress themes come with a lot of images, icons, elements that might impact the overall speed of your website. Sometimes themes have more built-in features, which might also slow down performance. On the other hand, if you want to rank your website in 2021, you need to meet core web vitals requirements. Make your website load fast and provide a great user experience on mobile and desktop devices.
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As you may guess this blog you’re reading right now runs on GeneratePress and I can more than recommend it for everyone because it is so good. Keep in mind most themes will have limited functions on the free tier. Yes, all programmers and web geeks need to eat, pay bills, and have families to take care of as they are human beings like you and me 🙂 Hope this short post will open your eyes and you will be able to pick the best WordPress themes for core web vitals from the list.
