Previously we talked about pricing. One factory owner followed up with a technical question: “When you build WordPress sites, which theme do you use?”
I hadn’t covered this before because most business owners don’t care about technical details — you want results, not a tech spec. But I later realized this topic is unavoidable. Your theme choice directly determines how fast your site loads, and site speed directly impacts Google rankings and user experience. Pick the wrong theme, and every SEO optimization you do afterward gets discounted.
I now use Astra. But a year ago, I used The7. I didn’t switch because The7 looked bad — I switched because the data made it clear: The7 was too heavy. Heavy enough to drag down site speed, tank Google rankings, and no amount of post-launch optimization could fully fix it.
This isn’t a The7-vs-Astra comparison review. It’s my own migration log: why I switched, what went wrong during the switch, and how much difference it actually made.
Why I Initially Chose The7
To be honest, I picked The7 because I was drawn to its “feature richness.”
The7 is one of the best-selling WordPress themes on ThemeForest, with over 270,000 sales. Its biggest selling point is “it has everything” — built-in WPBakery page builder, dozens of pre-made homepage layouts, dozens of header styles, integrated blog/portfolio/shop, plus a massive array of customization options. For someone just starting out in web development, this “all-in-one” approach looks incredibly convenient: buy one theme, skip installing a bunch of plugins, everything’s built in.
My thinking at the time: more features equals more options, ready for any future requirement. If a client ever wanted an online store or a portfolio section, The7 had those modules built in — no extra hassle.
It took a few months of actually using it to realize: “having everything” comes at a price — it loads everything, whether you use it or not.
Where The7 Actually Falls Short
The7 isn’t a bad theme functionally. It’s just “heavy.” And I mean that in terms of hard data, not just a feeling.
The first time I seriously checked speed was after finishing a client’s site. I ran it through PageSpeed Insights: mobile score was 47. What does 47 mean? Google considers anything below 60 as “poor.” All four Core Web Vitals metrics were red: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) at 5.8 seconds, FID (First Input Delay) at 320ms, CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) at 0.21, FCP (First Contentful Paint) at 4.2 seconds.
I initially thought the server wasn’t powerful enough. Upgraded the server — score went up by 2-3 points. Then I opened Chrome DevTools’ Network panel and looked at what was actually loading: 89 CSS and JS files. The homepage was loading 5.2 MB of resources.
Eighty-nine files.
Where did that number come from? The7’s architecture dictates that it loads a ton of resources:
- Theme core CSS and JS (including styles for features you haven’t even enabled)
- WPBakery’s front-end rendering scripts (loaded regardless of whether the page uses WPBakery or not)
- Multiple font families and icon libraries bundled with The7
- Dynamic CSS generator (generates inline CSS on every page load)
- Dozens of bundled premium plugins from ThemeForest
A lot of these files are things you don’t need. For example, The7 ships with WooCommerce style sheets, but your B2B showcase site doesn’t need e-commerce — it still loads them. It ships with bbPress forum styles, but you don’t have a forum — it still loads them.
The problem isn’t that The7 is poorly made. It’s that its architectural philosophy is: pack everything together, preload it all, guarantee “it has everything.” That’s an advantage for users with complex needs. For a B2B foreign trade site chasing speed, it’s a disaster.
What does this mean for you? Your potential customer opens your site on their phone and waits 5-6 seconds for it to load. You think they’ll wait? Google’s data shows that when load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds, bounce rate jumps 32%. From 1 to 5 seconds, bounce rate jumps 90%. Over half your visitors will close the tab within 3 seconds if they don’t see content.
And Google explicitly uses Core Web Vitals as a ranking factor. Your site has a 5.8-second LCP. Your competitor’s site has a 1.8-second LCP. Same content quality — why would Google rank your site higher?
Times Are Changing: Shortcodes Are on Their Way Out
The7’s “heaviness” isn’t just about file count. There’s a deeper industry trend — WordPress is migrating from shortcodes to the Block Editor.
To be fair, The7 actually supports both WPBakery and Elementor, and its Elementor integration is genuinely deep — credit where it’s due. You can freely choose which builder to use for your pages; The7’s flexibility here isn’t the issue.
But here’s the catch: no matter whether you choose WPBakery or Elementor, the The7 theme layer itself is heavy. Its styling system, dynamic CSS generator, bundled fonts and icon libraries, hundreds of preset layout styles — these belong to the theme layer and have nothing to do with your editor choice. You build your pages with Elementor, but when they load, they still carry The7’s underlying machinery. It’s like swapping in a new engine while the chassis stays just as heavy — the engine might be better, but the chassis weight doesn’t go away.
And from WordPress’s broader direction, the entire ecosystem is moving from shortcodes to the Block Editor. WordPress is pushing Gutenberg hard, and more and more modern plugins and tools prioritize Block Editor support. The7’s architecture can run in the new era, but its DNA is from the shortcode era — those massive preset features, the bundled WPBakery license, the legacy compatibility baggage — all of it prevents The7 from ever becoming truly “light.”
