How Should You Choose a WordPress Theme?

wordpress-themesYour WordPress theme is a big decision, particularly if you’re blogging for your business. There’s a lot of things you need to consider when you’re making a choice because ultimately the entire look and feel of your blog are dependent on the theme you choose.

When you first install WordPress, you’ll have a default theme that comes along with the use of this blogging platform, but you don’t want the standard option. You want something unique and distinctive, and there are so many options, so how do you choose the one that’s going to reflect your business, your audience, and your objectives? The theme you select is also going to be important for you, in terms of how easy it is to post new content and make changes and updates when you need to.

Choosing your WordPress theme is a pivotal part of the process to create a money-making blog, and below is an overview of what you should keep in mind during the decision-making process.

what are your goals?

Know Your Business and Your Goals

How are you going to choose the ideal theme for your blog if you’re not sure what your business is about or what your goals are? Before you even start thinking about browsing the thousands of options, take some time to do a review of what it is you hope you accomplish with your blog.

Ask yourself some of the following questions:

  • What are your specific business goals? How is your blog going to hopefully help you achieve those objectives?
  • Who are your customers? What is their demographic and how do you most successfully appeal to them on the aesthetic level as well as in terms of functionality? For example, if your target audience is primarily baby boomers, your theme might be a bit simpler and easier to use. If your blog is aimed at tech-savvy Millennials, you can go with something more complex.
  • What is your competition doing regarding their blog design?
  • How will you incorporate your existing branding into your blog?

The Technical Considerations

How tech-savvy are you, or is there someone in your business who can effectively manage the technical elements that might be required to change a theme? New bloggers tend to have the idea that when they buy a theme, it’s all done for them.

It’s true that the necessary elements are there, but what you get after it’s installed isn’t going to look anything like the demo. It still requires some general designer or development knowledge to get your theme like the demo, and also customized to your business and brand.

If no one in your business has the ability to customize a theme once it’s selected, you have a couple of options. The first would be hiring a freelancer to take over for you, or you can work with a design company.

A freelancer is going to be generally less expensive, but you may find that it’s harder to explain what you want with them, particularly if you’re only working with them remotely.

You may be able to find a theme that’s simple enough to customize on your own, but you may have relatively limited options in terms of adding a design that’s branded to your business.

Keep in mind, when we’re talking about customizing your theme, this only refers to premade designs, which still require some level of customization. There’s also the option to have a developer build you your own completely customized theme, although that’s a different approach from what’s being discussed here, and can run you thousands of dollars.

free-vs-paid

Should You Go Free or Premium?

Regarding the cost of the theme alone, there are two main options. You can opt for a free theme, of which the options are plentiful, or you can choose one that’s premium, meaning you’ll probably pay anywhere from $30 to $50 to download it.

The premium themes tend to work better for most business bloggers because they have a lot of features and functionalities as well as general options that you probably won’t get with a basic, free theme.

A free WordPress theme will feature a simple design, and you won’t have much ability to change how it looks. You might also not get support, and there are times when the coding isn’t ideal, although that’s not always true and some free options can be excellent. Another consideration when choosing a free theme is security.

When a theme is free, there might not be any supported updates that come with it, which can pose a security risk for your business and your readers.

By contrast, with premium WordPress themes, there’s going to be a higher quality level in most cases, and the creators will usually consistently check for bugs. There also tends to be a greater standard of support, and customization options are extensive. The designs, which feature more complexity, tend to be more aesthetically appealing as well.

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Niche or Multi-Purpose

Another general consideration to keep in mind as you select a WordPress theme for your business blog is whether you want something that’s multi-purpose or designed for your specific niche.

With a multi-purpose theme, you have a lot of flexibility that you can use to change and grow your blog well into the future. You’ll have a lot of options, whereas with a theme designed for a particular niche, your overall setup and maintenance is going to be simpler and more straightforward. You won’t have to deal with the bloat of things you don’t need as you might with a multi-purpose theme, and general setup is just going to be easier.

For example, if you have an e-Commerce site and you choose an e-Commerce WordPress theme, you’re simplifying customizations and setup tremendously.

At the same time, if you think you might want to grow or change your blog in some way in the future, choosing a specialized theme might make that a challenge.

These are just some of the most general points to keep in mind as you select a theme for your business blog. There are quite a few others ranging from whether or not it’s genuinely responsive to specific compatibility features, but the tips above can get you moving in the right direction.

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