Selecting a theme can be overwhelming after all there are thousands upon thousands of themes!
Here’s my top 3 tips to help you narrow down your search and how to choose a WordPress theme for your blog or business:
Tip 1
Look for a theme that has a design layout that aligns with your goal
WordPress is used to create all kinds of websites. A theme should complement the content and purpose of the site you wish to create. For example if you’re starting a blog, you should choose a blogging theme rather than a portfolio website theme. Makes sense right!
I recommend choosing a theme which closely resembles your ideal site, relative to the layout and flow of the user experience. That way, you won’t have to play around with editing, tweaking or customizing the main elements of the theme. If you would have to customize a theme a lot to get it the way you want it, you’d be better off to keep looking for a theme you love. It will save you time and sanity down the track!
Of course remember you can always restyle a theme to your branding and to your niche with your logo, colors and imagery – and this can change dramatically change the look of the themes demo live preview into your unique site.
Tip 2
Make sure the theme is mobile-responsive and looks great on all devices!
This is a non-negotiable as more and more site visits are coming from mobile devices than ever before.
Mobile-friendly sites are also favoured by google and other search engines, so be sure to test out any theme you’re interested in on all of your devices to make sure you’re happy with their look and responsiveness.
Tip 3
Consider how easy the theme will be to install and setup?
Consider the level of skill needed to install the theme and get the theme looking the way it does in the demo.
- How thorough is the documentation?
- Does it come with a pdf, or step by step tutorials?
- Will you need to hire someone to install it?
I’ve worked with a lot of themes and I’m usually disappointed with the lack of documentation and ease of use to set up a theme. Quite often how the demos live preview looks and how the theme looks when you install it on your own site can be hugely different – it often takes time to work out how to get the demo looking the way it did. And this is why provided theme documentation is so important.
This was a huge motivator for me to include step by step tutorials with my web design kits and include how I setup everything! So I truly recommend checking out the level of documentation and tutorials provided prior to purchasing because it could mean the difference between your setup taking a week or a month…
Browse + Shop Themes
Where to look for + shop for a WordPress Theme
I recommend browsing feminine on-trend child theme from Creative Marketor Etsy. As a theme is the starting point of your web design I’d encourage you to really think about how you’d like to present your blog or website to the world.
Blog Themes
My favorite blog theme is the Genesis framework with a child theme.
I recommend browsing feminine on-trend child themes from Creative Market or Etsy.
I also have a free blogging theme as well as a collection of feminine blog themes at sugarandcode.com
Website Themes
My favourite website theme for any project or niche is Divi because of its truely awesome front-end editor.
Runner up would be any theme by Swift Ideas. I’ve used many of their themes – they’re designs are professional and feature-packed, plus they offer excellent customer service.
When ready to purchase, I recommend buying from the developer’s website directly, this way your more likely to receive extra bonuses in the download folder and receive priority support should you need to contact them about your purchase.
I hope you found this post helpful and perhaps inspires you to create something awesome for yourself!
Related
Different kinds of websites you can create with WordPress
The do’s & don’ts of choosing a WordPress theme
Get started with my free WordPress Theme or Premium Web Design Kits
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