The best Astra Starter WordPress Templates to consider

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The WordPress Ecosystem is huge and is filled with a lot of plugins, themes, and frameworks. These frameworks improve the ease and power which already the base WordPress provides.

The Astra theme stands out as a versatile and foundational WordPress theme, offering extensive templates and seamless integration with popular page builders.

So, incorporating a good WordPress framework would drastically improve your productivity and the overall quality of the site. Using starter templates and Astra Starter Sites helps users save time and reduces the learning curve for beginners.

In this article, we discuss what to look for in a good WordPress framework and consider one of the most important things in recent times, the introduction of Core Web Vitals by Google. We will discuss what it means and why you need to satisfy that on your website.

Next, we will consider WordPress themes that are best for your site that satisfy Core Web Vitals, and have good features.

Astra is one popular among them. Astra Starter Sites are a valuable resource for quickly building websites, especially for users creating their first website, thanks to their large selection of pre-designed templates and ease of use.

We consider Astra’s features and the 50 best starter sites for it. Astra Sites can be easily managed and exported using tools within the Astra ecosystem, making it simple to create and manage multiple sites. We would also consider other great frameworks like Genesis, Generate Press, and Divi.

We also have a FAQ section at the end of this article to get you some quick answers!

What to look for in a good WordPress framework?

One fundamental thing you must not do is choose a framework because it is popular. It is certainly true that if a framework is popular, then it might be a good thing, but not all frameworks are applicable for all use cases.

So, first, you have to understand what features you want for your website. Not complete features though, getting a rough idea regarding them is also fine.

Now the two fundamental dos and don’ts are covered, let us see some other important considerations:

• Responsive nature: Not all people visit your site on desktops or laptops. Mobile usage has increased dramatically in recent years and as such, everybody expects your site to run well on mobiles, too. For that, your WordPress theme must have a good responsive nature at its core.
• Customizability: Unless you like all the features a theme provides out of the box, you need customization of the theme. A good theme always gives a lot of customization options right to choosing specific colors and font sizes.
• EcoSystem: By the ecosystem of a theme, we mean the other things that work well with the theme, like certain plugins or any specific things with the theme. A strong ecosystem also includes compatibility with other plugins and other themes, enhancing flexibility. When a certain theme has a huge ecosystem, there would be chances that what you want would be further covered by them, thus giving you more comfort and ease.

Many frameworks also offer premium or advanced features. Some frameworks provide a business toolkit in their premium versions to further extend functionality.

Other than them, there is an important thing to consider is Core Web Vitals. These are recently introduced metrics by Google that covers much of the user experience with your site. With this being a key factor in SEO and also in UX, you need to give the utmost importance to your website.

What are Core Web Vitals and why considering them is important for your site?

In the middle of the last year, Google announced Core web vitals, which are a part of the Web vitals, which is also an initiative of Google. In November of that year, it was announced that Core Web Vitals will be considered as a search factor from May 2021.

That means Google would actively consider Core Web Vitals for ranking search pages in it. Putting it into context, this matters just as it mattered to have HTTPS on your website in 2017.

However, not only is the SEO factor but is also a well-researched way of understanding the user experience of the site. So, if your site has any problem with Core Web Vitals, then they would give you the chance of improving the user interface!

Coming to the Core Web Vitals consists of three metrics: Largest Contentful Paint, First Input Delay, and Cumulative Layout Shift.

Largest Contentful Paint:

It is basically the loading performance of your page. In detail, the Largest Contentful paint is a measurement of the time in which the most important and meaningful content loads up on a page. That is, here, the crux of the page must load faster even when the entire site loads relatively slowly.

It is considered good when LCP is less than or equal to 2.5s and is considered not good if it is greater than 2.5s and less than 4s. If it is more than 4s, then it is considered very poor.

First Input Delay:

First Input Delay is the time between the user interaction with your page and the action taken by the browser. If this metric is less than or equal to 100ms, then it is considered good. If it is less than or equal to 300ms and greater than 100ms, then it might work, but improvement is needed.

Cumulative Layout Shift:

Cumulative Layout Shift is a measure of visual stability. It particularly measures how the content of your site moves around and shifts as the site loads. Your site would be considered good when this metric is <= 0.1s and if lies between 0.1 and 2.5s, then it needs improvement. If it is more than 0.25 seconds.

Getting these metrics for your site is not a tough job. There are a lot of tools that are provided by Google and also other developers that make it easy to get them!

