5 Reasons I Love the Genesis Framework

I built my first website in 2002 using Microsoft FrontPage when everyone used Internet Explorer and only your coolest friends had an iPod. These days, things are a bit more sophisticated.

My platform of choice nowadays for building websites is WordPress (and here’s exactly why I love WordPress). There are a vast number of choices in the way you build with WordPress, and one of the things I love is the Genesis Framework. Let’s take a look at what it is.

To build a WordPress website, you first need to install a theme, which is the code that sits on top of the core files and gives your website its look and feel.

Some people build themes from scratch, some people buy ready-made themes, and some people create their own child themes, which are customised versions of existing themes. That’s one of the benefits of WordPress – there’s a huge amount of scope and choice when it comes to designing a site, and developers and beginners alike can find the method that suits them best.

What is the Genesis Framework?

The Genesis Framework is a code framework that sits on top of WordPress, controlling both design and functionality, You can then create or customise a Genesis child theme to inherit those properties and create the front end of your website for everyone to see.

What are the Key Benefits of the Genesis Framework?

1. Genesis is a solid foundation for your website

Firstly, Genesis is a robust, well-supported and well-documented code framework to use with WordPress. There are thousands of WordPress themes out there (many of them free) but their flexibility is limited, support can be patchy, and they can cause a lot of frustration, particularly amongst WordPress beginners.

2. The Genesis Framework is fast and light

Many WordPress themes and pagebuilders are bloated and code-heavy, slowing down sites and leading to slow page loading speeds. Google doesn’t like slow sites and will prioritise showing faster, more-user-friendly sites in its search rankings.

Therefore, having a lean, well-coded site is really advantageous for showing up higher in search listings – and sites built on the Genesis Framework have code that is light and structured well for SEO.

3. The code is highly customisable

Genesis Framework and its child themes are a really developer-friendly platform with code that is easy to customise. Developers can add new functionality to sites as required.

4. It has a large user community

Genesis Framework users make up on of the largest communities within the WordPress realm. That means that there are hundreds of people using it and sharing their best practices. It also means that there are plenty of freelance web developers who specialise in building and customising Genesis themes, so getting professional support for a Genesis-built site is easy.

5. There are great plugins built specifically for the Genesis Framework

StudioPress, the creators of the Genesis Framework, have built plugins to extend the functionality of the themes, and there are plenty of other third-party plugins designed for Genesis too. This means integration of these plugins very straightforward, making it easy to add extra features to a Genesis-built website.