While developing websites with WordPress, you have option to choose from thousands of open source and paid themes. Each WordPress theme enables you to design the user interface of the website without writing longer lines of code. You can take advantage of the front-end styling components – page layout, font styling, graphics, colours and widget location – to control the look of your website and content presentation across various browsers. But you must remember that WordPress has a much larger worldwide market share than other content management systems. A single theme may be used by a large number of websites. Hence, there are always chances that a theme may look your website identical to several other websites. You need to focus on a number of do’s and don’ts while selecting and using WordPress Themes.
Do’s
Do Choose the Right Theme
In comparison to other content management systems, WordPress provided a higher number of free themes. Hence, you can have option to choose from many free and paid WordPress themes. But a single theme may not meet the requirements of all websites. While comparing the themes, you must keep in mind the website’s look and content presentation. It is also a great idea to try out multiple themes to decide the WordPress theme that complements your website’s needs precisely.
Do Decide the Key Features
You can easily pick the right theme for your website by defining its colours, width, columns, navigation option, and other important features. Likewise, you also need to decide the nature and purpose of the website. When the theme complements the precise needs of the website, it becomes easier for you to avoid customizations and modifications. Also, you can add specific functionality to the website without using additional plug-ins. However, you can always opt for themes that allow you to make changes to its key components like layout, width and column spacing through control panel.
Do Opt for Simple and Lightweight Themes
The loading speed of your website will affect its user experience and search engine visibility directly. You must not affect the speed of your website by choosing WordPress themes that are feature-heavy or use large files like background images and videos. Likewise, you need to opt for a theme that has been updated on a regular basis to enhance website speed based on its high quality source code. You can easily check the loading speed of the website with a specific theme by using a number of online tools.
Do Consider Using Paid Themes
Many developers opt for free WordPress themes to save money. But you can always reap a number of benefits – reliable codebase and technical support – by investing in a premium theme. The premium themes will further make your website look different without making additional customizations. There are also certain premium themes that are designed just like web designing tools. You can use such themes to create custom page layouts and other components.
Do Implement Responsive Web Design
While selecting a WordPress theme, you must not forget the fact that most people nowadays access websites on their mobile devices. You need to implement responsive web design to make the website look good on both computers and mobile devices. That is why; it becomes essential to opt for a WordPress theme that makes your website responsive and mobile-friendly. You can always avoid using mobile plug-ins additionally by using a theme that makes your website look good on varying devices.
Do Explore Options to Customize Themes
The paid WordPress themes will make it easier for you to make the website look and feel different. But you may be required to use free themes to curtail project overheads. If you are opting for a free theme, it becomes essential to customize it according to your specific needs. You can easily make changes to an existing WordPress theme if you are proficient in commonly used web technologies like HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP. Also, you can use a number of tools to customize the WordPress theme without rewriting or modifying its source code.
Do Check Compatibility with Browsers and Plug-ins
You must remember that users will access your website on various browsers. But there are chances that a single WordPress theme may not make your website look good on each browser. Hence, you must perform basic browser compatibility test to check how the theme looks on major web browsers. Likewise, you also need to check if the theme supports all plug-ins required by your website. When the theme supports plug-ins required by your website, you can easily add functionality to the website through plug-ins.
Don’ts
Don’t Focus on Functionality
Unlike plug-ins, themes are not responsible for the website’s functionality. You can use the themes only to make the website content look appealing on various devices. There are a number of premium themes that come with additional functionalities like search engine optimization. But you can easily add functionality to the WordPress application by using specific plug-ins. Hence, you must opt for themes that support basic WordPress functions.
Don’t Forget to Evaluate Each Theme Thoroughly
You have option to choose from a large number of WordPress themes. Some of these themes are free, whereas others are premium or paid. But the quality of individual themes differs. Hence, you must not pick a theme based on the visually arresting photography used by the WordPress web developer. It is always important to evaluate each theme thoroughly, and ensure that it meet all needs of your website. The evaluation will help you to avoid making changes to the theme in future.
Don’t Forget to Read User Reviews and Ratings
There are many instances where WordPress themes directly affected the security of websites. Hence, you must assess the quality and reliability of each WordPress theme by collecting information from various sources. It is always important to read the reviews and ratings posted by other users to assess the quality of a theme accurately.
On the whole, you can curtail website development time significantly by using WordPress themes. But the quality and reliability of individual themes differ. Hence, you must build the website with the right WordPress theme and customize the theme to make your website look and feel different.
