Confused about the way to choose a WordPress theme for your website? Don’t worry, we’re here to clear up your confusion.
A WordPress theme determines the front of your website. All of your content is presented to your users consistent with the layout of the theme you employ. Hence, choosing a topic may be a crucial part of creating a WordPress website.
However, there are thousands of themes available, both free and premium, that it’s going to be overwhelming to settle on one. Fear not, this text goes to assist you to discover the right theme for you.
Why Themes are Important for WordPress Websites?
As mentioned above, themes determine the layouts of your website. you’ll choose a topic, install it and completely change the design of your website (for the better). the good news is that anyone (developers and non-developers) can easily install a WordPress theme.
You can effortlessly find tons of useful, attractive free WordPress themes. On top of that, there is a pool of premium themes as well. And if you’re thinking premium themes might cost you a fortune, then you’re wrong.
Premium themes aren’t that costly, and most importantly, they’re worth every penny. So, even if you purchase a premium theme, you won’t regret it.
Some Smart Ideas On How to Pick the Right WordPress Theme for Your Website
Now that you know the importance of themes, let’s find a perfect theme for your WordPress website. Here are some smart ideas for you on how to select a theme for a WordPress website. So, let’s get started.
1) Determine the Niche of Your Website
First thing first, you would like to work out what sort of WordPress website you would like to make. for instance, does one need a blogging site, a business website, a magazine site, a food-related site, a medical site, then on?
Luckily, WordPress themes are available in a good variety. there’s a topic for each niche. Hence, choose the theme that matches the aim of your website. to form your job easier, here are some themes we recommend.
- Business-oriented theme: Dcode is a great theme that can give your online business a kickstart.
- Blogging-based themes: Dcode, Yuno are an amazing themes that will showcase your blog posts beautifully.
- Magazine-based theme: ColorMag is a simple yet elegant theme perfect for your magazine-based website.
For example, if you want to build a Business or Blogging site, then your site will like the screenshot below with Dcode theme.
And, if you still cannot decide then, it’s always a good idea to go for a multipurpose theme. A multipurpose theme, as its name, is useful for any kind of website.
2) Pick Updated Themes Only
Always, and that we repeat, always check the last updated date of the theme while selecting it for your website. The core WordPress software keeps updating. Additionally, an outdated theme is at higher risk for malicious attacks. Hence, a topic should even be up-to-date with WordPress.
You can easily see the last updated date within the theme description. for free of charge themes, you’ll check the updated go back to the official WordPress.org theme repository.
Also, it’s better if the last updated date doesn’t exceed six months. Additionally, you can also check the no. of active installations, and its version. For example, here’s the last updated date, no. of installations, etc. of Dcode
3) Good User Reviews & Ratings
Checking the ratings and reviews is often an excellent help while choosing a WordPress theme for your website. After all, reviews are from the people who’ve already tried the merchandise. Hence, ratings and reviews can provide a lot of insights about the merchandise.
Fortunately, you’ll see the ratings and reviews easily on WordPress.org. you’ll find the ratings on the proper side of the theme description. Furthermore, you’ll see complete ratings and reviews by clicking on the ‘See All’ link.
Similarly, if you purchase a premium theme (say from ThemeForest), you can see ratings in the sidebar. Additionally, you can find the number of sales as well as comments.
4) Well-Coded and Documented
A poorly-coded theme can make your site slow. and no one likes an internet site that loads slowly. Even Google ranks a slow site at rock bottom of the SERPs.
Additionally, the theme should even be documented in order that a layman can easily understand the step-by-step guidance about different features. Hence, a well-documented theme is super easy to know.
So, always select a topic that’s well-coded at an equivalent time, well-documented. But, you want to be thinking, how am I alleged to know if the theme is well-coded or not?
Well, one of the tricks to avoid installing a poorly-coded theme is to always download or purchase a topic from a trusted site. Don’t download themes from sketchy sites. a number of the trusted sites are
- WordPress.org (the official site to download the free WordPress themes)
- Beastthemes
- ThemeForest
- ThemeIsle
- Elegant Themes, etc.
5) Developer’s Support to Users
Another great tip on the way to choose a WordPress theme for your website is to see if the developers provide support or not. There are times when a drag arises together with your theme. And at those times, a developer’s support seems like a blessing.
The most commonplace to see for free-of-charge themes support is the WordPress.org forum. Before you choose a topic, check its support forum.
Also, you’ll find knowledgebase or documentation on their official website with tutorials. you’ll check them to ascertain whether there are many tutorials or not.
In the case of premium WordPress themes, most of them provide 1-year dedicated support for their customers via live chat, email, etc.
If you choose our themes, then you can get instant support from our team of experts.
If you’re a Beastthemes theme user, then you can go to the support page on our site and ask your queries. There’s also a live chat option. Click on the chat button at the bottom right corner and start asking questions.
Bottom line, always make sure the theme you install/purchase provides full support.
6) Mobile-Friendly/Responsiveness
A responsive theme looks great on every screen, like mobile devices, tablets, laptops, etc.
Are you aware that quite 50% of individuals seek their answers via mobile phones? And if you don’t have a responsive website then, meaning you’re chasing away quite 50% of your potential customers.
Therefore, if you would like to extend traffic and conversion, choose a topic that creates your site look great on every screen.
7) Page Builders
A page builder may be a plugin that permits you to make pages employing a simple drag and drop interface.
Page builders provide a lot of elements and widgets like buttons, carousels, galleries, videos, images, etc. All you would like to try to do is drag and drop those elements to start out creating a gorgeous page. Landing pages, specifically, are great to create with the assistance of a page builder.
Most of the premium themes accompany a pre-installed page-builder. within the case of free themes confirm they’re compatible with the
popular page builders to create the layout of your choice.
Some of the popular page builders are Elementor, Brizy Builder, Beaver Builder, etc. You can easily install these plugins as well.
8) Easy Customization
Sometimes you may want to change or take the layout of your theme to the next level. In that case, the WordPress customizer comes in handy.
With customization, you can change/add new features to your WordPress theme. Themes with easy customization offer options like advanced typography, custom widgets, advanced color options, and more. Best of all, you can customize your theme without even touching the code.
Hence, look for these or more options on the theme description and choose a theme that provides easy customization.
9) Translation & RTL Ready
Did you know, about only 20% of the population speaks and understands English? Not all of your users are getting to be ready to understand English (Universal language).
Hence, a topic that permits the interpretation of content into the other language may be a must. Furthermore, RTL means Right To Left.
Simply put, most languages, including English, are written left to right. However, some languages like Arabic are written within the right to left direction.
And, an RTL-ready theme allows you to write down from right to left. Hence, if you would like to offer your website global recognition, choose a translation & RTL-ready theme.
10) Check Browser Compatibility
There are different browsers like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc. Sometimes, themes might look great on one browser but not on another. So, choose a WordPress theme that’s compatible with all the browsers.
Also, most of the WordPress theme developers test the compatibility by using the browser compatibility tool. Additionally, they also mention this feature within the theme descriptions. Therefore, keep that in mind while selecting a topic for your WordPress site.
Wrapping It Up!
And that’s all of the smart ideas on how to choose a WordPress theme for your WordPress website. Hope you got a clear idea about what things you should look for while selecting a theme.
