How to Choose a Template or Theme

There are thousands (over 100,000) of WordPress themes. There are so many that it can take days to find them. So how do you narrow it down to find the perfect theme for your site?

Choosing the right theme is definitely important – the theme should make your content special, provide adaptability across devices, and load in no time. However, with so many templates available, choosing the best one can be quite a challenge.

Check out this list of recommendations when choosing the perfect WordPress theme

Competitor Analysis

We recommend that you start by analyzing your competitors. Look at the design of their sites. Yours should be at least as good, and to get ahead of them, better and more modern. Then look at the analogues of your project in the English-speaking segment. Budgets in the West are bigger and the websites are usually of higher quality. And finally, pay attention to the online resources that you just like. From these three puzzles, put one together. Now you have an idea of what kind of template you need.

Make a list of the features you need in advance

Before choosing, it’s absolutely important to determine which features are necessary and which ones you can do without. Theme should have only those features that will help achieve the goal of your site.

Do not choose a bloated template

The importance of this point is that you do not want a theme that is cluttered with functions – it will only hurt in the long run. A theme with lots of features may look super cool, but it greatly affects the performance of the site. Restrain yourself from installing all the features you think are cool.

While fancy music players or gaming features are appealing, they reduce site performance. In addition, developers often use code found on the Internet for these features, thereby creating security weaknesses.

Mobility first

All new WordPress templates are now being released adaptive. Since mobile traffic prevails over classic traffic, pay attention to the mobile version of the template. If you like it, then explore the option for computers and theme features.

Keep color in mind

Remember that much of online marketing is based on visuals, and colors increase brand awareness. If you have a logo, try to match your color scheme to it. If you stick to neutral tones, a hint of color here and there will make it more interesting. WordPress makes it very easy to change the look of the theme, including colors, directly in the file or by entering custom CSS.

Consider buying a premium theme

While free themes are great for those on a tight budget, there can be some issues with them. In addition to the fact that the coding quality may not be top notch, by using a free theme, you run the risk that it won’t be updated regularly, there will be no tech support, and the theme author will abandon it altogether. And, as a rule, the functionality of a free template is severely limited.

Premium themes are dynamic, usually offering more features than free themes, which will make your site stand out from the crowd. Check out our reviews of premium WordPress templates that require only a one-time, not recurring payment. We recommend buying a premium template from trusted marketplaces: themeforest, templatemonster, elegantthemes or accesspressthemes.

Don’t choose a theme with a hard to read font

This has to do with how to quickly grab a visitor’s attention so they don’t leave your site. Do you want your audience to find it as easy as possible to navigate the site? Make your fonts simple, sophisticated and readable. Open Sans, Josefin Slab, Arvo, Lato, and Vollkorn are recognized as the most popular fonts on the Internet in 2021.

Test your theme thoroughly

When testing the effectiveness of a theme, it’s best to start by installing the Theme Check plugin, which checks to see if your theme meets all current WordPress standards. When you’re done with all the settings and all the content is uploaded, review your site before announcing it to the world. Re-read all content, check the site on mobile devices, and make sure all images are loading correctly.