When it comes to choosing the right WordPress theme, most WordPress beginners doubt which ones are better or worse. It is challenging to choose a theme for WordPress, as there are so many available. There are thousands and thousands of themes in the WordPress repository, both free and Premium or paid.
If you are starting with WordPress now or do not have advanced knowledge, I do not advise you to choose a paid WordPress theme yet, and it is better to choose a WordPress theme from the free ones. In this post, I will list the things that you should take into account when choosing the most appropriate WordPress theme.
Contents
Why should you be careful when choosing your WordPress theme
WordPress can be used to design all kinds of websites, from online magazines to social networks and forums to online businesses offering services or cooking recipe blogs. That is why you must know how to choose well. Just because a WordPress theme is versatile, flexible, adaptable to any business does not mean that it makes it a better theme.
Versatility is a great quality depending on what things. But it is also true that specialization is more efficient when obtaining results. The same goes for WordPress themes. What I mean by this is: A good WordPress theme almost always focuses on a type of market and purpose, focusing its design on the objectives of the specific online business.
Imagine the mess your design can get if your online business is a service website and you choose a WordPress theme for magazines or online stores. Your WordPress theme should be a complement to the content of your online business or your website, not an impediment to sales.
Points to consider when choosing your WordPress theme
So let’s define a few essential points before you set out to choose a WordPress theme. The objective of this post is that you can choose with better knowledge to do it with more criteria.
Seek simplicity when choosing your WordPress theme
Stop and think about the elements and functionalities that you need and do not let yourself be blinded by redundant or unnecessary things that many WordPress themes offer. Many themes come with tons of colors, configuration and customization options, complex layouts ( layout is the distribution of the aesthetic elements of a page), etc. In the end, all these things may be unnecessary for you. They are surpluses. That is, they are leftover, well.
Today, simplicity prevails in any web design and, therefore, in WordPress themes, so do not be enchanted by superficial elements that will not contribute anything and make your users run away. Choose a WordPress theme that is consistent with your goals and those of your online business. Sure it has to be aesthetically appealing, but usability and user experience come first.
Adaptation to mobile devices
Choose a WordPress theme that is responsive or adaptable to mobile devices. A few years ago, this was one more feature that you could or could not choose from. Today Google says that it is no longer something to choose. If your website is not responsive, Google will penalize you for its positioning. Google shows web designs that are responsive higher on the results pages than those not.
Almost all WordPress themes today are responsive. But it is also true that there are more effective and less. Some issues are fatal on an iPhone, or a Tablet, no matter how responsive they are. Make sure you check it out before the go-live.
It is not that it has to be perfect on mobile phones (this is very difficult to achieve by the creators of the themes). But almost perfect it can be. The best way to know or test if a WordPress theme is responsive or not is by resizing your browser’s screen. By doing so, you will see if the content adapts to the new dimensions or not.
Check how is the WordPress theme support team
To choose a theme for WordPress, look at the downloads and opinions. Be careful that the number is ten times greater is not anything to write home about either. When choosing your theme for WordPress, many opinions are better, even if some are not so good.
However, looking at the number of opinions and ratings is not enough. It may be a topic that most people rate very well, but at the same time, you may have a poor support forum. You notice this right away. If you enter the support forum, most of the tickets or queries are unresolved. What date is the last ticket resolved?
Another clue to detect if the chosen WordPress theme has a good support service is the speed of response and what has been said before: they have many solved tickets. Likewise, you can get into several tickets randomly and check:
- First, check if the answers are given by the theme’s creators or by independent people.
- Second, if the creators answer the queries, look at the response tone and the overall conversation.
- Third, check the response time.
Plugins that the WordPress theme supports
The true power of WordPress lies mainly in the plugins that are developed for the CMS. Sometimes, the plugins make it possible for you to do practically whatever you want with your WordPress theme.
Knowing that there are thousands of plugins, both free and Premium, you should also know that there are WordPress plugins that are essential, such as Yoast SEO, W3TotalCache, etc. and that there will be some that are not compatible with your chosen WordPress theme. Make sure your theme supports the plugins you want to use or will need to use in the future.
Compatibility in all browsers
You also have to make sure that the WordPress theme that you have chosen or have in mind to choose is compatible with all the most used browsers, at least the five main ones: Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Opera.
Do tests on all five browsers, not only on your PC but also on a Mac and various mobile devices. Keep in mind that the appearance may vary or not be perfect in some browsers or devices. There, the issue is how demanding you are with this issue.
Last words
I always advise you to start “playing” a little with each theme until you see if it is really what you are looking for. Create three or four pages, in addition to the home page and the blog. Two or three entries and categories. You can test it by adding videos to your WordPress blog. Start configuring the WordPress theme as if it were your final choice. Please leave your comments or experiences on how you have chosen your WordPress theme.
Permanent link to this post here