WordPress Themes that are best for your website:

With this change, you need not be alarmed because there are many WordPress themes that are so optimized for the UX that they pass core web vitals. You just need to choose the right theme.

There might be many themes that satisfy Core Web Vitals and give you a ton of features, but one of the most powerful and popular ones is Astra. It is easy to install Astra and start customizing your website right away.

Astra is compatible with both the classic editor and modern block editors, so users can choose their preferred editing experience. Additionally, Astra allows you to easily adjust your website style, including colors, typography, and layout, to match your brand.

About Astra: 

Astra is a theme that is Fast, Lightweight, and highly customizable. This theme works well with all major page builders and provides powerful customization that lets you customize everything and make the site look and function exactly the way you wanted it to!

Astra’s features can also enhance your site’s functionality, allowing for greater versatility and improved performance. The site is also responsive and works well with all devices and sizes. Astra offers an enhanced UI, making the user experience more intuitive and user-friendly across different platforms.

When creating and customizing content, users can easily manage images and other assets through the WordPress media library, streamlining the process of content creation and updates.

The most important feature of Astra is that it has a lot of Starter sites that you take out of the box!

What are Astra Starter WordPress Templates & How do they Work:

Starter sites are well-designed sites that serve a specific requirement in an almost complete way. With these starter sites, you can quickly create your own site and completely develop it with ease!

You can create starter templates for a wide variety of website types, from personal blogs to eCommerce stores, making it easy to launch a site tailored to your needs.

There are more than 250 templates that are available for different page builders of Elementor, Beaver Builder, Birzy, Spectra, and Gutenberg. You have the flexibility to choose from different templates and even combine them to customize your website design.

Just select the one you want and include them in your theme! If you want to customize further, you can also import single pages instead of full site templates, or easily add a new page using the templates for more granular control.

Some templates and images are AI generated, offering advanced design options that keep your site modern and visually appealing.

Let us see the top 50 of them! The title of these themes is descriptive enough!

With the Starter Templates plugin, you can access even more templates to expand your design choices and speed up website creation. New templates are regularly added to the library, covering a wide range of industries and styles, so your site can always stay up to date with the latest trends.

Using these templates is much faster and easier than building a website from scratch, which can be time-consuming and require significant effort.

For more check their Astra Starter WordPress Templates library.

AI Powered Website Building

AI-powered website building is changing the way users approach web design, making it easier than ever to create stunning websites tailored to any business type.

With the Astra Starter Templates plugin, you can harness the power of an AI builder that generates a custom website layout based on your specific needs and branding preferences.

Simply input your business type and a few details, and the AI builder will suggest templates and layouts that match your vision for a dream website.

This innovative approach means you don’t need to be a coding expert to create professional websites. The AI builder streamlines the process, allowing you to focus on your content and style while the plugin handles the technical details.

Whether you’re launching a new business or refreshing your online presence, AI-powered website building with Astra Starter Templates ensures you can create a visually appealing, functional website in minutes. It’s a game-changer for anyone looking to build a website quickly, efficiently, and with a professional touch.

Page Builders and Astra

Astra is designed to work seamlessly with the most popular page builders, including Elementor and Beaver Builder, giving you the flexibility to create stunning websites with ease. These page builders offer intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces, allowing you to customize your website’s layout without any coding knowledge.

Whether you prefer the classic block editor (Gutenberg) or advanced tools like Elementor and Beaver Builder, Astra ensures a user-friendly experience for building and editing your site.

With Astra’s deep integration, you can easily add, move, and style elements to match your brand’s unique look and feel. The block editor is perfect for those who want a streamlined, modern editing experience, while Elementor and Beaver Builder provide advanced design options for users who want more control.

No matter your skill level, Astra and your favorite page builder make it simple to create, customize, and launch a website that stands out.

Advanced Features with Astra Pro

Upgrading to Astra Pro unlocks a suite of advanced features designed to help you create a truly unique and professional website. With Astra Pro, you gain access to a large library of premium starter templates, each crafted to meet the needs of different industries and business types.

These premium templates are fully customizable, allowing you to adjust every detail—from layout to colors and CSS settings – so your site perfectly reflects your brand.

Astra Pro also introduces the full site editor, empowering you to control every aspect of your website’s design and functionality. Whether you want to tweak the header, footer, or individual page layouts, the site editor gives you the flexibility to make your vision a reality.

