While WordPress has graced us with over 10,000 themes, having too many themes to choose from makes narrowing down the perfect one a daunting task. Since picking the right theme is obviously important, we’ve provided you with a list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to choosing a WordPress theme!
DO: Determine Essential Features
There are a plethora of themes that offer a plethora of features. Determining ahead of time which features are essential for your website can help you narrow down which ones you can and can’t live without.
Thankfully, WordPress makes it easy to view what each theme offers in terms of features by using a filter via the Themes Repository. Keep in mind that oftentimes less is more when it comes to WordPress themes. You don’t want a cluttered theme or unnecessary features.
DO: Pick a Responsive Theme
Essentially, choosing a responsive theme means making your site as simple to use as possible so that all of your features run smoothly and your customers have a positive user-experience. You want to pick a theme that is compatible with mobile devices and ensure that your widgets are easy to navigate from devices other than a laptop!
DO: Test Your Theme
Once you pick a theme, make sure you download the Theme Check plugin. This ensures that your theme and its features are all up to date with WordPress standards, and will run smoothly for your audience. In addition, it’s a good idea to reread all of your website’s content for spelling errors, and make sure all of your images load correctly before releasing the link to the world.
DON’T: Ignore Your Color Scheme
Keep in mind that a lot of online marketing is based on the visual aspects of a website. This especially includes color schemes, which can help customers recognize your brand. An easy rule of thumb is that if you have a logo, try matching your color scheme to your logo. WordPress makes it rather simple to alter the color scheme of a theme, and can even enter a custom CSS.
Also, you may want to consider going with a lighter and brighter theme, opposed to a darker theme, which can make it difficult for visitors to read the text on your site. Statistically speaking, people are more drawn to sites with light-colored themes!
DON’T: Pick Cluttered Themes
While a cluttered theme may include a number of interesting features, this may hurt your business in the long-run. Oftentimes a cluttered theme can detract from a site’s performance, and make it hard for your visitors to navigate, or even appreciate your branding.
Another negative side of a cluttered theme is that developers of these themes often use code that they found on the internet, which can create security weak spots because they are more focused on performing a certain task than providing a secure page.
DON’T: Pick a Font Because it’s ‘Pretty’
Since you want your visitors to remain on your website, you want to make it as easy as possible for them to read and navigate your page. While you may be interested in adding a unique font to your website because it looks “cute” or “trendy”, it’s ultimately more important that your audience is able to read the text and take in the information about your business. If you are unsure which fonts are the easiest for people to read, a quick Google search will give you a list of great options.
Now that you are prepared to choose the right WordPress theme for your website, you can begin the fun, less-daunting task of picking the perfect one!
