7 Reasons Why We Use The Genesis Framework

Here on Online Income Teacher we have been very open to the fact that we use the Genesis Framework on our site.  We feel that it is THE best WordPress framework you can use and would happily shout it from the rooftops to let everyone know.  Instead of that (and to avoid strange looks from the neighbours), we thought we’d just explain “why” we value it so highly.  So in this post we will be looking at some of the reasons we use the Genesis Framework for our site.

Let’s take a look…

HTML5 Ready

For anyone that doesn’t know, HTML5 is the new web code standard that is being used online.  This allows your site to be compatible with multiple different browsers, is future proof for any upcoming changes to the web AND it makes your site mobile friendly.

1. Cross-browser compatibility,
2. Future proof,
3. Responsive website, making it “mobile friendly”.

More and more people are browsing the web on their smart phones or tablets, so it is extremely important that your site can be viewed on them.  HTML5 makes your site responsive, meaning that the site functions in the same way on different devices without the need for separate layouts.  This is great as it makes it so much easier.  You only have to worry about one site, knowing that it will display perfectly for everyone.

This was a BIG factor for why we chose to go with Genesis.  Just by checking our own Google Analytics data, we were able to see that our mobile/tablet traffic has increased steadily month-on-month for quite a while, with no sign that it will stop.  We needed to make sure that our site was responsive, which Genesis has enabled it to be.

Try it yourself by checking our site on your mobile or tablet!

Unlimited Updates, Support & Domains

There is no point buying a WordPress framework or theme if you aren’t going to get free updates/support with it.  A month down the line you might find that a mandatory WordPress update ends up breaking your site, so instead of being able to update your theme/framework or ask for support, you end up with something out-of-date and useless.

Thankfully, Genesis offers both of these to anyone that purchases their Genesis framework or one of their Child Themes.  It is reassuring to know that you can get in touch with them, any time of the day, and they will help you sort out any problems you may be having.  I know from customising this site that that help can be very useful when needed.

Lastly, as we offer to help setup websites for clients here as part of our services, the fact that you can use Genesis on unlimited domains makes our job much easier.  We have used it on many of our clients websites, as well as a selection of our own, to build great looking sites that we are proud of.

Keeps Your Site Secure

Security should be high on any website owners list of priorities.  Being hacked can take a long time to fix (not only your site but your reputation as well), so the more secure your site is to start with, the better you will be in the long run.

The Genesis framework has been built with security in mind, with security experts helping to develop the product itself.   No site is 100% completely secure, but knowing that Genesis is regularly updated with security settings helps us sleep easier.  Factor in other WordPress security precautions that you can take, and your site will become a lot safer from attack.

It’s Speedy

One big factor that can slow down a site is having too much code.  If you are using a WordPress framework or theme that is heavy on the coding, you are instantly putting yourself at a disadvantage.

Website speed is of HUGE importance nowadays as search engines use it as a way to rank your site.  The slower it is to load one of your pages, the less likely it is to appear on the first page of the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).   Not only that, but visitors don’t like slow sites either.  If they feel they are waiting around too long for your site to load, they will just go elsewhere to find what they are looking for.

This was one of the main reasons why we switched to using the Genesis Framework.  Our site had become a little slow, which was partly being caused by the theme we were using.   We found that just by switching to Genesis we noticeably improved our site speed (though we were able to improve that further with additional improvments).

Highly Customizable

WordPress alone is remarkably customizable, but Genesis makes it even easier to create the site that you want.  As well as some inbuilt widgets that you can use instantly, there are some dedicated Genesis widgets to help you that you can download (which are left out of the original framework to save on speed should you not use them) for use on your site.

One great feature that we make good use of is the ability to select different layouts for different posts/pages.   So you could have a sidebar display next to your blog posts, but switch to a full page layout (no sidebars) for single pages.  We do this on our prototype page as an example.

Genesis really lets us play around with our site and keep making changes when we want.  The fact that this is really easy to do allows us to keep the site looking fresh and modern.

SEO Friendly

We have already mentioned that the Genesis framework helps to speed up your site, but it also supports Schema.org code, allowing you to enhance your site’s SEO performance further.  Things like Google Authorship, Facebook & Twitter cards, etc. will all work seamlessly on your site once setup.

We use the fantastic WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast alongside Genesis to really help with our site’s SEO.  Both work well together and can really boost your sites performance in the search engines.  In fact, we have noticed a BIG difference to our traffic since switching to using both of them.

Great Selection Of Themes

As we have said, our site is built on the Genesis framework, but we also use one of the Genesis themes to help keep our site looking as great as it can be.  We went for the Genesis News Theme, which we have customized to our liking, though we could switch to another in the future if we wanted.

There are a whole host of great looking, professionally made Genesis child themes that you can use on your site.  Whatever your site is about, there will be a suitable theme available for you to try.  All of their themes offer all of the features that we have mentioned above and are really easy to install.

That Is Why We Use The Genesis Framework!

So there you have it, all the excellent features that made us pick the Genesis Framework to build our site on.  The great thing is that the StudioPress team, the guys behind Genesis, are continually adding great features to the framework that make our site even better.  We are incredibly happy using them and would always recommend them to others.

Do you use Genesis on your site?  If so, what features encouraged you to switch to them?  Please let us know your views in the comments section below!