Your WordPress theme can make or break your online business. Themes have become industry and business focused. There are themes geared toward ecommerce, blogs, company one-page designs, and more. Choosing the wrong theme can make customization to fit your business needs very difficult.
The visual aesthetics and navigation are in many ways the bedrock of your future growth and success. Before you launch your site, spend some quality time researching the theme that will catalyze your online business to success.
Little things, such as footer and menu layout can impact the overall user experience of your site, and user experience is more important than ever before. In fact, 88 percent of consumers will abandon a site, never to return, if user experience is poor.
To ensure your website is serving up the best possible user experience, choose a WordPress theme that matches what your site is about, as well as what your target audience demands.
From ecommerce to blogs, here are the top tips to make choosing your WordPress theme easy.
Leverage the Right WordPress Theme
There are hundreds of WordPress themes to choose from. The key is to find a website template that represents your business the way you envision while meeting utility needs to make your site effective for customer conversions.
With so many themes up for grabs, don’t simply settle on the first one you think is great. Do a bit of searching and research on each of your favorite theme’s features. If you plan on launching an ecommerce site for example, be sure the product page layout is good for you business.
However, don’t get too carried away with your research. WordPress themes can look and feel pretty similar after spending countless hours of running through page after page of themes.
Just remember that the themes available online are simply templates. There will be customization needed for any WordPress theme you purchase. That’s right, I said purchase. Don’t settle for the free themes.
Why? You are limited to customization, which will be necessary down the road. When the time arrives, you can use a WordPress child theme tutorial to make custom changes in order to provide the best user experience possible, thus increasing conversions.
Ecommerce Themes
Launching an ecommerce website can be easy when you have a WordPress theme optimized for ecommerce. These themes are geared specifically for online retail with product pages laid out for just about anyone to build-out without any coding skills.
This can make ecommerce site development easy, allowing you to get your online business launched and making money faster. Mogo by SmartDataSoft, is a theme all about fashion ecommerce. It boasts an open cart design, streamlining customer payment and checkout.
Maxdino, is another made-to-order ecommerce theme with Shopify compatibility, perfect if you plan on launching a Shopify site. The Maxdino theme also provides a mobile-ready design, an important hallmark of any online retail business.
Blog Themes
One of the most common WordPress themes is the blogging site theme. These templates are all about blog/article layout. This could be great if you want to launch an online magazine, or even a tech review site. You may even see a few of your favorite blog templates while doing your theme search.
Two WordPress blog themes worth taking a look at are Genius Kitchen by 7uptheme and Peppermint by Manhars. Genius Kitchen is a blog theme with a focus on food. But I can also be beneficial for other industries as well. Peppermint is a mobile responsive blog theme that is more general.
Top WordPress Theme Elements
When choosing a WordPress theme, you’ll need to balance price, features, customization, and user experience for online growth and success.
Top WordPress theme elements include:
- A responsive, mobile-friendly design
- Great navigation for your visitors
- Compatibility with WordPress plugins
- Timely updates by theme developers
- Theme support and documentation
Where do you find quality WordPress themes? There are plenty of online platforms that have themes for purchase, like ThemeForest or Elegant Themes. After purchasing the perfect theme for your online business, be sure to upload it in its entirety to get all the different pages. You can easily do this from inside your WordPress dashboard.
Let Your WordPress Theme Work for You
Choosing the right WordPress theme is an important part of launching a successful online business, whether it’s an ecommerce site or blogging site. Make your theme work for you by choosing one that fits your business needs while offering a customizable user experience that increases growth of your site over time.