This was a major reason I decided to switch: it’s not that The7 is unusable, it’s that its architectural DNA makes it nearly impossible to keep up with WordPress’s lightweighting trend. The longer you invest in it, the more stuck you become.
Why I Chose Astra
I compared three or four themes and ultimately chose Astra. The reason isn’t that it has more features than The7 — quite the opposite: it has fewer features, but fewer in exactly the right way.
Astra’s core files are under 50 KB. What does 50 KB mean? A single JPEG photo from your phone is typically 2-5 MB — Astra’s entire core code is less than one percent of a single photo.
It doesn’t come with WPBakery. Doesn’t come with WooCommerce styles (can be enabled if needed). No forums, no calendars, none of the things you don’t need. Its philosophy is the polar opposite of The7’s: keep the core minimal, add what you need via plugins.
This sounds like more work — you have to install everything yourself. But the practical outcome is: your site only loads what you actually use, not a single unnecessary byte.
A few more reasons I chose Astra:
First, lighter pairing with Elementor. The7 does support Elementor and does it well, but as I said — the theme layer is inherently heavy regardless of editor choice. Astra’s core is under 50 KB, purpose-built for Elementor, with no excess preset styles or bundled features. Together, the foundation is cleaner.
Second, Starter Templates. Astra offers over 300 pre-built templates, many tailored for B2B scenarios. Import a template and you have a basic framework in 10 minutes �� far more efficient than sifting through The7’s dozens of layout presets.
Third, the free version is enough. Astra Pro costs 47/year, about ¥300. The7 is a one-time 39, which seems cheaper upfront. But The7’s bundled plugins like WPBakery update slowly with frequent compatibility issues — the maintenance cost is actually higher.
The Migration Process: It’s Not Just Clicking “Activate”
Many people think switching themes is as simple as clicking “Activate” in the admin panel. If you’re switching from one version of Astra to another, it really is that easy. But moving from The7 to Astra means rebuilding your entire front end.
Here’s why: I had chosen WPBakery mode on The7, so all my pages were built with WPBakery shortcodes. On Astra, I build with Elementor widgets. These two systems don’t talk to each other — all the layouts, content blocks, and styles you built in WPBakery completely break when you switch to Astra. Pages become a mess of garbled shortcodes.
So here’s what the actual migration looked like:
Step 1: Backup. Used UpdraftPlus for a full backup of site files and database. Always back up before switching — this is non-negotiable. Don’t skip it.
Step 2: Install Astra in a staging environment. I didn’t switch on the live site directly. Instead, I set up a local staging environment, installed Astra + Elementor Pro, and started rebuilding pages. This was the most time-consuming part — every page had to be rebuilt from scratch with Elementor. Homepage, About, Services, Blog, Contact — one by one.
Step 3: Hit the potholes. Ran into several issues during the rebuild:
- The7’s custom post types (Portfolio, Team, Testimonials) don’t exist in Astra. All content created with those types returned 404s. Solution: switch to Elementor’s Custom Skin or convert to regular posts with categories.
- The7-built menus used its own Walker class. After switching to Astra, the menu structure broke and needed reconfiguration.
- Menu icons (The7’s built-in icon library) didn’t display in Astra. Had to switch to Elementor’s icon library or FontAwesome.
- Full-width banners and parallax background effects built with WPBakery needed complete reimplementation in Elementor — different approach entirely.
- The7’s Dynamic CSS-generated inline styles all stopped working. Had to reconfigure theme colors, fonts, and spacing from scratch.
Step 4: Migrate and test. After the staging environment was ready, I used All-in-One WP Migration to move the entire site to the production server. After migration, page-by-page checks for misalignments, missing features, and broken links.
The whole process — rebuilding 5 pages — took about 2 days. If that sounds like a lot — yes, that’s exactly why many people are afraid to switch themes. It’s not the theme cost, it’s the page rebuild time. But if you’re building from scratch and choose Astra from the start, this cost is zero.
After the Switch: Let the Numbers Speak
After switching to Astra, I ran PageSpeed Insights again. Same server, same content, only the theme changed. Here are the results:
| Metric | The7 | Astra | Change |
| PageSpeed (mobile) | 47 | 91 | +44 |
| LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) | 5.8s | 1.6s | -4.2s |
| FCP (First Contentful Paint) | 4.2s | 1.2s | -3.0s |
| CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | 0.21 | 0.02 | -0.19 |
| CSS/JS file count | 89 | 23 | -66 |
| Homepage resource size | 5.2MB | 1.1MB | -4.1MB |
What these key changes mean for your clients:
LCP dropped from 5.8s to 1.6s. LCP is Google’s most important Core Web Vitals metric — it measures how long the main page content takes to load. 1.6 seconds means your customer opens the site and sees content almost instantly. 5.8 seconds means over half of them have already left.
CLS dropped from 0.21 to 0.02. CLS measures how much page elements “jump around” during loading. 0.21 means content shifts as the page loads — the button the customer wanted to click moves somewhere else. 0.02 means the page is very stable; positions during and after loading are nearly identical.
