Selecting a WordPress theme for a beginner can be overwhelming. With thousands of free as well as paid options and verities to choose from, it is hard to pinpoint at one and make it official for your website. Every other one that you may check out would seem to look more attractive than the other. Then how would you finally decide?
According to recent statistical publications, WordPress is responsible for powering 35.2% of all the websites floating around on the internet. Therefore, these figures are significant enough to highlight how popular, useful, and valuable WordPress has become over time, since its inception in 2003.
So haven’t we all been at this flip side of the coin where we buy a domain and hosting, install WordPress and begin to browse the vast array of themes it has to offer. But never seem to find anything suitable?
7 Questions to make a better selection of your WordPress theme
Hence, we have compiled a list of seven critical questions you need to ask yourself as a beginner with WordPress to help you make a better selection of a suitable theme.
1. Match the theme color with that of your website
Every website or domain has its own purpose of creation. It can range from being a simple blogging platform to a robust eCommerce online store of a famous brand. Thus, the theme you choose must match the purpose of and the objective behind the creation of the said website. For instance, no matter how much you customize, a theme that focuses on typography and creative design elements, might not sit well with your eCommerce web page. But on the flip side, it will guarantee work best for a blogging platform. Hence, before you finalize a theme that may be appealing to your eye, ask yourself that does it match the purpose of my website or not.
2. Coordination with your website’s personality
Just like you, the creator of this website has an individual personality of your own. Your website and its theme will have their own personality too. Which is why you should check if the theme you are going for has that individual element of creating its own unique personality among many other competitors’ website and does not fit in the online market to look precisely the same. Nowadays, people look out for such small details that would set your site apart from so many they would have come across while surfing the internet. It is why putting in the effort to search, find, and customizing your website’s personality would not go in vain.
3. Get a theme that fits in your initial budget
It is understandable if, as a beginner, you are excited to launch your website and have set aside a considerable amount to finance it. However, it is naïve to spend more for something you can get for far less. It is why even if you may disagree, the budget plays a significant role in choose a theme. Where you would find an excellent theme for free, a premium version would have better features and options to fit best the role assigned. But the point here is to find something that only fits the purpose and personality but has a verity of great plug-ins and features in the right budget.
4. Choose a responsive theme
According to Google Analytics, more than half of the search traffic is directed from mobile devices. And by considering these figures, Google updated its policy in 2018 to rank pages based on how fast they load on a mobile device. Therefore, these pieces of information are crucial while deciding on a WordPress theme as if your website will not be optimized to work on a smartphone or a tablet device. Then you will lose significant traffic. Nowadays, with rapid technological advancements, people conduct searches on the go. It is why a responsive theme that custom fits the website to all types of devices should be a selection priority.
5. Smooth user experience and customization options
Lastly, you would definitely want to add your own touch to the website. After all, it is your creation, and hard work and WordPress are just there t provide the extra added features. It is why you will opt for a WordPress theme that allows easy customization options and promising user experience. For example, if you are a clothing store and your best-selling Wolverine Jacket needs to be highlighted. Then you would customize the option in your theme to highlight the best-selling item on your store automatically.
6. Optimized for a variety of browsers
Other than being optimized for all types of smart devices, your website theme should be optimized for all major web browsers. From Google Chrome to Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera and even Apple’s Safari, your website should not only fit but be optimized to work in optimum level on all browsers there can be. Not only will it increase your regular traffic as your viewers may be using all types of different devices and browsers, but it will make Google rank your website higher on SERP for getting consistent traffic. It is a great win-win situation for your webpage.
7. Lightweight and increased loading speed
As mentioned above, Google rankings have been updated to follow the website that loads faster. Thus, before you set out to integrate the theme, check how swiftly it loads and how lightweight is the theme itself. The quicker it loads, the better it is for the website ranking.
Bottom Line
In conclusion, WordPress theme selection can be made a little less daunting if you try asking yourself the questions mentioned above. Not all those answers need to lead to your final decision as sometimes it is likely to go with your gut feeling. However, they will surely help you reach a definitive conclusion without wasting time to adjust a theme that is just not for your type of website.
