In the world of WordPress themes, there are a ton of choices. I’m a big, BIG fan of Standard Theme, so when I heard that the Standard Theme 2 update was available, I had to dig in and see the changes. Suffice it to say, I’m incredibly impressed.

First off, you need to know that Standard Theme is a premium WordPress theme licensed under GPL. Here’s the rest of the ST story, from the horse’s mouth:

The Standard Theme is a meticulously crafted and coded personal and professional blogging theme built with industry standards in mind.

With consistent syntax structure and strict semantic development techniques, it’s a XHTML/CSS valid, load speed optimized, SEO supercharged, and content-focused blogging theme.

What’s so hip about the new Standard Theme? Take a minute to watch the video walkthrough, then we’ll talk:

Honestly, I can’t say much more than what the video already says. However, there are some features that really stand out to me.

  • SEO Optimization
  • Analytics Integration
  • Localization
  • Advertising Locations
  • Social Sharing
  • Plugin Elimination

While these aren’t the entirety of Standard Theme, they are certainly a good part of the picture. Beyond those, Standard Theme is also hugely customizable. Have a look at some screenshots from sites using it:

As I said, Standard Theme isn’t free. However, if you’re looking to really get professional with your blog, then it’s well worth the price. A standard license will run $49, and simply gives you the theme to use and customize. The support license for $99 expands to give you forum access to a huge community of Standard Theme users and developers, as well as downloadable stylesheets, lifetime updates and concurrent domain use.

Is Standard Theme the best premium WordPress theme on the market? In my opinion, arguably yes.