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Thesis 2.0 vs Genesis: The Battle for Premium WordPress
Theme Dominance
T oday we’re going to settle the debate between T hesis vs Genesis f or
premium WordPress theme dominance.
But before we get there, let’s recap why a premium WordPress theme like
Thesis or Genesis is a necessity to running a quality WordPress blog.
When creating your WordPress blog, one of the most important decisions
you’ll make is the theme f ramework on which to build it.
T hink of your WordPress theme as the literal f oundation of your blog, on
top of which all the shiny f eatures and f unctions you enjoy will be placed.
Why Premium WordPress Theme?
It’s very easy to f all into the “Free theme” trap.
You just paid f or hosting and a domain name and questions begin to pop into your head, like:
Why do I need a premium WordPress theme?
What could possibly be so great that I need to spend more money?
Premium WordPress themes seem more like the luxury of successful bloggers?
And then you start convincing yourself you don’t need a premium WordPress theme.
I’ll just start with a free theme and buy a premium theme once I get going.
Look at Seth Godin, he still uses blogspot.
I’m going to let my content do the talking, no one cares what my site looks like.
ST OP.
You wouldn’t wear sweatpants to a job interview, would you?
T hink of every visitor who f inds your site as a job interview.
T he prof essional look of your website matters… a lot!
T here is a ton of content on the Internet, which means people have choices.
If you decide to rock a bush league looking website, that’s your choice, but understand it sends the
message you are NOT serious about what you’re doing.
If you’re going to put time and ef f ort into creating a blog, spend a f ew extra bucks and look like a
prof essional.
T here are also site speed and SEO benef its to working with a premium WordPress theme as well.

2. You absolutely cannot go wrong choosing to build your blog on either of the T hesis or Genesis WordPress
f rameworks.
Let’s choose a winner anyway.
Thesis 2.0 vs Genesis WordPress Theme
Let’s start with T hesis 2.0.
For a long time, in many respects, the Thesis WordPress theme was quite similar to Genesis WordPress
theme.
T here was a base f ramework, which you built upon or you could purchase a skin that sat on top of the base
f ramework, which added additional f eatures.
I’m sure that programmers and developers would be able to shed
light on specif ic dif f erences, but to the average blogger, the
T hesis vs Genesis debate was more semantics.
However, that changed with the release of T hesis 2.0 and its drag
and drop site editor.
What the T hesis team did was create a blog platf orm that allowed
the average blogger to build the site they wanted without having
the burden of programming knowledge.
With T hesis, you don’t have to know how to program to build
blogs like a programmer.
Advantages of Thesis 2.0
1. The abilit y t o cust omize and widget ize every aspect of your blog.
Custom homepage feature box for capturing subscribers
T he great part about T hesis 2.0 is you are not limited to the constraints of a specif ic theme.
You build the site you want, the way you want it.
In this case I’m able to place a very strong call-to-action on the homepage of my own custom design {see for
yourself here}.

3. Reduced height feature box for blog posts
T hesis 2.0 allows you to completely customize every page type.
In this case, I’m able to create a separate call-to-action f or blog posts.
Widgetize any area you choose
Again, you can add widget areas to any portion of your site that you choose and easily associate
that with whatever page style you choose.
In my case, I created this capture area which shows at the bottom of blog posts only and not on pages, the

4. homepage, or landing pages.
If I was so inclined, I could add dif f erent capture areas depending on what category the post was created in.
2. Thesis WordPress is built wit h very light weight , SEO f riendly code
Out of the box, T hesis 2.0 is very f ast and allows f or easy indexing by search engines.
Additionally, built into T hesis 2.0 f or those of us not SEO inclined is a home page SEO optimizer f eature.
You simply f ill in the boxes with corresponding inf ormation and T hesis 2.0 makes sure your site is getting
f ound f or the terms you choose.
T hesis 2.0 is also the f irst WordPress theme to add one-click Schema markup, a new SEO industry standard
in search marketing.
3. Clean int egrat ion wit h Google+ Aut horship and Google Analyt ics
You no longer have to worry about placing your Google+ Authorship markup and Google Analytics javascript
code in the correct places.
T hesis 2.0 takes care of both of these, very crucial f unctions f or you.
T his is not a unique characteristic of T hesis 2.0, but it is a f unction I f ind to be very valuable.
Disadvantages to Thesis 2.0
1. If you don’t t hink like a programmer, it ’s easy t o get lost
T he launch of T hesis 2.0 birthed an entirely new way to create WordPress blogs.
For that reason, the drag and drop customization, though easy and amazing once you get the hang of it,
can be a pain in the ass to f igure out at f irst.
I know more than a f ew people who have gotten f rustrated and gone (back) to Genesis.
T hat doesn’t mean I agree with their decision. It just means there will be a learning curve.

