OceanWP is an entirely free theme that’s an excellent choice for those in need of something beautiful and functional. It combines with the popular page builders, includes WooCommerce tools, and has a focus on making different types of websites while ensuring that all of them are super fast.
OceanWP is a WordPress theme that offers great features, fast page load times and a selection of great designs. Some of the page templates are free while others are part of the premium offering.
The product also has both free and premium plugins available.
According to OceanWP, the theme has been downloaded 5M+ times (as at the time of writing) and that number grows steadily every day.
Why is OceansWP so popular? Two main reasons.
- Speed/performance
- Beginner friendliness
Page speed
If you build websites already, you will already know that page speed is an essential aspect of the success of any web page.
Users expect pages to load quickly and seamlessly on any device and will quickly go elsewhere if your pages don’t. Google also gives a ranking boost to your website if your page speed is good (among its other metrics) so it is even more important that your site loads fast.
OceanWP delivers on both counts. Couple this theme (Oceans WP) with good hosting and you're on to a winning formula!
Beginner-friendly
OceanWP is also highly rated for its accessibility.
WordPress as a whole and many premium themes try to make themselves as accessible as possible with varying degrees of success. OceanWP is one that delivers on that and is easy to use, simple to set up and works well either as a standalone theme or integrates into your existing page builder if you have one.
The positive elements of OceanWP include:
Ease of use – While there is a learning curve to truly master OceanWP, it is easy to begin building a website. Working with WooCommerce or Elementor is equally straightforward.
Page speed – The ability to build your pages as you want and for them to still be lightning-fast is excellent. As is the ability to disable scripts and CSS to take that even further. As scripts are one of the main frustrations for any website owner working with a Page Speed Insight, this is a superb benefit!
Quality demos – We still call them themes but the demos that come with OceanWP are excellent too. The free ones are of sufficient quality to have no qualms about using. The premium ones are almost universally worth using and well worth the money.
Price – The core OceanWP theme WordPress is free and nobody can argue with that price. Some of the plugins are also free and again, that is the best price. Even the premium demos and plugins are reasonably priced.
Integrations and extensions - The product has tight integration with other popular products such as Elementor and WooCommerce. It also has a bunch of core extensions ready to go, making the theme a one-stop-shop, the core extensions bundle is all you need.
Conclusion
It’s hard to criticize a free WordPress theme. Even were it not free and you had to pay for it all, the premiums charged by OceanWP are still reasonable considering the quality of what’s on offer.
Whether you’re a new website owner or experienced developer, OceanWP makes it easy and gives you a logical process for building great looking, fast loading websites. Both elements are perfect for newcomers to WordPress and even those of us who have been around longer who still have trouble getting an ‘A’ on Google Page Speed Insights. For that alone, we think OceanWP is well worth trying.
