Nothing is more frustrating than spending upwards of $50 on a theme for your WordPress site for it to not work out. It’s not only frustrating but also discouraging. That’s a terrible way to start using WordPress or building a new site for a client.
The best feeling, on the other hand, is finding the perfect WordPress theme for what you need — finding a theme that has all the features you need, at a price that works for you, and that has the style needed to match your brand. It’s also always nice when you also don’t have to spend a ton of time looking for that perfect WordPress theme.
Luckily, there are some surefire ways to find the best WordPress theme for what you need.
In this article, we’re going to cover some easy tips for finding that perfect WordPress theme for your site!
1. Look for the Features You Need
This is the first thing you do when looking at themes. It’s the most important.
It’s essential to do it the right way, however!
How to See a WordPress Theme’s Features
The best way to do this is by going to the demo page of a theme. 99% of themes have them, and the ones that don’t usually aren’t worth your time.
All of a theme’s features are on their demo page on display. If they aren’t on display on the demo, then they’ll be mentioned on the demo someplace.
Another place to look for a WordPress theme’s features is the home page where you’re looking to download it. In some cases, this is on the same page as the “download’ button, and other times it’s on a home page like with Divi.
If you look around, you’ll be able to find the feature list or break down outside of the demo. Usually, the demo is easier to find and shows all the features, which is why I always go there first.
Finding the features you need is usually the easiest of this list, but the demo trick works wonders in some cases!
2. Make a Decision – Free or Premium
This is a question we hear often. If you have the budget for a premium theme, it’s a great idea to invest in one. After all, premium WordPress themes come packed with the design and functionality needed to create a successful website. However, for smaller websites, premium themes aren’t a requirement and can be just as good as even the most expensive themes out there.
So, how do you tell which is right for you?
Let’s compare free and premium themes to help you decide:
Free WordPress Themes
- Free
- Simple, minimal designs
- Usually fewer options for style and features
- Higher chance theme publisher stops updating the theme
- Some free themes are buggy and slow
- Security suffers if theme publisher doesn’t update the theme often
Premium WordPress Themes
- Many themes are affordable, despite the price tag
- Support is better and faster
- Higher quality and continuously updated
- Almost always free of bugs
- Typically have more features
- More complex designs
- Most offer a rating section where you can get a good idea of what you’re buying.
If you’re creating a website for a client, it’s almost always worth going with a premium option unless they’ve explicitly told you they don’t want you to.
In the past, it was common for premium themes to cost a lot more than they do now. A stock price range for excellent premium WordPress themes is between $50-$100. It’s uncommon to find a theme that costs over $100 and is used often.
When trying to figure out which is best for you, it’s essential to consider what you’re using the theme for.
If you run an eCommerce store or a business website, then it’s almost always better to use a premium theme over a free one.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a theme for your blog, then you should consider a well-reviewed free theme.
3. Know Where to Find Good WordPress Themes
There are masses of companies out there that sell some of the best WordPress themes known to man. Here are just a few!
Elegant Themes is a theme company that offers high quality premium themes and plugins. These guys claim to have the most popular theme in the world. It’s called Divi. Though it may not actually be the most popular WordPress theme, it is a great theme.
Be sure to check out this detailed review of the Elegant Themes theme club.
Another theme marketplace is ThemeForest, which is a forest of premium themes for everything under the sun. You can get a theme for just about anything from these guys. They have great tools to help you find what you’re looking for to fit your site best.
Meridian Themes is another excellent option if you’re in the market for great free or premium themes. Just looking at their website tells you how well they understand website style. These folks have a tremendous and growing array of different WordPress themes for you to choose from.
4. Check for Simplicity
Some WordPress themes love to show off their color options and their plethora of features. And while all of this is great on the surface, many times these features aren’t even relevant to what you want to build.
If a theme has features for eCommerce, blogging, social media, business, and an array of other things, it’s typically not a great theme. WordPress themes like these tend to be slow and more prone to bugs than other themes.
The best WordPress themes out there do one thing really well.
Another useful tool is having a basic theme that allows for other “theme packs” that add the utility you’re looking for. A fantastic example of this is the Divi theme by Elegant Themes.
Divi has its base theme and lets you add website packs to it to give it more of the features you’re looking for. This could be a pack to let you make an eCommerce store or create and sell courses using an LMS (learning management system).
Adding packs ensures that you’re getting what you want instead of everything they have to offer at the same time.
If you want to see more of the amazing possibilities with the Divi theme, then check out these beautiful WordPress Divi theme examples.
5. Look for High Quality Themes
While this is something you’ll need to worry more about with free themes rather than premium ones, it’s always a good thing to look out for. I’ve seen a few premium themes that are kind of buggy and almost broken.
The worst part about a buggy theme is that half the time you’ll think it’s user error. You might spend hours trying to figure out what you’ve been doing wrong only to find out that it’s in fact the theme that’s broken.
Here are some things to look for in a high quality WordPress theme:
- Updated often
- Live or email support
- Good documentation theme usage
- Great reviews
- Works well with plugins
6. Include Responsive Design as a Feature
One of the most commonly overlooked factors when searching for the perfect WordPress theme is whether it’s responsive.
Responsive design means your website will scale down when accessed on other platforms. For example, if you open a website on your desktop and it looks good, it has to look good on your tablet or phone too.
If your site loads on a phone or tablet and the formatting looks terrible, the images refuse to load or take up too much of the screen space, you better believe that your site visitors are going to abandon your site.
A fantastic WordPress theme to look into that supports responsive design is Avada.
Sometimes it’s not enough to read about what a theme can do; you have to see it for yourself. Here are 10 breathtaking examples of the Avada theme in action.
Check for Responsive Design
The easiest way to check for responsive design is to use a free online tool called Responsive Checker.
Start by copying and pasting the theme’s demo page URL into the tool. Next, view the theme demo on any number of different platforms, including tablets, laptops, and smartphones.
The nest thing about this online tool is that you can interact with your website on each of the devices to make sure it not only looks good for users, but works right too.
Wrapping Up
And there you have it! The most actionable tips you can do right now to help you find the perfect WordPress theme for your WordPress website.
If you’ve never created a website using WordPress before, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a great beginner’s guide on how to create a WordPress site. It’s not as hard as it may seem. In fact, it’s really easy and super affordable too!
Have we left off any tips for finding the perfect WordPress theme out there? If so, we’d love to hear all about it in the comments below!
The post 5 Easy Tips for Finding the Perfect WordPress Theme appeared first on WPHacks.