If you want to succeed in a website on WordPress, you have to take some time to select the right theme. It’s not just design and a good-looking template. But, it’s a full blog optimization and you should use a clean theme without making your web page loading slowly as thousands of blogs.
Nowadays, there are lots of companies that create good designs with many features, however, not every theme is good and works well with any blog. Sometimes, you get the best control panel to customize the layout and the design in general, but you also get lots of errors, and the theme becomes a factor that slows the sites and not making them faster.
Tips to pick up the right WordPress theme
Select a theme from trusted sources
You can find thousands of WordPress themes in a few minutes, but not all the themes are safe and clean. Choosing a WordPress theme can be a challenge itself if you’re looking for quality and other specifications. There are thousands of themes with malicious codes, and that’s what lets hackers access the blog easily later and do what they want.
People start searching for themes by niches first, and they forget the source, and that’s not the best way to pick the right theme for your blog.
If you are serious and want to create a blog and install a theme that works, you need to buy them from well-known sources, I recommend the following trusted companies
- Template Monster is the oldest and trusted place to find all kinds of templates and themes.
- StudioPress, Another place to find clean WordPress themes.
- ThemeForest is a large marketplace to buy premium themes and designs.
They are all professionals, and thousands of blogs and sites are using their themes. If you need more sites, you can read: Best sites to buy premium WordPress themes.
So, make sure that you’re using popular companies for your theme, it’s not a matter of trust only, but of security and performances. If the theme is popular and lots of people talk about it, then, it needs your intention.
Pick a theme for your niche
You will find lots of themes, but you need only the theme that was created, especially for your industry and business. If you’re a blogger, you should search for WordPress blog themes, and they are counted by thousands. If you want to create a specific blog niche, such as food, fashion, photography, then, you should search for the right niche.
A theme that’s well coded and optimized for food blogs will look better than a regular and general theme.
All the WordPress themes can be installed on any blog and for any industry. But, they will lose lots of features, functions, and optimizations with specific topics. Fashion blogs, for example, need a beautiful slider that works well with HD images without slowing down the site.
The widgets need to be customized, especially for the fashion niche. That’s what you can find in the general theme.
You don’t need a theme with lots of functions
This is a big problem with themes that come with all the functions and options that a blogger can imagine. But, when it comes to real things, the theme will make the site slow, and it can affect other functions from plugins.
When you need a theme for a normal blog, you don’t need functions, such as reviews and sliders. At the same time, if you open the ”functions.php” files inside the theme, you will find dozens of functions that you don’t need. They can slow down the page loading time.
If you can pick a WordPress theme with fewer functions, but look professional and comes with a control panel, then, you’re on the right way. You can customize the theme, and make it yours.
If you think that you should buy a theme with unwanted functions, then delete them from the theme’s file. Or, ask someone to do the job for you. In the end, you get a theme that loads faster, and never affect the page performances.
Never pick a theme that looks full of widgets and panels, with lots of colors. The great theme should be simple and optimized for speed and also for SEO. What you need is something like four colors as general colors used in the theme, a header to modify, and upload your logo there.
Theme with a control panel
You need a theme with a control panel if you have a specific blog niche, such as food, fashion, music, and others. The reason is simple, and you can’t customize anything in the theme if you don’t have a control panel. So, things like colors and layout cannot be customized easily, if you’re not a programmer or someone who know some CSS and HTML information.
I always recommend the Genesis themes for blogs and websites, but not for people who can’t edit codes, and without some experience with WordPress. They are well-coded themes and clean, but what about the customizations? You need lots of work, and you will need a coder, later.
In this case, I recommend ThemeForest simply, because their themes always come with a beautiful control panel. You can edit the color, the layout, and everything else.
The theme’s license
This is a very important step for commercial websites. The majority of WordPress themes come with multiple license plans. Some themes are licensed for a single website, and others are licensed for a limited number or unlimited license use. So, make sure to read your license plan and what you can do with your theme.
A simple blog can work without a license, but a commercial website needs a licensed theme, to avoid legal issues and copyright problems.
Tips to select the right WordPress theme
Please don’t be amazed by the theme demo and the colors and images used, it’s just a demo and they can attract you in different ways. When it comes to the installation and the customizations, you will find yourself in the need to install lots of plugins.
So, test the theme in the demo version, most themes have a demo, and you can try them before buying. Read their details and features, and make sure to find specific customizations, such as the font size, font color, and others.
Some themes come with lots of features, but you can’t customize the font size if you don’t have any CSS or HTML knowledge. So, test the theme before everything.
Free themes are everywhere, but they are not a legit version, first. Second, they are not updated, and your theme will be broken after some time. And third, which is the most important, lots of hackers offer free themes and include hidden codes and viruses.
When the theme is installed, they get all your data, and they can cause a dangerous problem with a hosting company or a server. So stay away from free themes and stay safe.
There is no need to search for the theme incompatibilities in 2015, it was necessary for the last years because themes can’t work with all browsers, especially, Internet Explorer. But now, they are modern and theme designers add specific versions, for older browsers, if needed.
Don’t worry about the compatibility unless the theme is outdated and that’s the problem. In this case, don’t buy a theme that’s not updated for months, it can work well in your browser, but not on the others.
