Top 10 Future-Proof and Gutenberg-Compatible WordPress Themes
November 19, 2020
When we consider building a website to produce income, it needs to be future-proof. Think of a website that needs to produce monthly revenue on a steady basis. Just like a rental property that provides you with a regular cash flow, websites also need to create a dependable flow of cash. If you hope to build a site and then sell it later, it needs to be future-proof so that buyers will pay a premium. Since technology moves so quickly, how can you create a site that will give you a steady payment in the future? Let’s look at the Top 10 future-proof and Gutenberg-compatible WordPress themes. It’s important to use a theme that is compatible with the new WordPress text editor called Gutenberg because WordPress is moving away from website builders such as Elementor.
Gutenberg Blocks
At the end of 2018, the WordPress core team introduced the new editor. If you still remember the classic editor, it had an interface similar to Microsoft Word. All of that changed with WordPress 5.0. Instead of looking like a text editor, Gutenberg was designed to be more visual. It offers a library of pre-made elements. Each of these elements or blocks can become different things such as text or pictures.
Immediately, people started to notice how much faster they could put together a site with the new editor. With this new visual approach, great-looking sites could be constructed quickly without paying for expensive page builders. Even better, when you make a site with blocks, the load time is very fast. No extra bloat or libraries that will never be accessed are imported.
It’s obvious who’s going to win the page builder game when comparing the most used page builders plugins, which have around 5.5 million users combined, with Gutenberg, which currently has 56.6 million users. This is especially impressive considering that most other popular page builders are 2–3 years older than Gutenberg.
This raises the question: should you still be using builder plugins? If Gutenberg has become the most commonly used editor, should you still invest in programs that help create sites? Absolutely. Each of the plugins on the following list can be considered future-proof, as they have shifted in response to changes in the industry. Let’s take a look at the top ten.
1. Divi
If you have been keeping up with builders, you have probably heard of Divi already. Can it be considered future-proof? That is a definitive yes. They have the Divi Layout block, which is a smaller version of their famous builder. When you make a site with Gutenberg, you can quickly add modules from Divi or layouts that will look great right out of the box.
In fact, Divi comes with close to 900 different layout combinations. If you are cranking out sites to sell them later on Empire Flippers, using a Gutenberg theme is going to speed up your process. You only pay roughly $250.00 one time and then keep this build forever. Looking at the prices on Empire Flippers, you will make this back very quickly. When you think about how much your time is worth, Divi will help you create sites much faster than if you only use the default editor.
2. Astra
We are all looking to build sites that provide consistent income. Blocks do not take SEO into account. In contrast, Astra was made with SEO already in mind. You can use it for a WooCommerce storefront and see how fast it will load for customers. Astra’s Use of Native AMP means that Google will push you up in the rankings. Even better, you have multiple templates to pick from. When speed is a consideration, you want to be creating these sites as fast as possible. Why reinvent the wheel using Gutenberg when you can pick a template that’s already going to look great? We put this at number two since it works so well with platforms like WooCommerce.
3. Minimalistblogger
Just as the name implies, this theme is minimalist. That’s great in the world of quickly-loading themes. Clean code helps cut away the fluff. The faster your page speed, the higher you will move up in the rankings on Google. This theme is very SEO-friendly making it a great, modern choice. Installing and setting this one up is a simple task. Everything has been optimized so that you can set it up even if you are not familiar with WordPress or WordPress themes. If there is any trouble with getting an aspect to work for this theme, the creators are more than happy to provide support. Give Minimalistblogger a try for your next business idea.
4. Neve
When you are looking to get something future-proof, it needs to integrate well with current technology. Neve works well with Gutenberg as well as page builders you might already own, including Elementor, Brizy, and Divi. On top of that, here at EmpireFlippers, compatibility with WooCommerce is always a concern. We try to create sites that are going to provide us with a consistent cash flow.
