Best Free WordPress Theme For Affiliate Marketing: Schema Markup Included

When it comes to affiliate marketing using WordPress, driving traffic from search engines is crucial. Ranking your articles for specific keywords with buying intentions—such as product reviews, comparisons, and listings—is essential. To achieve this, you need a WordPress theme that is clean, fast, mobile-friendly, and packed with features like pros and cons sections, star ratings, review summary boxes, and most importantly, product review schema. This schema allows your articles to stand out in search results, making them more appealing to potential buyers.

Table of Contents

What is Schema Markup?

Schema markup, or structured data, is a form of microdata that makes it easier for search engines to parse and interpret the information on your website. By adding schema markup to your pages, you can help search engines understand the content and context of your site better, which can lead to more informative and attractive search results. This can be especially beneficial for affiliate marketing sites that rely heavily on search engine visibility.

Importance of Schema Markup for Affiliate Marketing: Boosting Your Search Results

1. Enhanced Search Results: One of the primary benefits of schema markup is that it can enhance your search engine results with rich snippets. These snippets can include star ratings, product prices, availability, and more, making your listing more attractive to users. For example, if you’re writing a product review, schema markup can display the product rating directly in the search results, increasing the likelihood of users clicking on your link.

2. Improved Click-Through Rates: Rich snippets are more engaging and provide users with more information at a glance. This can lead to higher click-through rates (CTR) compared to standard search results. Higher CTRs signal to search engines that your page is relevant and valuable, which can further improve your rankings.

3. Better User Experience: By providing detailed and structured information through schema markup, you can improve the user experience. Users can quickly find the information they need directly from the search results, making your site a more valuable resource.

4. Competitive Advantage: Many websites still do not utilize schema markup, giving you a competitive edge. By leveraging structured data, you can stand out in the search results and attract more organic traffic to your site.

You can read Google’s take on the topic here.

Why Your WordPress Theme Matters

A WordPress theme should help you control your site’s header, footer, sidebar, fonts, and colors. Most themes, however, give you little control over how your articles look. For features like pros and cons, comparison tables, and review summary boxes, top-ranking articles and videos often recommend using a page builder. This is where Blocksy comes in—a theme that offers these features without the need for a page builder, making it an ideal choice for affiliate marketers.

Introducing Blocksy

In my quest to find the best WordPress theme for affiliate marketing, I discovered Blocksy. It’s an underrated theme that offers product review features out of the box. It’s also the theme I use on a few of my sites, including this one. Here’s why I believe Blocksy is the best WordPress theme for affiliate marketing:

1. High Performance and Speed: Blocksy is lightweight and optimized for speed. Faster loading times are crucial for retaining visitors and improving SEO. In my tests, a website built with Blocksy scored a 94% performance rating on GTmetrix and fully loaded in just 1.3 seconds. This speed is vital for affiliate marketing sites, as it ensures a better user experience and higher search engine rankings.

2. Extensive Customization Options: Blocksy offers a vast array of customization options through its live customizer. You can easily tweak typography, adjust layouts, and add custom elements to suit your brand. The user-friendly customizer ensures that even beginners can create a professional-looking site without extensive coding knowledge.

3. Built-In Schema Markup: For affiliate marketers, schema markup is essential as it helps search engines understand your content better and display rich snippets in search results. Blocksy has built-in support for product review schema, which is crucial for showcasing ratings and reviews directly in search results, increasing click-through rates.

4. Flexible and Modern Design: Blocksy is designed to be visually appealing and highly functional. It offers multiple starter sites and templates compatible with popular page builders like Gutenberg, Elementor, and Brizy. These starter sites can be easily imported and customized to fit your needs.

Installation and Setup

Getting started with Blocksy is straightforward. First, you must have WprdPress installed on your hosting account. If you do not have WordPress installed you can check out this easy step-by-step instruction on how to do so. Here’s a simple guide on how to install the Blocksy theme:

1a. Install the theme through WordPress (FREE Version only): Go to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Themes > Add New, and search for Blocksy. Install and activate the theme.

