Tips for Choosing a Suitable WordPress Theme for your Website
One of the great benefits of using WordPress is the fact that there are thousands of quality free themes available, along with high quality premium and custom themes. However, too many choices make the decision even more difficult, especially for beginners. In this article, we will provide some guidelines to help you make this process easier.
3 Types of WordPress Themes Available
Generally speaking, there’s 3 types of themes available, which are free, premium and customized themes.
There are thousands of free themes available. However, you might use a free theme that is also used by others. If you choose premium themes, which could cost you $50- $150, but you get better designs and more options. If you want unique designs, a custom theme is the way to go while with a little more cost. In addition, if you are programmer, you may can also make some changes to a free theme to create a more unique look for your website by yourself.
8 Things to Consider When Choosing a Theme
Selecting a theme is about more than the way it looks. Functionality and the flexibility, the ability to control options from your WordPress dashboard can be just as important.
1. What’s your budget?
a. As cheap as possible.
b. Around $50 – $150.
c. Be willing to spend at least a few hundred dollars.
2. Do you have a clear visual brand identity including a logo and color scheme?
a. No.
b. I just want a nice-looking website.
c. I have a logo and want my WordPress website to match it.
3. What is your level of technical skills, especially regarding design, CSS & PHP?
a. I only can use WordPress to publish my posts.
b. I know how WordPress works but I am not familiar with code.
c. I’m familiar with coding and willing to learn & experiment.
Very generally speaking, if you know some CSS, you can easily change things like fonts and colors and other skin features. If you know PHP you’ll be able to adjust layout & functionality easier to meet your needs.
4. Is support available?
Some premium themes include support from the designers. Some free theme designers provide limited support and others do not. If you think you might need support, take this into consideration. If you are familiar with themes and feel comfortable tweaking and solving your own problems, you don’t need to worry about support.
5. If you have a logo, does it match the theme?
There are a lot of free blog themes that have a logo added to the header. If you plan to use a specific logo or header image, choose a theme accordingly, or look into getting a new logo to match the theme.
6. Is it widget-ready?
Choose a widget ready theme, then you can make some of changes to the sidebar and you do not need to deal with the code. A widget-ready theme offers some flexibility and options that is very handy for beginners.
7. Are there hidden links?
Many themes include some form of hidden links. That’s why we recommend you to choose a theme for a reputable source.
8. Will you be able to grow with the same theme?
As your blog or website grows you may want add new features. Some themes will not offer much flexibility for growth. Choose a theme that has less limitation for your growth.
By considering the factors above, and refer to “WordPress Theme Basics”, you may figure out the question, “What theme is best for me?”, then you can chose a WordPress theme accordingly.
Related posts:
Just stumbled across your tweet and thought I’d check out your article. I like your mention of the hidden links issue and thats why I try to stay away from the free themes. Yep, support is super critical for me as well.
I just wrote a similar article the other day too. Check it out http://www.sitebuilder.ws/9-must-dos-before-choosing-a-wordpress-theme.html and let me know your thoughts!
I’m just done reading your article and I fairly liked it. How to Choose a WordPress Theme is damn good! I had some doubts in the beginning of the submit though, but I held on reading and I am delighted I did. Pleasant enjoyable posting, blogger! Keep publishing and I will definitely be back again shortly. Thank you and take care.