When people visit your website, they will base their impressions of it on two things: how it looks and how it works. You want a visually appealing and engaging website because people are visual creatures – we just like pretty things. But you also want it to be easy to load, navigate, and use for everyone who visits it. In WordPress, both appearance and functionality will depend in large part on the theme you use. So it’s just imperative to choose the best WordPress theme for your business – something that both looks good and works well for the type of business you’re running. Luckily, there are thousands of options to choose from; you only need to know what to look for.
What is a WordPress theme?
A WordPress theme is essentially a template for a WordPress website. It defines how your website looks and works for the end-users. For example, your menu can be at the top of the page, or it can be a sidebar, depending on the theme. Different themes may order blog posts differently, show dates when pages were created, have special features like built-in event calendars or endless scrolling. Thus, some themes are highly specialized for a specific type of content or a particular industry.
Why is it important to choose the best WordPress theme?
WordPress themes, in large part, define the appearance of WP websites. And users like visually appealing websites. As such, WP themes are an essential step in creating a website that users will like. Of course, it is possible to change a WP theme, but that can drastically change the way content is presented. If you’ve already built a brand and have a loyal customer base, they might not like this. Additionally, you might have to change how you create posts and pages and even edit existing content to fit better with your new theme. And while you can tweak existing themes to suit your needs better, install plugins, or even create your own, this requires a lot of coding expertise, a lot of time, and a lot of effort. It’s simply easier and faster to find a good WP theme from the beginning.
Here’s how to choose the best WordPress theme for your business step-by-step
Including both free and premium options, there are currently more than 10,000 WP themes you can use. You most certainly won’t have the time to check them all out and try them on for size. So how will you choose the perfect theme for your website?
Make a list of features you want
The first thing you need to ask yourself is what exactly you’re looking for. Are you setting up an online store? Or making a website where you post reviews of other businesses in the form of a blog? Or do you perhaps want to create a resource database for learning a particular skill? Depending on your goals, your website will require different features – space for a logo, a featured image at the top of every page, a grid layout to show off your products. Write out the features you absolutely must have, and you can filter themes based on that.
Look for something simple
When it comes to WordPress, simple is always better. Simple themes load faster, work better, look better, and are easier to customize. So don’t go wild with unnecessary music players or fancy graphics. Get a slick, elegant theme that will ensure peak performance in the first place. If you want to, you can always add things later.
Choose a good color scheme
You don’t want your website to look like a sixteen-year-old’s MySpace page from 2006, but you also don’t want it to be boring. So when you choose a simple theme, you need to add some visual interest. Color schemes are a great way to do this. Use different shades of the same color for various parts of the website, or pick complementary colors that look good together. If you look at a website like WP Full Care, you’ll see how even a simple WordPress theme can look good in color.
Responsiveness is a must
These days, about half of all internet traffic comes from mobile devices, so you need to make sure that your theme is suitable for those users as well. This is what responsiveness means in terms of WP themes – using a theme that will adjust for different browsers and different devices, thus ensuring that all users have a good experience with it.
Think about accessibility
One of the reasons why people like shopping with online businesses is because of ease of access. Who doesn’t like being able to buy goods and order services from the comfort of their own home? But to make sure that all users get to enjoy this, you need to make your website accessible to everyone. This doesn’t just mean using a simple theme and easily readable font (although that is important). You should also choose a theme that works well for screen readers, is easy to navigate, and allows for multilingual options if you have an international audience.
Back-end functionality is necessary too
While it’s essential to choose a theme that your users will enjoy, you mustn’t forget about your own experience as a webmaster. So choose a theme that works for you – something that makes it easy to optimize content and create consistent links. Finally, choose a theme whose developer is still in business. That way, you can get help if something goes wrong.
Always test your theme before implementing it
Before you share your website with the world, make sure your theme works the way you want. Does it look good on different devices? Are all the links working? Is it loading correctly? Check these kinds of things before making permanent changes to your website theme. You can also use plugins to test the source code of themes or apply your theme to a mock-up website before changing your real one.
What happens if you don’t choose the best WordPress theme available?
While it is imperative to choose the best WordPress theme for your business, it’s not the end of the world if you make a mistake. It is always possible to change themes later on. While it can be tricky if you have to change your content to make sure it fits with the new layout, it’s still possible. So if you or your users end up dissatisfied with the theme you chose, go back to the drawing board and select a new one!