5. 2. There are only a f ew skins available f or Thesis 2.0
T hesis 2.0 does have skins that add even more f eatures to your site.
Unf ortunately, they are f ew and f ar between.
My only recommendation at this time is T hesis Awesome.
T here may be others, but I know f or a f act programmers and developers are experiencing the same learning
curve discussed in #1.
T his means that more added f eatures will come, but you may have to wait.
3. In a st raight up comparison against Genesis, Thesis 2.0 has a higher price t ag
As we discussed bef ore, it’s all about making our blog look prof essional.
To that extent, I don’t think either T hesis 2.0 or Genesis have a price tag that makes them anything other
than a complete bargain.
But since this is a comparison post, you are going to spend about $50 more f or T hesis 2.0 than you will f or
Genesis.
Advantages of Genesis WordPress Theme
1. Genesis skins make websit e design as easy as one-click
When you purchase the Genesis f ramework f or the f irst time, you receive two items:
1. the f ramework itself and
2. a skin (or child theme as Studiopress, the creator of Genesis refers to them).
T here are many Genesis skins both created by Studiopress and skins created by approved 3rd parties.
T he skin you choose will ultimately def ine the general shape and f unctionality of your blog.

6. 2. You do not have t o be a programmer or t hink like a programmer t o cust omize Genesis
T he brilliance of Genesis is that each skin is created with a specif ic look and f eel.
All you need to do is f ill in the inf ormation as it pertains to your blog and/or business.
You don’t have to worry about any custom coding.
Choose a color pattern, f ill in the widget areas, upload your logo, and you’re of f .
3. Clean int egrat ion wit h Google+ Aut horship and Google Analyt ics
Just like T hesis 2.0, you do not have to worry about placing your Google+ Authorship markup and Google
Analytics javascript code in the correct places.
Genesis takes care of both of these, very crucial f unctions f or you.
One additional benef it of Genesis, and this is especially important if you have multiple authors or guest
authors is Google+ Authorship, is added through WordPress prof iles.
T his means creating authorship on a per post basis is very easy to do and a huge benef it to potential guest
authors.
Disadvantages of Genesis Theme
Your sit e will look similar t o ot her blogs wit h t he same child t heme
A little over a year ago, I used Genesis and was one of the f irst bloggers to grab onto the Eleven40 child
theme.
I loved how sleek and simple it was.
To my dismay, I began to f ind sites that looked very similar to mine. Not exact mind you, but similar and that
just didn’t sit well with me.

7. If you don’t care about this or f eel your logo and branding will make your site unique enough, then this is a
not a huge disadvantage.
Honestly, that’s the only real disadvantage I see with the Genesis f ramework.
Genesis is amazing premium WordPress theme that I ran my site on f or almost two years and I highly
recommend it to everyone that asks.
Why I Switched From Genesis to Thesis 2.0
So if I loved Genesis so much, why did I switch from Genesis to Thesis 2.0 back in November?
Great question.
T he answer is simple.
I wanted my own space.
T here was no way I could ever be content building my blog in a space that I knew looked similar to a number
of other blogs.
To me, blogging is an art f orm and I want my art to be mine.
I also believe that f uture customization capabilities of T hesis 2.0 are going to allow me to create projects I
would need a designer f or in Genesis.
What I’m talking about is advanced stuf f like custom landing pages and lead magnet CTAs directed at certain
post categories.
I’m actually in the process of creating a podcast site, which will be built with the Genesis Minimum child
theme.
So I have no aversion to Genesis.
Truth be told, if you’re a new blogger or aren’t comf ortable with programming, I’d recommend the Genesis
f ramework f irst.
For those of you who have a programming mind or like to tinker, then T hesis 2.0 is probably a better option
f or you.
Either way, in the battle f or premium WordPress theme dominance between T hesis 2.0 vs Genesis the winner
is always YOU.
Click here to take a closer look at T hesis 2.0.
Click here to take a closer look at Genesis.
.
Not e f rom Ana: What Does Traf f ic Generat ion Caf é Run on?
When I f irst started Traf f ic Generation Caf é, I did try some f ree Worpress themes f irst.
However, I quickly realized that it was nearly impossible to
1. Find the layout I liked (most free WordPress themes have very few customization features),

8. 2. PLUS, of f er the kind of SEO f eatures I was looking f or (SEO-friendly theme is your first step to being
found and ranked by the search engines),
3. PLUS, had clean code (the more coding errors a theme has, the harder it is to get ranked with it).
Af ter wasting a couple of months going back and f orth between several f ree themes, I f inally came to my
senses and bought T hesis.
Loved it ever since.
I created my f irst design without knowing a lick of coding.
I bartered f or my f irst prof essional design about a year af ter that.
Eventually, I was lucky enough to meet my current designer, Ian Belanger f rom IMGraphicDesigns.com, who is
the wizard behind everything you currently see at Traf f ic Generation Caf é.
Premium WordPress Theme Bot t om Line:
Every worthy endeavor is worth doing right from the start.
I’d say your business should be the primary example of that.
Don’t skimp on your design or your potential readers will skimp on you.
Whether it’s T hesis WordPress theme or Genesis WordPress theme you end up going with, make sure your
blog design ref lects the kind of authority and expertise you want your readers to associate you with.
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