Choosing the right WordPress theme for your new website can be a daunting task, but there are a few things which are key to remember when deciding on your theme.
A good idea is to first outline which elements will be the most important to you on any site. If you are building an eCommerce site, make sure the shop experience is how you want it to be? Does it allow for you to filter the way you’d like to? Can you implement a wish list? Can you link to related products?
If you are building a website to promote a service, you might want to pay close attention to the way you can display testimonials or quotes on the site.
Look and feel
Obviously the look and feel of the site is important as well. You want a site that conveys who you are and what people can expect from you and your product. Often when you look at themes the imagery used plays a big role in how you perceive the overall look of the theme. But try and look beyond that, and try and focus more on the other elements that makes up the site. What does the buttons look like? How can your imagery be displayed? What does the blog look like? Do you like the look of the iconography?
The images you use
Another important aspect to keep in mind is whether the presentation of the theme relies heavily on the imagery used or not. By that we mean, does this theme look good because of the images and if so, is the quality of the images you plan to use equally good? And by that we don’t mean the subject of the images, but the size and resolution.
Take away
- Make an exhaustive list before hand as to which elements you’d like to see on your site and then prioritize these. Once you know what is the most important to you, you can easily start sorting through all of your potential themes, until you end up with the perfect match.
- Spend time looking through each theme, take note of all of your likes and dislikes.
- Look at the content you already have. Will it fit nicely into the framework of the theme?
- Make sure it is responsive (the last thing you want is to end up with a site that doesn’t show properly on mobile and tablets)