1b. Install the Pro/Free version from .zip file: Download the free or paid version of the theme from the Blocksy website at https://creativethemes.com/blocksy/. You will get a .zip file to save to your computer. Go to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Themes > Add New Theme > Upload Theme. You can drag the .zip file for the theme to the upload blockor click “upload” and click the .zip theme file to upload. Once the theme is uploaded, continue to install and activate the theme.

2. Install Blocksy Companion Plugin: Once you install the Blocksy theme, you will be asked to installed the Blocksy Companion. This plugin unlocks additional features and starter sites. If you do not see the prompt to install Blocksy Companion plugin, go to Plugins > Add New, search for Blocksy Companion, and install and activate it.

3. Activate Extensions: In the Blocksy tab on your WordPress dashboard, go to Extensions and activate the ones you need, such as Product Reviews, Advanced Menus, and more.

Implementing Schema Markup with Blocksy

Blocksy makes it easy to implement schema markup on your affiliate marketing site. The theme includes built-in support for product review schema, ensuring that your reviews are properly structured for search engines. Here’s how you can leverage Blocksy’s schema features:

– Product Review Schema: When you create a product review using Blocksy, the theme automatically adds the necessary schema markup. This includes ratings, pros and cons, and other relevant information, helping your reviews stand out in search results.

– Customization: Blocksy allows you to customize the schema markup to fit your specific needs. You can adjust the details and attributes to ensure that the structured data accurately reflects your content.

By utilizing Blocksy’s schema markup features, you can enhance your search engine visibility and attract more traffic to your affiliate marketing site.

Customization Options

Blocksy’s customization options are extensive and user-friendly. Here’s a closer look at some of the features:

1. Live Customizer: Blocksy’s live customizer allows you to make real-time changes to your site. You can adjust colors, fonts, layouts, and more, and see the changes instantly.

2. Starter Sites: Blocksy offers over 30 professionally designed starter sites. These templates are perfect for affiliate marketing, as they include built-in features for product reviews, comparison tables, and more. You can import these starter sites with a single click and customize them to fit your brand.

3. Typography and Layouts: Blocksy provides extensive typography options and multiple layout settings. You can choose from different header and footer styles, adjust sidebar positions, and customize page layouts to create a unique look for your site.

4. Advanced Header Builder: Blocksy’s header builder allows you to create custom headers with ease. You can add elements like logos, menus, and buttons, and arrange them using a drag-and-drop interface.

5. Conditional Headers and Footers: This feature allows you to create different headers and footers for different pages. For example, you can have a unique header for your homepage and a different one for your blog posts.

Product Review Features

One of the standout features of Blocksy for affiliate marketers is its product review capabilities. Here’s how you can leverage these features:

See the Blocksy Product Review in action

1. Review Summary Box: Blocksy includes a review summary box where you can rate individual features of a product, provide an overall rating, write a short description, and add a call-to-action button. This box is visually appealing and can significantly improve the readability of your reviews.

2. Pros and Cons Section: Highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of a product is crucial for providing balanced reviews. Blocksy allows you to add a pros and cons section, making it easier for readers to understand the key points at a glance.

3. Product Specs: If you’re reviewing tech products or other items with detailed specifications, Blocksy’s product specs section is invaluable. You can list key specifications, helping readers make informed decisions.

4. Schema Markup: Blocksy automatically adds schema markup to your product reviews, which helps search engines display rich snippets in search results. This can increase your click-through rates and drive more traffic to your site.

See Blocksy Theme review page here.

SEO and Performance

SEO is critical for affiliate marketing, and Blocksy is built with SEO best practices in mind. Here’s how Blocksy helps improve your site’s SEO:

1. Clean Code: Blocksy’s code is clean and optimized for performance. This ensures that your site loads quickly and is easy for search engines to crawl and index.

2. Mobile-Friendly Design: Blocksy is fully responsive, meaning your site will look great on all devices. With more people using mobile devices to browse the web, having a mobile-friendly site is crucial for SEO.

3. Compatibility with SEO Plugins: Blocksy is compatible with popular SEO plugins like All In One SEO, Yoast SEO and Rank Math. These plugins can help you optimize your content, meta tags, and more to improve your search engine rankings.

4. Built-In Schema Support: As mentioned earlier, Blocksy includes built-in schema support for product reviews and other types of content. This helps search engines understand your content better and display rich snippets in search results.

