Selecting a theme is necessary before adding material and developing your brand. Then how would you choose one of the thousands of WordPress themes that are available to serve as the foundation of your website? Don't give up after your first obstacle. Choosing the ideal theme for your website can be a lot of fun.
What is a WordPress theme?
A theme is a collection of coding files that specify the fundamental structure of your website, including all the fonts, colors, and content of your header and footer. A theme also specifies how the menu will function. Once you've decided on a theme, you can enter data without having to think about formatting every title or coordinating the button color in the header. The adjustments to your theme will be made accordingly.
However, your topic is more complex than simple images. Many themes additionally enhance the WordPress backend capabilities. Most feature custom blocks that expand the basic WordPress editor, while some others include new content types outside of web pages.
Finding a theme with both the functionality you require and the style and feel you enjoy is your purpose. Selecting a theme that offers you what you need right away will enable you to build and publish your site more quickly and easily, even though you can change it in the future.
Factors to Consider When Selecting a WordPress Theme:
If you begin by understanding the requirements of your website, the type of material you would like to include, the actions you want viewers to be able to take, and the objectives you want to achieve, selecting through all the existing themes will be faster. Below, a little preparation helps a lot.
What Kind of Content Do You Plan to Have?
To showcase various types of information, several themes are created. What is the main objective of your website? Here are some potential examples:
- Create a blog. You may wish to start a new website for data publication, a magazine-style website to share affiliate items, or a topical blog to position yourself as an authority in your industry. The text flow is crucial for each of them, so choose a theme that favors readability and arranges your content in a way that makes it easy to skim.
- Create a company page. If you want to encourage potential consumers to arrange a call, schedule a reservation, or sign up for your newsletter, you might want to welcome them to your business, define your offerings, and include a call to action. A call to action section, a professional landing page design, specialized pages for companies, profiles, and contact details are frequently included in themes created for companies.
- Display your original work. You may choose to publish your photographs or artwork online to broaden your audience and gain fans. There are numerous specialized themes available to present photographs in original ways without becoming overpowering. Look for a layout that promotes photos and gallery-specific features.
- Create a membership website. You don't need a theme that takes care of the technical details if you want to start an online community (a plugin can take care of that). However, you do need a theme with clever menus that clearly distinguish between member and non-member information and features.
- Promote your goods. If you're creating an online store, search for a theme that has WooCommerce completely integrated and stunning product pages that fit in with the rest of your website.
How does your brand look?
The majority of themes provide numerous modification options; for instance, you may typically alter the color scheme to match your brand's colors. However, the overall design will have a distinct appearance and feel, so it will be easier to customize when you're able to match your brand's style immediately.
- Clear and spacious? Choose a theme with lots of white space, straightforward typefaces, and a straightforward, one-column design.
- Fun and strange? Search for a theme that makes use of original design elements like text overlays, contrasting forms, and merging pictures.
- Purely professional? Search for designs with recognizable components, such as hero photos and three-column feature sections.
- Fresh and creative? Look for unique menu locations, animation elements, and graphic styles.
How many features will you require?
Are you in need of a subscription forum, shop websites, menu boards, or any other unique characteristics? There are probably a few WordPress themes available that meet your criteria because there are so many to pick from. Although plugins can offer a lot of functionality, it's best to start your website with a theme that works well with the plugins you require or even comes with that feature.
Custom post types are a feature in various focused themes that highlight original content. Themes include "Trainer" for yoga studios, "Portfolio" for consultants, or "Album" for musicians.
How much can you spend?
And lastly, think about your budget. There are many possibilities in the WordPress theme catalog, many of which are free. However, specialized designs and those with complex, original design elements or features may have an annual price. Consider your entire budget, as this amount will be in addition to your other domain and hosting purchase costs.
Essential Theme Elements
Regardless of your requirements, you should search for a theme that includes these fundamental components.
- Ability to respond
To ensure that every visitor has a wonderful experience, a decent theme will adjust to various platforms, gadgets, and browsers. To develop a single-column layout, which is considerably easier to read on portable devices and necessary for effective search engine optimization, you'll require a design that shifts data around on tiny devices. A design that is "mobile first," or created especially for tiny screens, is preferable. You'll be serving the majority of your audience because mobile and tablet traffic make up more than half of all traffic.
- Quality
A website that loads quickly is also beneficial to your SEO and visitor experience. Overall, the more built-in functions and customizations a theme has, the slower it loads. Sliders and animations are two design components that can strengthen your website. Select a theme that only has the functions you'll need.
- Flexibility
If the theme you're thinking about lacks certain functionality you'll require, don't worry—you can nearly always add more by utilising extensions. How smoothly your theme connects with other plugins is the most important factor to take into account. You're off to a terrific start if it's already configured to function with, say, an upper translation, event, or mega-menu extension.
- Accessibility
Accessible websites must be built, not just nice to have. In addition to reducing your audience by excluding users with particular needs, an unsecured website exposes you to the risk of litigation and other legal issues. Although the majority of contemporary themes have code to ensure that your site is publicly available, it's a good idea to verify the theme's compliance level before using it.
