There are numerous reasons not to trust WordPress nulled themes and plugins, for that matter. You might think you’ll save some money along the way, but using nulled themes will cost you much more than you think. And we’re giving you six main things that these bad themes will do to you, your business and overall budget you were thinking on saving.
What Is A Nulled Theme?
A nulled theme is a WordPress theme that has been downloaded and used by anyone who wants it for free. It is a stolen and illegal version of an original premium theme. Nulled themes are not just illegal, they’re also dangerous! Nulled themes are problematic because in most cases they are hacked with malware, which will infect your other assets on the site including images, scripts, and other files. These themes also often use out of date WordPress versions which could expose vulnerabilities in your site’s code to hackers.
Nulled themes refer to premium WordPress themes that get hacked and have modified codes meant to collect data or cause harm. Nulled basically means stolen website themes, which means you could find yourself in a legal dispute. Opting for these pirated themes could lead to problems. Here are some of the reasons why you shouldn’t opt for nulled website themes.
Six Reasons You Should NOT Use Nulled WordPress Themes
First and foremost, by using pirated versions of paid products, you are a partner in crime to stealing the work of developers who have invested time, effort, and money to create them. Keep in mind, their businesses are run just like any other. Although it’s just a simple download for you, you’re directly undermining the developers who earn their money fairly.
And it’s not only a matter of ethics but also a matter of thinking ahead and helping to cultivate a thriving industry. The more common the practice of using nulled pieces of software, the less it pays off for developers to do their work, which doesn’t only include writing code but also creating documentation and providing support for the software. Consequently, the overall quality of WordPress themes and plugins will be lower because there’s not enough incentive for its creators.
As such, the practice of piracy discourages innovation, damaging and corrupting the WordPress ecosystem from the core.
1. Infect Your Site with Malware
People who pirate WordPress themes don’t just do it to make money. Instead, they use these themes to spread malware, to either steal information or harm your site. When you download nulled themes other than opting for trusted developers, you never know what’s lurking in its code. There are a lot of ways malware themes can affect your site, which include.
- A Backdoor To Your Site. The nulled theme can have an access path to your website by a third party. They can access all the sensitive information.
- Infect Your Files and That of Your Visitors. Nulled themes contain malicious codes that infect all your files and spread to your visitor’s device
- It Negatively Affects the Performance of Your Site. Often nulled themes slow down your site and make it hard to use due to the other process running in the background.
According to Google, in 2020, the number of hacked websites increased by 27%. That’s mainly because of malware found in nulled themes. On the other hand, reliable, SSL-certified hosting providers prioritize the security of your website. For the security of your site, you should only limit yourself to reputable sources.
2. You Don’t Get From the Original Theme Creator
When you purchase any services related to websites and computers, you get a warranty and after-sales service from the provider. The charges for GPL-licensed software include customer support from the developer. However, if you get nulled themes, you won’t get help in case there are issues. The nulled themes may get you all the attractive features as a premium one, but nobody is responsible if it fails.
Contacting the developer at this point is a dead end. That’s because you’ll need to verify your purchase which you do not have. Finding the third party that uploaded it is close to impossible.
3. You Won’t Get Automatic Theme Updates
Website updates are critical for the safety of your site. Theme developers release updates regularly, and often these updates include new features, fix bugs, secure the platform, and enhance performance. For your website to automatically update to the new version, you’ll need to have a valid license key. If you have a pirated theme or plugin, you will be totally unaware of these changes and will be stuck with an outdated version and will not access the update, so your website will be vulnerable to hacking.
Even if you get another download for the latest version, you will lose all your customization. Remember, every time you get a theme from a disreputable source, you again risk the security of your site.
4. Nulled Themes Impact Your SEO rankings
Anything you download from the internet needs verification before using it. This rule also applies to website themes. If anything, they need you to be extra careful. For example, an e-commerce site that relies on search engine traffic, a few backlinks could torpedo its authority and rankings. This impact on SEO is one of the downsides to using nulled themes.
They contain external links to other shady websites hidden within the code. The links will direct your visitors to other sites, and it’s enough to sink your SEO rankings. The people who spread these nulled themes are usually after improving their site’s SEO. In this process, Google penalizes your site and hurts your rankings.
The effort to make sure the nulled works properly outweighs the cost of purchasing a genuine copy.
5. Nulled Themes Are Unethical
WordPress provides themes under generous terms and conditions, which gives you the freedom to change and make a great website. When you opt for nulled themes, you exploit this generosity to get things for free. Most developers indeed enjoy creating website themes, but they also depend on the platform to make a living.
These developers need revenue to compensate for the time they spend creating and maintaining these products. When you choose an illegal product, you deprive them of the funds they use to enhance their themes. Such exploitation only makes it hard to develop new products and maintain initiatives. You also force them to reduce their workforce to save their business instead of enhancing products.
If you can go out of your way to look for an illegal WordPress theme, which only means that you think it’s a valuable plus to your site. Even if you don’t want to spend money, you also deprive yourself of an even better theme in the future. Basically, paying for genuine products is ethical and helps the developer create more stuff to make your life easier.
6. Legal Issues
Many premium WordPress themes and plugins are sold with a fee. This means that some parts of the code are protected by copyright laws and if you are using a nulled WordPress theme or plugin, then you don’t have legal permission to do so.
Pirated WordPress themes can result in data theft, data loss, or distribution of illegal material. All of these can lead to legal proceedings where you may end up paying huge sums to lawyers.
Conclusion
By using pirated versions of paid products, you are a partner in crime to steal the work of developers who have invested time, effort, and money to create them. Keep in mind, their businesses are run just like any other. Although it’s just a simple download for you, you’re directly undermining the developers who earn their money fairly.
The only way to stay safe is to download themes and plugins from trusted developers.