Plus, with enhanced support from Astra’s dedicated support team, you’ll have expert help whenever you need it. Astra Pro is the ideal choice for anyone looking to elevate their website with advanced features, a vast template library, and top-tier support.

Choosing the Right Template

Selecting the right template is a key step in building a website that truly represents your business. Astra offers a diverse collection of starter templates, each designed for specific business types and industries.

You can browse the extensive library of readymade templates to find one that matches your vision, or use the AI builder to generate a custom template tailored to your needs.

Astra makes it easy to import starter templates, whether you want to build a complete website or just add individual pages. Once you’ve chosen a template, you can easily customize it – swap out images, update content, and adjust styles to make it your own.

With options for e-commerce, blogs, portfolios, and more, Astra ensures you’ll find the perfect starting point for your website, saving you time and helping you create a site that’s both beautiful and functional.

SEO Benefits

Astra Starter Templates are built with SEO best practices in mind, helping your website achieve higher rankings in search engine results.

Each template is optimized for speed, featuring clean code and minimal CSS to ensure fast loading times, an important factor for both user experience and SEO. Astra’s customizer settings make it easy to fine-tune your website’s metadata, titles, and descriptions, further enhancing your site’s visibility.

Integration with popular page builders like Elementor and Beaver Builder means you can create stunning websites that are not only visually appealing but also structured for optimal SEO performance.

The import process for starter templates and premium templates allows you to quickly set up a website with a professional style and robust functionality, all while maintaining SEO-friendly features.

With Astra, you can confidently build a website that looks great, functions smoothly, and attracts more visitors through improved search engine rankings.

Astra WordPress Template Alternatives

There are other alternative themes for Astra that many developers love. These are unique in their own ways and also provide a good and responsive user experience for the website.

Genesis

Genesis Framework by StudioPress is a highly useful tool for building WordPress sites that helps not only beginners but also advanced users. It contains many things that you expect of a full-fledged theme: security, SEO readiness, good customization capability, and a lot of themes and templates. It is Gutenberg ready so you can easily use it with your favorite page builder.

Being responsive, you do not need to worry about how your site works across a lot of devices.

There are a lot of child themes of the Genesis Framework that cater to various use cases. Some of the popular child themes are Foodie, Essence Pro, and Fearless.

Genesis also has a good ecosystem of exclusive plugins for you to use. Some popular plugins include Genesis Extender, Genesis Design Palette Pro, and Genesis Simple Hooks.

Generate Press

Just as Astra is, Generate Press is a lightweight WordPress theme that has a limited free version and a premium version that is highly customizable and powerful. It is highly focused on performance and is secure. With Generatepress taking care of many things for you, it gives you a head-start in SEO at the start itself!

It also has built-in support for Accessibility, which adheres to the standards of WCAG 2.0 and It is customizable well and easily integrates with a lot of page builders and plugins.

GP’s premium plan gives you much more features including various site demos, advanced customization of Typography, Sections support, and more.

Divi

Elegant themes are known for their beautiful responsive themes and Divi is a premium theme by them.

Divi has advanced visual building technology, and this is one of the best aspects of Divi. Divi has more than 40 website elements that are generic enough to support much of all general use cases of a website. They include sliders, blogs, forms, testimonials, galleries, and more.

It also has different layout packs for different categories, including but not limited to Business, Community & Non-Profit, and Events. These provide a good head start to building websites.

There are also a lot of third-party plugins exclusive to Divi that improve the overall theme. One finest of them is Divi Booster, which adds another 50 configuration options that provide you with even more customization!

There is also a custom full-width Header extended module that provides you with a lot more power in handling headers.

Final Words

The performance of your website is a sum total of the theme you use, how you use it, the plugins you use, and the hosting environment. However, having a good WordPress theme relieves a great amount of burden.

With Core Web Vitals being announced by Google which is coming into effect in May 2021, there is a rush to check whether the sites are satisfying the requirements and make sure they got the correct tech.

Astra’s optimized themes and starter sites provide a great way to have WordPress-powered websites that look and work exactly the way you wanted and are optimized for search engines.

Astra’s starter sites are fully compatible with the elementor editor, allowing for easy customization and editing of pages and templates. Other than Astra, there is Genesis, Generate Press, Divi, and other frameworks that are popular.

So use these frameworks and make your website compatible with the coming changes!

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