If you have chosen WordPress for your website, then you join a large community of its users. Thousands of developers are in the continuous process of making WordPress better. That certainly provides a huge number of choices in themes to make your website look good.
Table of Contents
Options are abundant, thus a bit confusing. In this article, we’ll go through how to choose the perfect WordPress theme for your website. We will cover knowing your website inside out, what to look for in a theme, finding and testing themes, and so much more.
Remember, a great theme is not only about how it looks but also how easy it will be to use and really help your website perform well.
WordPress Theme: What You Need to Know
A WordPress theme is similar to a set of instructions that your website uses to know how to look. It decides what colors to use, what fonts to portray, and how to place things on the page. Once you choose a theme, you can just add your content; the theme then takes care of the rest by making sure everything looks consistent, said by Jessica Shee, Tech Editor of M3datarecovery.com.
Themes do more than prettifying. Many themes also put in new features to your WordPress website. Some themes may allow you to make different types of content beyond pages and posts. Others have special blocks which can be used to add new things to your website.
For example, a theme might include a feature to create “portfolio items” to show previous work. Or maybe it has a “team members” block to show off your employees easily.
You want to find something appealing that includes all of the features that you need for your site. You may always modify the theme later, but it is easier to begin with one that matches your requirements. This allows you to develop and deploy your website rapidly.
Why Choosing the Right WordPress Theme Matters
It can potentially create all forms of websites. There are different themes for different purposes, like ecommerce sites, creating membership sites, or making general websites that can be customized to do anything.
Many WordPress themes provide for numerous ways to change their appearance. If these changes are not done in a proper, standardized way, though, it can become very difficult to ever change themes, or even use other plugins. You could be locked into that theme, or have to hire someone to help you change it.
Some of these themes look cool but really slow down your website. A slow website can damage your search rankings, users’ attitude toward your website, and many other things.
Your theme is just like the face of your WordPress website. You show people and search engines what your website looks like.
Factors to Consider When Choosing The Right WordPress Theme
Before jumping head-first into theme options, it is critical that you first consider your website’s unique needs. Maybe a little introspection could be in order here. Consider the purpose of your website, who you are trying to reach, and exactly which features are most integral to its success. You can set the stage for picking a theme that will best match your website’s goals and target audience by asking yourself the following three questions.
What’s the driving force behind your website?
Share Valuable Knowledge: You want to be an authority or gain credibility over some area of expertise and share this through information in the form of blog posts, articles, or tutorials.
Sell Products or Services: Do you have a business that you would like to sell online? This can represent products that you would want to sell or, indeed, offer information about your services and provide customers with a safe and secure method of making a purchase.
Brand Identity Establishment: Maybe one of the most basic reasons you want to create a website is to enhance your business’s online presence, or even personal identity. With a well-designed theme, you will be provided with a suitable way to establish visual consistency and bring out the brand values across the board.
Clearly knowing your purpose for your website would direct you to the themes that would help meet your objectives. For example, a site dedicated to a share center might take a more minimal design and unassuming approach, including very legible fonts.
On the other hand, an e-commerce website would possibly look for compatibility with posting products, cart support, and a safe checkout process from a theme.
Who Are Your Ideal Visitors?
Understand the audience: It is very important. Who are you going to target on the web? You should take a decision on factors like age group, gender, location, and general interests. Let the information inform you of the design that is attractive to them and will yield a good user experience. Here are more questions to elucidate:
Are They Advanced Users or Novice?: Do your users easily find it easy to go through intricate websites, or do they enjoy simple layouts?
Mobile Users or Desktop Browsers?: Is your audience more used to browsing with their mobile devices or doing it on a desktop?
Visual Learners or Text-Oriented?: Is your audience one that responds best to a lot of different visually appealing content, or do they prefer websites heavy on text?
Knowing the audience and their preferences, one may reasonably choose between the themes that come with the right features and aesthetics. For example, a website targeted toward young adults might be best served by a design that’s modern and in vogue, whereas the site created for professionals will take on a more conservative and classy appearance.
What Features Does Your Website Need to Function?
Aside from the aesthetics, there are some features you’d want to make your website function efficiently. Here are some important ones:
Sell Stuff Online: Supposing you’re going to sell products, then you will need a theme working with e-commerce plugins. These plugins help you show your products, let people add them into their carts, and process payments safely.
Displaying Your Work: If you’re some kind of creative, your wordpress theme must have a portfolio section. This allows you to display your work in a nice manner.
Bookings: If you provide services that require booking, you’d want a booking system. This puts them in a place where they can easily book appointments.
Members-Only Content: In case you want to give some special content or facility only to the paid members, then you will require membership functionality. This allows users to register, pay, and view the ‘extra special’ content.
Now jot down all those features that you need the most. That way you can choose a theme with all you want and nothing you don’t.
Matching Theme to Purpose: A Real-World Example
The purpose of a website makes a whole lot of difference in its design. Take, for instance, a news website versus an e-commerce site. News websites place importance on layout that allows readability. The visitor wants to skim it over fast, see the headlines, find out what has happened, and read articles of interest. That would mean large fonts, clean navigation menus, and plenty of white space to set the different blocks of content apart, said by Simon Brisk, Cofounder of Click Intelligence.
On the other hand, an e-commerce website demands a design that is functional for product portrayal. In most cases, themes must contain such features as product grids, zoom functionality, high-quality image displays, and clean call-to-action buttons that respond to visitors’s interest in making a purchase.
Must-Have WordPress Theme Features
No matter your needs, you must look into important and must-have wordpress theme features:
Responsiveness
A very good theme should work on all devices, from huge computers to small phones. That ensures everybody gets an equally wonderful experience. Select a theme that is appealing to the eye on small screens and is highly readable.
Speed
Your website should be fast. This is great both for search engines and for making your visitors happy. Some themes that are full of features or have fancy animations are slow. Use only a theme that has the features you need.
Flexibility
If your theme does not have most of the features you want, in most cases, you can just add them using plugins. Make sure the theme works well with other plugins.
Accessibility
Your website should be accessible to everybody, including disabled people; this is a requirement both from a legal point of view and for reaching more people. Most of the modern themes are accessible, but check to make sure.
Support and Updates
Go for a theme that the developer is still updating. This means it works with the latest version of WordPress and is, therefore, safe to use. Looking at the ‘last updated’ timestamp will help choose such themes. Some themes also offer support, which could be really helpful for a beginner.
Great Reviews
Check out themes that have great reviews online. This would mean that other people had good experiences with the theme. Check the number of people who use it and if any problems are reported.
Take Your Website to the Next Level
You want success, so choose the right WordPress theme to install on your website. That is going to be what sets the tone in terms of your website’s look and feel, how it will be used, and what the search engines are going to see.
A good choice for a theme should be based on the nature of your website, who you are targeting, and the features you want users to have. Look out for themes that are user-friendly, and responsive across all devices.
Check the reviews, test them, see if it’s going to be updated frequently enough, and that the support is good. If you follow this process, you will find the right theme for your WordPress website.