Pros and Cons

Every theme has its strengths and weaknesses. Here’s a summary of Blocksy’s pros and cons:

Pros:

– High performance and fast loading times.

– Extensive customization options with a user-friendly interface.

– Comprehensive support and active community.

– Built-in schema markup for product reviews.

– Flexible pricing plans, including a robust free version.

Cons:

– Learning curve for new users.

– Limited appeal of the lowest-tier premium plan.

– No live chat support.

– Restrictive money-back guarantee conditions.

– Limited selection of starter sites.

Blocksy: Free vs Paid Version

Blocksy offers both a free version and several premium plans, catering to different needs and budgets. Here’s a detailed comparison to help you decide which version is right for you.

Free Version

The free version of Blocksy is a powerful option that provides many essential features for building a professional affiliate marketing site. Here’s what you get with the free version:

– High Performance: The free version is lightweight and optimized for speed, ensuring fast loading times.

– Live Customizer: Access to Blocksy’s live customizer, allowing you to make real-time changes to your site’s appearance.

– Responsive Design: Fully responsive layouts that look great on all devices.

– Starter Sites: A selection of starter sites and templates compatible with popular page builders like Gutenberg, Elementor, and Brizy.

– Basic Extensions: Some free extensions are available, including options for cookie consent, advanced menus, Product Reviews and more.

The free version of Blocksy is an excellent choice for beginners or those with limited budgets. It provides a solid foundation for building an effective affiliate marketing site without any cost for your site’s theme.

Paid Version

For those looking to unlock the full potential of Blocksy, the premium plans offer a wealth of additional features and advanced functionalities. Here’s what you get with the paid version:

1. Advanced Extensions: Access to all premium extensions, including advanced hooks, custom code snippets, and more. These extensions provide greater flexibility and customization options.

2. Enhanced Customization: Additional options for customizing headers, footers, and layouts. The premium version includes features like conditional headers and footers, allowing you to create unique designs for different pages.

3. Priority Support: Premium users receive priority support, ensuring that any issues or questions are addressed quickly.

4. Extended Starter Sites: A larger selection of professionally designed starter sites that can be easily imported and customized.

5. WooCommerce Integration: Advanced WooCommerce features for those running e-commerce stores, including enhanced product display options and custom shop layouts.

Pricing Plans

Blocksy offers three premium plans to cater to different needs:

1. Personal Plan: Check here for the best price on their Personal plan. This plan is ideal for individual users who need additional features and support for a single website.

2. Professional Plan: Check here for the best price on their Professional Plan. The price for this plan is valid for five sites. This plan is suitable for small businesses or freelancers managing multiple websites.

3. Agency Plan: Check here for the best price on their Agency Plan. This plan includes unlimited sites for 1 year. This plan is perfect for agencies or developers handling numerous client sites.

Each premium plan comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee, allowing you to try out the features risk-free.

Which Version is Right for You?

If you’re just starting and have a limited budget, the free version of Blocksy is a great choice. It offers all the essential features you need to build a high-performing affiliate marketing site. However, if you need more advanced customization options, additional extensions, and priority support, the premium plans are worth considering. The extra investment can significantly enhance your site’s functionality and user experience, helping you achieve better results in your affiliate marketing efforts.

By choosing the right version of Blocksy for your needs, you can create a professional, high-performing affiliate marketing site that attracts and engages visitors, ultimately driving more conversions and revenue.

Related Articles and Resources

For more insights on optimizing your affiliate marketing strategy and website, check out these related articles:

1. How to Choose the Best WordPress Theme for SEO

2. 10 WordPress Plugins and Tools for Affiliate Marketing

3. WordPress, What In The World? A Dummy’s Guide For Dummies!

4. How to Speed Up Your WordPress Site

5. Best WordPress Hosting for Speed and Reliability

Conclusion

In my experience as an affiliate marketer, Blocksy stands out as one of the best free WordPress themes available. Its combination of high performance, extensive customization options, and built-in product review features makes it an excellent choice for anyone looking to optimize their affiliate marketing site. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user, Blocksy provides the tools and flexibility you need to create a successful affiliate marketing website.

For more information and to see Blocksy in action, visit Creative Themes.

Get started with Blocksy today and take your affiliate marketing site to the next level!