Amidst every other website building
platform, WordPress, undoubtedly, has gained a high stature and importance. Not
just it’s loved by professionals, who are ace in coding; but is also chosen by
newbies, who only rely upon a perfect
WordPress theme and plugins to make their websites look alluring.
Having said that, when it comes to choosing
a perfect theme, roll-up your sleeves and then sit to accomplish this task.
Because, believe it or not, you’re surely going to spend an entire day to
discover an eye-catching theme, thanks to thousands of options available out
there.
Now, for a person who has already done this
thing over and over again, finding a relevant theme wouldn’t be difficult.
However, if you’ve just entered the WordPress world, pointing out such a theme
that’s just a bit more than perfect would be nothing less than an enigma.
Keeping this in mind, this post is here to
help you in every which way possible. Read these tips and use them for your
good while choosing a theme.
1 – Responsive Design:
One of the essential features that
shouldn’t be an optional thing in a commercial WordPress themeis the responsive design. Considering
how users are switching from desktop to mobile phones, you cannot take this
factor for granted.
If your theme is responsive enough, it can
display on small-screens properly. Thus, even if you have innumerable options
in front, you can segregate themes based on their responsiveness. Moreover, if
you’re stuck, you can even use online tools, such as mobile-friendly test by Google, to find
out whether your selected theme is appropriate enough or not.
So, before you make a decision, make sure
that your theme looks good across devices. If not, this specific factor can
impact your mobile users tremendously.
2 – Future Ready:
Even though you’re ready to serve your
audience presently, you must ensure that your website is ready for future updates.
After all, you cannot practically build a website time and again whenever there
is a new update or release, right?
For instance: WordPress has lately released
5.0 version along with a brand-new editor called Gutenberg. Currently, there
are several themes and plugins that are going to be affected with this update,
just because they were not made to work competently with this editor.
Thus, before choosing a theme or a design,
you must cross-check that the selected element is going to work well with the
latest Gutenberg and also has future compatibility scope.
It’s possible that the selected theme might
not come with a disclaimer to make you aware. In such a scenario, you can
simply clarify it with the developer and make a decision accordingly.
3 – Required Features:
Before you begin navigating through tons of
corporate WordPress themes, it’s
recommended to shortlist all those features you’d like to see in your
compatible theme. Having a curated list will give you an idea of what exactly
you’re looking for.
In this way, determining essential features and the ones that can be overlooked will become comparatively easier. Also, you must keep some basic features in mind, like translation-ready, SEO-friendly, customizing options, and more.
This will not just prevent you from making
a bad decision but will also save you from the hassle of assessing every theme
you come across.
4 – Simplicity Is Important:
While there is no dearth of complex and
intricate themes; in reality, that’s pretty much that you should avoid. When
you create a website for your users, you must keep their requirements and
wishes in mind to develop an extraordinarily amazing site.
Although visually complex themes may look
appealing to your eyes, however, they aren’t going to offer as many benefits as
a clean and simple theme can. First of all, a simple theme can help your
visitors focus on what’s more important – whether it’s the content or the
things that you’re selling.
On top of that, minimalist themes compel
your visitors to stay longer, click more, and convert into faithful customers.
And then, the fact that simplicity can make people happier always come forward
for your rescue. Thus, make sure that you win the battle by choosing a simple
yet elegant theme.
5 – Browser Compatibility:
Whenever you gauge responsive WordPress themes, browser
compatibility is one such aspect that you shouldn’t miss at any cost. Since
your users are going to use a variety of devices and different browsers, you
cannot build a website that’s only compatible with a couple of browsers, right?
The audience generally has differential
ways to amaze website owners. Therefore, you may never know what exactly your
target audience is using, unless you’ve studied well. At the end of the day,
it’s not necessary for a theme to look appealing on every browser if it appears
out to be the same on yours.
Though developers do mention the
compatibility aspect in the description, if it’s missing, you can take the
initiative and check that theme in different browsers. Or, you can even try a
significant tool for the same.
6 – Colors Are Important:
One of the primary things that you must
keep in mind is that a majority of internet marketing is dependent on visual
appearance. And, among everything else, colors are quite liable to establish
your brand’s identity online.
Thus, while scrutinizing best WordPress themes, don’t forget to
keep an eye on the color combinations that it provides. If you already have a
logo designed for your brand, you can look out for the similar color scheme in
the theme. If not, then look out for a more neutral color scheme that can be
used to put colors here and there.
Statistically, website visitors prefer
lighter sights in comparison with the darker ones. So, keep your end-users’
inclinations in mind while deciding upon the color scheme.
7 – Ease of Customization:
Options to customize may vary from one
theme to another. And, by tweaking a handful of features, you can easily create
a myriad of layouts, even if you have no knowledge of CSS or coding whatsoever.
While there are certain themes that come with advanced options; however, there
are chances that the specific functionalities might be missing.
Surely, you might want to customize almost
everything, be it editing the source code or changing layouts. The final
objective is to make the website more relevant to your brand, right? In this
case, it’s recommended to spend some time trying to fix demo versions.
By doing this, you’ll get an idea of
whether the selected theme has appropriate editing options or not. Not just
that, but you’ll also know how easy the customization is. There are always a
lot of options to consider, should you face problems with one theme.
8 – Loading Speed:
Out of all the other factors, website speed
is one such aspect that is impacting conversion rates for most of the business
owners. As straightforward as it can get, buyers aren’t here to waste their time.
And, they aren’t patient enough to let a website take its time to load
completely.
If your site fails to load quickly, your
prospective buyers will find your alternative within seconds. Therefore, a perfect WordPress theme, along with
providing you a gamut of other functionality options, should be quick in
loading as well.
An average user expects the loading time to
be nothing more than 2 seconds. That’s one important reason why you should
always be thorough while selecting a theme because if there occur loading
problems, the beauty of your site might get affected tremendously.
9 – Some Additional Features:
Once you’ve looked cautiously into primary
features, there’s something additional as well that you shouldn’t miss at all.
To begin with, you must differentiate between a paid theme and a free theme.
While the latter ones come with certain limitations, former ones can offer you
a lot of features.
Along with the price, you must also
concentrate on how the customer support is if you’re buying a premium theme.
Also, know about the kind of support that developers provide and what would be
the mode of communication for them.
You must also have a look at whether the
theme supports all kinds of plugins or not as these tools are important to run
a WordPress website. And then, be rest assured in terms of security and
updates. You must get to know about how often developers update the theme and
how strong the source code is.
Conclusion:
Now, how can you find such commercial WordPress theme that would
meet all of your requirements? While there is no universal answer, considering
everyone has their own diverse needs, these tips mentioned above will surely
help you discover a quality theme. So, apply these tips in reality and get the
best possible theme for your business website.