CSS/JS files dropped from 89 to 23. Every single file requires a separate HTTP request from the browser. The gap between 89 requests and 23 requests isn’t just a multiplier — it’s a multiplier times network latency. When overseas customers visit your site, each request has to travel halfway around the world. The felt difference between 89 round trips and 23 is enormous.
Homepage resources dropped from 5.2MB to 1.1MB. A 78% reduction. What does this mean? If a customer in Southeast Asia is on 4G, 5.2 MB takes 8-10 seconds to load. 1.1 MB takes 2-3 seconds.
These aren’t theoretical estimates — they’re real measurements from my own site before and after the switch. Build your site with Astra, and you start miles ahead of any site built on The7.
To Be Fair: Astra Isn’t Perfect Either
After switching to Astra, I discovered another issue: pages built with Astra + Elementor aren’t exactly light either.
Elementor generates a lot of DOM nodes and inline CSS. A typical B2B homepage built with Elementor still loads 20-30 CSS/JS files and clocks in at 1-1.5 MB. That’s far better than The7’s 89 files and 5.2 MB, but there’s still a gap compared to an “ideal” state.
The difference is in the underlying logic.
The7’s weight is at the theme layer — its core architecture forces dozens of preset files to load no matter how you build your pages. What you can optimize is “how much to cut,” not “whether you can cut.”
Astra’s weight is at the page layer — the theme core itself is under 50 KB. The 20-30 files you see are mostly from Elementor and plugins, not the theme. What you can optimize is “how to make your pages leaner.” The theme isn’t dragging you down.
Put simply: The7 has a heavy chassis — no matter how hard you floor the accelerator, it won’t go fast. Astra is carrying stuff you packed — you can take things out one by one.
So my current workflow is: use Astra as the base to keep the theme layer lightweight, build pages with Elementor, then run a round of performance optimization — CSS/JS minification, lazy loading, font optimization, image compression. This takes PageSpeed from Astra’s default 70-80 to 90+. Apply the same optimizations to The7, and 65-70 is your ceiling. That’s the architectural gap — optimization can close part of it, but not all of it.
When You Might Not Need to Switch
I’m not saying The7 is worthless. It has its place:
You already have a The7 site with lots of pages and complex functionality, and you don’t want to rebuild. Then don’t switch. The cost of rebuilding all your pages may outweigh the speed gains. You can use WP Rocket for caching and Perfmatters to disable unnecessary scripts — that’ll pull The7’s PageSpeed from 47 to around 65-70. Not Astra’s 90+, but usable.
You rely on a specific The7 feature. For example, you heavily depend on The7’s Design Studio, specific header layout styles, or its Posts Slider module. These don’t have exact equivalents in Astra.
You’re a beginner who hasn’t settled on a page builder. The7 comes with WPBakery bundled — no extra purchase needed. If your budget is tight, The7’s “all-in-one” approach does save you the cost of buying a builder separately. But long-term, WPBakery’s update cadence and ecosystem fall far behind Elementor. I wouldn’t recommend beginners start with WPBakery.
But you should switch if:
- Site speed is a core requirement (B2B foreign trade falls squarely here)
- Google rankings matter to you (Core Web Vitals is a ranking factor)
- You haven’t started building yet (choose Astra from day one, zero switching cost)
- Your mobile traffic share is high (the speed gap is even larger on mobile)
What This Switch Means for You
You might not care about the technical differences between The7 and Astra. But here’s what you should care about: what theme did the person building your site choose, and why?
Many web development companies pick themes based on “it looks good” or “it has lots of features” — when presenting to clients, more features “justify the price.” What they won’t tell you: you won’t use 80% of those features, but every page of your site is paying the speed penalty for them.
I chose Astra for exactly one reason: it’s one of the fastest, most SEO-friendly themes in the WordPress ecosystem right now. For B2B foreign trade sites, speed equals rankings, rankings equal traffic, traffic equals leads. If you lose the speed battle at the theme level, every SEO effort after that is an uphill fight.
If you’re looking for a web development service, ask one question: What theme do you use, and why? If the answer is “it has lots of features” or “the templates look great” but can’t discuss speed data and SEO rationale — think twice.
Coming back to where we started. Switching from The7 to Astra wasn’t an aesthetic choice — it was a performance decision. The7 showed me the cost of “feature-rich”: 89 files, 5.8-second LCP, PageSpeed score of 47. Astra validated the value of “just enough”: 23 files, 1.6-second LCP, PageSpeed score of 91.
For your website, theme choice isn’t about “which one looks better.” It’s about “which one lets your customers open it faster and makes Google prefer your site.” Astra isn’t the only option, but right now it’s the best I’ve tested for the B2B foreign trade scenario.
Next up, I’ll document the full process of building a foreign trade site with WordPress + Astra — from installing WordPress to going live, including every pitfall along the way. If you’re planning to build your own site, or want to understand what you’re actually paying for with a web development service, keep reading.
