Choosing a WordPress Theme

There are so many WordPress themes available, how do you choose the right one? It’s easy to get taken in by pretty looks, but before you make a choice — especially if you’re laying out money for a “premium” WordPress theme — consider what it is you need the theme to do and how you want the site to look.

Layout:

The first thing to consider is the category — or type — of theme you will be using:

• Business/Corporate themes place a home page focus on services and/or products.
• Magazine/News themes feature articles and images on the home page and often contain posts by multiple authors.
• eCommerce themes include many of the elements you need to get an online store up and running.
• Portfolio themes are focused on showcasing art produced (photographs, illustrations, etc.).
• Industry specific themes are designed to meet the website needs of a specific industry (education, real estate, dining).
• Blogging themes are focused primarily on, well, blogging and are generally the simplest of themes in terms of layout.

What if you don’t know exactly what type of layout you want? All you know is that you want a website that looks something like your favorite website — not necessarily from a design standpoint, but from the way it is laid out. Then study that site — looking at layout and content, not design (meaning the colors and fonts and images) — and figure out what it is you like about the way the content is displayed. Then decide if it’s a magazine-type site, a corporate site, a portfolio site, etc.

Look, also, at the number of sidebars a theme offers. Some themes come with only one sidebar, others offer you the ability to choose multiple sidebars.

Function:

One of the greatest things about WordPress is its “extensibility.” Using plugins (applications/programs that enhance your site), you can pretty much get your site to do anything you want it to do. Some themes come with built-in functionality so that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel by tracking down all the plugins you need. Things to consider when looking at the functionality of a WordPress theme include:

• Will you be adding video? Some themes come optimized for this, making it easy for you to embed videos.
• Will you be selling products? Some themes come with store templates to make it easy for you to add products.
• Will the primary focus of your site be photography? Some themes make it very easy for you to upload and manage your photographs.
• Is it important to you to have a rotating slide show on the home page? Many themes have this function built-in.
• How concerned are you with SEO? (Stupid question, I realize.) Some themes come with built in SEO functions, though many people are happy simply adding a plugin to handle this.
• Are you looking for a widgeted footer? Some themes allow you to pack a lot of content in the footer — from video, to your latest tweets, to images and excerpts from posts. Not every theme comes with a widgeted footer, so it’s something to keep in mind.
• Are you hoping to have ads on the site (Google Adsense, etc.)? Again, some themes make it very easy for you to place advertisements on your WordPress site.
• Are you in a specific niche industry? There are real estate themes that make it easy to integrate listings; restaurant themes that make it easy for you to have an online menu, etc.

Remember that not every theme will contain every function you need. You can always add a plugin to your site to accomplish what you want.

Design

Ah, design — it’s what catches your eye when you see a website you love. But unless you’re a designer yourself, or have hired someone to customize your WordPress theme, you’ll want to choose one that — right-out-of-the-box — comes closest to giving you the look you want for your website. Again, study some websites that you like and figure out what it is you like about them. For instance, are they full of images and color or are they minimalistic and focused on typography? This will give you a starting point for considering design.

Things to consider when choosing a WordPress theme based on design:

• How easy is it to customize the header?
• How easy is it to change the background?
• Does the theme offer more than one style? For instance some premium themes offer several color variations with each theme.
• Are you someone who cares about typography? Some themes make it easy for you to change typefaces (fonts and sizes).
• Have you found a WordPress theme you really love? Look at it closely and imagine what it will look like without the images and custom logo and icons — because that is how the theme will look when you first start to work with it: empty. Do you still like it as much? Or is it really the beautiful photographs the theme demo uses that you like?
• Many WordPress themes have a demo or preview mode that lets you see a theme “in action” before you download or purchase it. Take time to investigate how a theme works if it offers this option. You can see this to a limited degree when choosing from the free themes offered at WordPress.org. One premium theme developer, Woo Themes, offers what they call the WooThemes Playground where you can try out a theme before purchasing it.

Free or Premium?

Only you can make that choice. If you’re committed to using a free theme, then download a few that you like and take time to work with them to get a feel for what’s important to you when creating your WordPress site.

If you have your heart set on a premium theme, obviously most times you won’t have the luxury of testing the theme before you purchase it. But if you do your homework first, you’ll be making an educated decision and can purchase a theme that most closely meets your needs in terms of layout, functionality, and design.

My personal opinion is that most premium themes are worth the cost: you get a beautifully designed theme with built-in functionality and — most important of all — you get the help of a good support forum. If you’re considering purchasing a theme from a designer who does not provide support, I suggest you purchase another theme (one that comes with support).