With thousands of WordPress templates to choose from, it’s possible to find ones that are really good and really bad. But most of them are right in the middle, not good or bad. These tend to result in a site that doesn’t make a good impression on a visitor. In other cases, it can just result in a wordpress template that is a pain to use. If you’re looking for a great wordpress template out of the thousands that are out there right now, here’s how to separate the cream from the crop.
Consider Paying. With so many WordPress templates to choose from, you’ll have many opportunities to get free templates. While this may seem tempting, the best templates are the ones that you pay for. Not only will these have aesthetic advantages, which can translate into clicks and money if used, they’ll also have a lot of benefits of ease of use. Among these you can expect: more updates, more unique design, better support, and an absence of attribution links.
Look for Themes With Only the Features You Need. There are loads of feature heavy themes out there, but you don’t really want those unless you are going to be using all of those features. A company like WSI can help you balance usability and function, but if you are going it alone, it’s important not to bite off more than you can chew.
Related – Design Focus: Word Play
Demo Your Chosen Template. Even if you like the look of a prospective WordPress template, it doesn’t mean that it will function well. To make sure that you are getting a site that works well as well as looks good, use the demo version for a few minutes to see how navigation performs. Forego the good-looking site that doesn’t actually work well.
Invest in Responsiveness. You want to make sure that the template you settle on is responsive to all technologies that your users could use. There’s nothing more annoying than dialing your site on your smartphone only to find that it doesn’t perform well on Android. You definitely don’t want your customers to have this experience.
Look for SEO Optimized. SEO is a big world, but you can take advantage of WordPress themes which are already optimized to help you perform well in the world of search and visibility.
Look for Customization Versatility. Before you settle on a theme, make sure you can easily make it do what you want it to do, from the back end. Try to pick out a theme that can grow with you, so you can make it better and change problems as your site grows and you learn more about WordPress.
There are lots of other considerations to make when searching for a great WordPress template. Take the time, because it’s likely that you’ll live with your template for a long time. But by picking the right one now, you can be sure that you’ll have the power and appearance to do what you do well, and keep your brand strong.