Your website will be loading in just a few seconds on desktop or mobile and requires being optimized for AMP. What does this mean? AMP formed as Google and Twitter combined forces. It effectively accelerated mobile pages. As more and more shopping is done on the go, this is a must-have moving forward. Make sure the businesses that you are building are AMP-compatible so that you appeal to customers who shop from smartphones.
5. Blogrid
With a clean design that works well on all platforms, this is a multi-purpose theme. Great typography options mean your customers will be able to easily read the text on all platforms, including phones, tablets, and more traditional desktop computers.
This theme can be used with any business’ idea. For instance, you might want to put together a cooking site that has affiliate links to Amazon. No problem. This theme was put together to easily create a site based on food and cooking. Perhaps you want to pursue an affiliate site in the gaming niche instead. The commissions that you can earn on those items are hefty. This theme was designed to work well with any of these popular niche ideas. Give it a try and see whether your conversions start to rise.
6. Phlox Pro
Are you concerned that you might need coding experience to make a theme work for you? When using this theme, it is guaranteed that all the coding is done for you. With 160 different elements you can use, it takes the idea of Gutenberg blocks and expands upon it.
No matter what kind of business idea you have, you can find a premade template that will match your vision. Right out of the box, this ships with close to 100 premade page templates. This means that you focus on other things to make your sites great, such as writing articles or coming up with clever campaigns on Facebook and Twitter. See if this theme saves you time building your next money site.
7. OceanWP
Like most of the themes on here, this is built with minimal code so that everything loads quickly. That is the name of the game currently if you want to improve your SEO. On top of that, it would also work well for an agency.
Say, for instance, you create websites and then sell them to buyers with Empire Flippers. If you want to maximize your profit, you will need a great-looking portfolio. OceanWP was designed to make modern looking portfolio sites as well as WooCommerce storefronts. Everything will be responsive as well, meaning that when people look at your portfolio on their phone, it will still look great. If you care about building up your business and selling multiple sites on Empire Flippers, you owe it to yourself to at least look into this theme.
8. Rife Free
When you see some of the sample stores made with this theme, you will immediately understand why it works well. Constructed with SEO in mind, the creators put a lot of time into making layouts that look great without additional tweaking.
Click on the link above and you can get an idea of the store that you can build using this theme. The design is very modern and smooth, with an emphasis on the products you are selling. When you are spending a lot on ads, make sure you pay a little extra for your theme so you can keep customers on your page.
9. The7
This theme gives you a toolkit to put together a site that is both responsive and compliant with your local laws. If you are working with customers based out of Europe, a big concern is GDPR.
These laws were passed some time ago, but many have still not read through all the articles or fully understand them. GDPR was designed to protect the data of customers, and if you are not aware of how to follow its guidelines, it can cost you. To avoid fines and still be able to work with customers based in Europe, make sure you use a theme like this one. It was made with a focus on GDPR compliance while also offering other advantages, such as increased SEO.
10. Sinatra
Last on the list is Sinatra, which offers a nice blend of fast speed and a new design feel. They make it easy to put together a site that will have a small footprint. It can be used for a large variety of sites, making it multi-purpose. You can select from sites designed to work well for startups, restaurants, hotels, or online stores. Your set of tools will greatly expand once you sign up for this one.
Moving forward, you will have a platform that will last far into the future. Take advantage of integration with the new block editor as well as JetPack. This means that you can speed up your site by caching and lowering the number of HTTP requests while still getting that perfect look. It also works well with all the best SEO practices. See if this is going to work for your organization.
In simple terms, Accelerated Mobile Pages is an open-source initiative to optimize the speed of mobile pages. It essentially takes a page that’s already mobile-friendly and makes it load quicker by stripping it down to the basics.
That’s it for our list of the most future-proof & Gutenberg compatible WordPress themes. No theme is perfect for everybody, so give them a spin before you make your final choice – almost all the themes we have mentioned have a free version you can try.
