Choosing a WordPress theme can easily be categorized as the next most important thing to the content on the page. You can’t go choosing a theme all willy-nilly without truly considering the repercussions. If you pick a poorly done design then your readership will plummet, if you choose a theme with little support you might find yourself up a creek if your theme glitches.
WordPress is made to support a multitude of different websites so you need to make sure that you’re choosing the right theme for your purpose. For example: You don’t want to choose a theme that might suit a designer portfolio if you aim to be blogging in big chunks of text, you want a site that improves the readability of your site.
I cannot stress the importance of choosing a theme wisely enough.
1. Consider Price
Okay so if you’re a baller on a budget you might gravitate toward free themes. However, there are some serious pros when it comes to premium themes.
I shall list the pros and cons below:
Pros:
• More updates – these themes are regularly patched to fix security issues
• Unique design – if you want to stand out, don’t choose a free theme. Free themes will be used by the masses, premium themes will be used by less people
• Better documentation – premium themes come with a owner’s manual of sorts. You will get a PDF explaining how to get the most out of your theme. This is less common with free themes.
• Support – Free themes usually just have a public forum for support while premium themes will feature live chat, public forums, and email ticketing for support.
• No attribution – these themes will not feature a footer crediting the themes author. This makes your site look cleaner and appear more professional.
Cons:
• Pricey – you’re going to be doing out anywhere from $50-$200 for a premium theme
• Configuration – most themes have a custom admin panel with customization settings. Sometimes more options isn’t a good thing. You will be playing with this panel for a while to figure everything out.
• Bells and whistles – these themes will usually come with a bunch of premium features which can bog down your theme.
2. Simplicity is a Major Key
A lot of WordPress themes feature flashy animations and a whole lot of colors. However, that is not the mark of sophistication.
Instead of going the flashy route, I suggest going for something simple and clean that lends itself to your goal.
If you find a theme that looks pretty but doesn’t increase your readership or help you increase business then it is not a good theme for you. Don’t be afraid to change your theme (even if you grow attached) if it is not working for you.
3. Responsiveness
A responsive theme is one that adjusts across different screen sized and devices. As more and more people rely completely on their phone or their tablet for browsing the internet, it is necessary that your site is optimized across all devices.
If your site doesn’t adjust to an iPhone screen people are going to get impatient and click off your site.