Looking for a theme for your website can be tiresome. Many expressed that they feel lost, confused, and overwhelmed while they look for an appropriate theme. They could not make their mind regarding which theme to pick from the buffet of themes. WordPress offers both free WordPress themes as well as premium WordPress themes.
It is very obvious due to the presence of many options of themes it is hard to make a choice when you are looking for a theme. With that thought, we have narrowed down 5+ things to consider before picking a WordPress theme. Ensuring these will increase the chance of you getting a good quality website.
Now let’s cut to the chase and have a look at the key factors of choosing themes for your website.
Brand Resonance
Your theme is a mirror of your brand to the audience. It should resonate with a similar meaning that your brand stands for. Also, it should be compatible with the type of product or service you are offering. The look and feel of your theme should complement your products and service and uplift the overall brand presence.
For example: if a startup is working with software and technology-related products, a theme that is creative, fast, and multipurpose will be the best pick for them.
Thus, the overall vibe of your theme should match your brand, product, and service. So the first tick on your checklist should go to the brand resonance of your theme. Along with that, the type of business & service you are dealing with will also determine the type of theme.
Whether you are using a free WordPress theme or paid, ensure it matches with the core message of your brand. If you are planning for an e-commerce website, then you have to look for themes that are e-commerce compatible.
Make sure you have categorized your requirements and compare the available themes accordingly.
Responsiveness and Retina Ready
According to a recent study done by Statista, 52.6% of global traffic was from mobile device users.
This justifies the significance of a responsive website theme. So, if you are looking for a new theme for a website, the responsiveness of the theme should be your top priority.
Having a retina ready and responsive website will uplift the quality of the website. Being responsive means, the website will be seamlessly similar if it is accessed through a mobile or a PC.
The change in devices used will not have any effect on the overall presentation of the website.
As the number of people using mobile as their go-to device, it is essential to keep the website retina ready. So, while you are researching your theme, make sure it is completely responsive. It will enhance the overall quality of your website. Even if you are planning to use free WordPress themes, you can pick the responsive theme for your website.
Speedster
Who likes a slowpoke right? Unless you are a fan of that sloth from the movie Zootopia!
Jokes apart, speed is one of the essential elements of a quality website theme. If your website is too heavy and takes a lot of time to load, there is a high chance it will affect the user experience.
So be really careful while picking a theme because speed is a crucial factor in choosing a theme for your website. It is essential to draw a line to ensure your theme has good speed.
Many sliders, background videos, pre-installed plugins, poorly coded themes can make your website slow.
Pick wisely and do not compromise on the speed of the website. So keep an eye out for a superstar and speedster theme for your website.
If you are using a free WordPress theme with limited features and you add a lot of plugins that might slow your website down. So be cautious before using any specific plugin.
Customization
The ease of customization of a website is one of the key factors in choosing a theme for your website. Customization should be easy and simple so that you can do minor changes and customization by yourself.
That is the beauty of a user-friendly website theme. If you are using WordPress themes, make sure you are choosing a theme that has a page builder.
There are many variations of page builders.
The most common page builders are Elementor page builder, WPBakery page builder, etc. These page builders are available with premium and free WordPress themes.
You can use these page builders to customize and design your website just the way you like.
When you install a WordPress theme, you can pick from the available demos to import from. In addition, you can use the page builders to design your page.
The best thing about these page builders is it does not require a single line of coding.
So, if you are a non-technical person, having a page builder with your theme will save your day.
Ratings and Review
Ratings and review provided by users is a profound indicator of the quality of the theme.
It also reflects how many users have used the theme. It is always recommended to go through the comments left by the user to have a better understanding of the theme you are going to pick.
You can pick from the WordPress dashboard or purchase a theme from third party theme sellers.
Go through the rating, review, and number of sales to have a proper idea of the quality of the theme.
Always look for a theme with higher ratings and sales frequency of the theme. It reduces the risk of the theme being less effective.
Price
Last but not least, price is also a key factor in choosing a theme for your website. There is a misconception that a higher price is an indication of good quality themes, but this might not be the case always. An affordable theme can have super features, whereas a highly-priced theme can be poorly coded.
Plus, there are many free WordPress themes that keep their side of the bargain. You can pick from those free themes as well. Try to get a theme that is within your budget and ticks on the majority of the points mentioned above.
Pro tips
- Navigate through the demos and live preview to have a clear idea about what the theme is offering
- if you do not know to code, pick a theme with page builders to ease your process of customization
- For paid themes, always look at the kind of customer support they provide.
- When you purchase a theme or download it free, make sure it has all the necessary documentation ready. This documentation will help you to get started with your website easily.
To sum up, if you are looking forward to creating your new website, the above-mentioned checklist will give you the advantage of picking the theme that is best suitable for you.
