How to Decide On a Theme for Your WordPress Website
There are millions of WordPress themes all around the internet. And by the time you finish reading this article, a few more will have been added to that number. The options are endless, and that is a problem. After all, how can you choose just one theme from so many options?
To help you out, here are a few things you should consider while choosing a WordPress theme for your website.
Knowing What the Website is About
The first and most crucial phase of web design is determining its purpose. Each website is built for a specific reason. A blog website, for instance, needs to highlight some of the more important or trending blogs on its homepage. The blogs are also categorically divided. Visitors can check out the blogs according to the category they wish to see. Again, a portfolio website focuses more on the individual or the company profile. It highlights the different projects associated with the individual or group. Then there are multipurpose websites that may act as a company profile as well as house its portfolio.
Before you decide on the theme, you need to understand what your website is about. You also need to determine its target demographic so that you can ensure a user-friendly interface and experience.
Trying Out Different Themes
Once you understand the purpose of your website, you need to try out a few themes and templates. WordPress offers a wide range of themes for a website. Over the years, the website templates and themes have evolved. Modern WordPress themes have a very clean and minimalist layout. There are also ones that are sort of funky and a bit outgoing. As you try out each theme, you need to keep your target demographic in mind.
You will come across a lot of free WordPress themes on the internet. While they can still cater to your needs, they are limited in one way or another. Hence, spend some time going through the premium ones as well. Even if it costs you some money, premium themes will offer a lot more in terms of design, functionality, and customization options.
Checking for Browser Compatibility
When checking for browser compatibility, you need to ensure that the theme supports all the latest versions of popular web browsers. It should also support browsers that are a few versions older than the latest one. Otherwise, people using the older versions will not be able to access your website.
Going Through the List of Compatible Plugins
Each theme comes with a list of plugins it is compatible with. If you are looking for specific functions or plugins, you should check out these lists. The more popular plugins, like WooCommerce, Contact Form 7, Yoast SEO, etc. are more or less compatible with most of the themes. Then there are the ones that are compatible with specific themes only.
Inquiring About Customer Support
Theme developers usually have a technical support team to help you out with your problems. Customer support comes free of charge with most premium themes. If they do not provide customer support, you are going to have to deal with the technical issues on your own. That means that you need an expert WordPress theme or web developer to tackle the problems.
The theme pages will mention how their support team can assist you in times of need. For further inquiry, you can check out the reviews and see what other users of the theme have to say about its customer support.
Observing the Reviews
Reading the customer reviews will give you an overall idea of the theme. It will help you understand how functional and user-friendly the theme is. The reviews will also point out potential flaws or bugs that the theme or its plugins might have.
While reading the reviews, try to focus more on the negative ones. Positive reviews are usually a reflection of what the theme developers promise you. The negative ones, on the other hand, will point out the flaws and issues with the theme. This will make it easier for you to decide whether the trade-off is worth it or not.
Once you are done making all these checks, you can go ahead and choose your WordPress theme. And if you have done your research properly, you can rest assured that your choice will be perfect.