- Services and Maintenance
Choose a theme whose developer is active. To keep your site secure and to ensure that your design is compatible with the most recent WordPress versions, you should update it frequently. A timestamp indicating the most recent update should be visible when viewing a theme in the WordPress library. Additionally, many third-party themes provide a service contract.
- Strong Rating
Finally, choose a theme with a great track record. Try searching for reviews and feedback on the theme of your choice to see how it performed, how user-friendly it was, and how quickly the creator responded to complaints about problems or flaws. Choose a theme that has a lot of installations and positive ratings; the more people who have used a theme, the more likely it is that any issues have been fixed and there will be a lot of people available to assist you.
How to Locate Your Dream Theme
There are a few places you can check for themes if your new website is hosted on WordPress.com.
Theme Gallery on WordPress.com
Check in the left-hand column of your new WordPress.com website's homepage, below "Attractive Themes." You'll immediately see the Theme Collection, which features hundreds of both free and premium themes presented in thumbnail style. Because WordPress.com chose them, you can be sure that they're up to date, perfectly aligned with the WordPress core, and exquisitely designed.
To limit your choices, click the Filters option on the search bar's right side. You can look for themes with particular features, layouts, and goals using the answers to the aforementioned questions as a guide. Take a few minutes to browse your results and look for a theme that combines the features you need with the images you had in mind.
Tap on any potential themes you come across to get additional information. Find the link that says "Open Live Demo" near the top of its info screen to see how it functions in practice. If you're interested in choosing it for your website, click the button that says "Activate This Theme" if you're interested.
Directory of themes on WordPress.org
Inside the WordPress.org Theme Directory, there are even more WordPress themes available. While third-party developers are free to list their themes here, WordPress also keeps an eye on this directory to ensure that outdated themes, ones that aren't updated anymore, or themes with known defects are deleted. Here, you can find several well-known and well-liked topics, as well as a community of educated users who can assist with queries.
Keep in mind that you must have a plan that supports plugins to use one of these themes on your WordPress.com website.
You can search for the designs, capabilities, and sectors you require by clicking the Feature Filter button in the catalog. Select a theme you think is intriguing to see more information. The blue Download icon will allow you to download the theme to your user's computer, and the Preview button will allow you to view a playable demo of the theme.
Installation of a new theme:
- Back to the WordPress.com website
- From the dashboard menu, select Appearance Themes.
- The Install Theme button will appear in the top-right corner.
- To upload a theme, click the button.
- To upload a theme, click the button.
Click on the new theme and choose "Preview." It should now be marked as "Installed" on the Themes page. Or, if you're ready to use your new theme, select the activate option.
The third-party markets
Additionally, third-party websites exist where authors distribute, market, and sell their themes, as well as provide support services. It's better to stick with reputable marketplaces where you can examine details about the author of the theme, the most recent changes, and user testimonials. Again, you'll need a plan that supports plugins if you want to utilize any of these themes on your WordPress.com website. Here are some excellent choices:
- The collection of themes for WooCommerce The designers of WooCommerce, the best eCommerce plugin for WordPress, say that these themes are perfect for companies wishing to open an online store. Each of these themes has distinct store features and is easy to integrate with WooCommerce.
- The main firm of ThemeForest, Envato, serves as a marketplace for many independent developers, testing themes and overseeing transactions to ensure their security. Don't forget to click the box for further support when purchasing your theme, because it is less expensive to buy everything at once.
- This is a fantastic location to find lovely themes with distinctive and attractive designs. Numerous developers in this area have experience creating visually appealing websites.
- All StudioPress themes use the Genesis framework, which provides an extremely fast, secure, and SEO-optimized foundation for many designs.
In each of these third options, you'll use their website to select a theme and then use the URL they provide to download the ZIP file. After that, upload the ZIP file and activate your new theme by using the procedure given here to log in to your WordPress.com webpage.
Final step:
What happens after you install a theme that you already own? Usually, themes won't immediately match the demo version perfectly. Demo sites are constructed with a tone of information to show off all the features the theme offers. For the website to begin to take shape, you'll have to start making pages and posts and putting your own data into each.
Spend some time getting familiar with your theme, and don't be shy about asking the WordPress audience or the theme designer for assistance. can use Editor to set up the basic fonts and colors, then add blocks to each page as needed. Remember that those plugins can be used to fill any functional gaps. Your website will soon appear exactly as you had planned.
FAQs:
- What factors should I consider when choosing a WordPress theme?
Consider your website's content type, desired features, brand identity, responsiveness, customization options, compatibility with plugins, accessibility, update frequency, and user feedback.
- Where can I find reputable WordPress themes?
Look for themes on WordPress.com, the WordPress.org Theme Directory, and trusted third-party marketplaces like ThemeForest, WooCommerce, and StudioPress.
- How do I install a new WordPress theme?
Go to your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Appearance > Themes > Install Themes, upload the theme's ZIP file, and activate it to start using it on your site.
- Can I change my WordPress theme later?
Yes, you can change your theme anytime. However, ensure proper backup and adjust content and settings to maintain consistency and functionality across theme changes.
- How do I get support for my WordPress theme?
Most themes come with support options provided by the theme developer or marketplace. You can access support through forums, documentation, and direct contact with the theme's support team.