It’s easy to feel a bit overwhelmed when you’re setting up your WordPress website. There are so many decisions to make about colors, designs, fonts, and graphics. Having lots of themes to choose from makes it a bit easier, but how do you choose the best theme for your website? After all, the theme is the face of your WordPress site, and the image it conveys about you and your business plays an important role in how your potential clients and even search engines perceive it.
Here are some things you should keep in mind to make sure you get the theme that is the right fit for your business.
1. Keep it simple
Simplicity and an uncluttered design are key for a business website. You don’t want anything that will distract from your core message. On the contrary, the design layout and look should support your message, make it easy for readers to find the information they need and help you get new business and subscribers.
2. Flexibility
Whatever design you choose, make sure it is responsive across multiple devices. Clients should be easily able to navigate and read your website whether they’re on a cellphone, tablet, laptop or computer.
3. Consistency
If you already have a business logo or design, choose a design that is consistent with your look and branding. If you choose a neutral theme, make it more engaging by including some touches of color. If you’re starting a business look from scratch, bear in mind that studies have shown that readers find lighter colored sites easier to navigate and read than darker colors.
4. Make it SEO friendly
You may not realize that the theme you choose can affect your websites’ Search Engine Optimization (SEO) capability. It’s no good having a website that looks great and has fantastic content if the search engines can’t pick it up. Check the description of the theme to make sure it’s optimized for SEO.
5. Good reviews
If you find a theme that feels right to you and it checks out on the simplicity, flexibility, consistency and SEO optimization fronts, look at the reviews before you hit the download button. Users can leave up to 5‐star ratings on the theme itself – and it’s also worth a scan of user forums to see if there are common problems.
Choosing the theme for your website is important, so it’s worth doing some research to find the right one for your business. And you can play around with different themes to see what feels right. Use the preview button to see what they look like on your screen.
5+. Price
I am sort of including Price as the ‘plus’ part in this list of 5+ Things to Look For in a WordPress Theme! Some themes are free, and others are known as Premium Themes (because you have to pay for them). There are great free themes and some not-so-great free themes. There are great premium themes, and some premium themes are not so good. Youhave to check each one out regardless of the cost to see if it will work for you.
Personally, I like the premium themes because they will typically come with support. Some benefits of using a premium WordPress theme include the following:
- Better design and customization options,
- More reliable and secure,
- Better support and updates,
- More features and functionality, and
- They are SEO-friendlier.
Overall, using a premium WordPress theme can provide many benefits to your website, including better design, more customization options, reliability, security, support, and features. However, it’s important to research and choose a reputable premium theme developer and ensure that the theme fits your specific needs and goals.
If you have any questions about this, feel free to reach out to us!
Doug Jarvie says
Hi Paul
I have just switched from the wordpress 2010 theme to the 2019 theme.
There are a few things I still have to work around or learn about the new theme.
For example it seems to require that each blog post have a Featured Image to display as a banner. The 2010 had a default banner, that I could edit, that applied to all pages and posts that did not specify a features image. My old posts do not all have featured images so now they display with a blank space for the banner.
Thanks for keeping me engaged in these challenges.
Paul says
You can try the plugin Default Featured Image and see it that will do the job for you, Doug!
As you found out, not all themes work the same way!
Martha says
I have had WP Falive theme for awhile and been wondering if I should look into the other themes.
Paul says
If you like it, keep it. If it is no longer supported, you might want to change it! I am working with a client right now that has a theme that was not update in over 2 years. That is NOT a good sign. We will be changing out her theme soon (I hope!)
Dr.Amrita says
Some great advice to start the blog just right.Simplicity is key aspect.
Paul says
Most of the time, simplicity is the best way to go!