We all know that choosing a brand new design for your new project is a very exciting prospect, or perhaps your just looking to give your site a makeover with a shiny new theme and are currently weighing up the many options out there – this post aims to give you some no-nonsense advice to avoid ending up being disappointed with the outcome.
1 – Bigger does not equal better
In the case of WordPress themes, a whopping theme which offers all the variations under the sun is rarly the best choice for a project. Ok, so you have your eyes on a theme which you like, it offers 8 different menu styles, 12 unique sliders, animated everything and 2 page builders, “great” you may think but take a moment to think about what this all means to your WordPress theme, and more crucially, your loading times.
In order to offer a million options, sliders etc, the developers of the theme would have to pack in much more css and js files, as well as php files to handle it all – this all has a direct impact on your sites loading speed before you even begin to add your own content!
I always suggest to really think about what you need here – if a theme offers less ‘features’ but offers a more niche-specific design, you will always find it beneficial to be honest with your self and select a theme that offers what your going to use, rather than everything + the kitchen sink.
2 – Attack of the clones
Another trap most folks will fall into is to simply assume that the top-selling theme is a no-brainier. Sure, if a theme has sold 100K+ times, its a safe bet that its tried and tested code, but what this also means is there are a huge number of sites out there which look exactly the same.
If you really want to impress, Id advise to avoid the sheep mentally and stop following the horde.
By choosing a theme with less exposure, your ensuring your project offers maximum impact, as well as supporting smaller theme developers which is always a good thing to do.
3 – Support
Although in most cases you can expect a smooth installation and use a new theme, its inevitable that issues will occur from time to time so its important to know that someone is availlable to help. Check out reviews and comments thoroughly, these can be a clear indicator of how responsive the developers are.
We offer exceptional support on all of our Premium Themes and our customers are always delighted as proven with our reviews. Be sure to pick a developer with a good reputation and dont forget most theme marketplaces allow you to contact the author prior to purchase if you wish to gauge things further.
4 – Responsive is a must
This one goes without saying really, but its so important that you test any themes you like on as menu devices you can lay your hands on. Some themes claim to be responsive and may even be based on a bootstrap framework or such, but this doesnt always mean you will like the results so take some time to really research your themes mobile performance before parting with your cash.
All of our Premium Themes are of course fully responsive, looking equally as stunning across all devices with ease.
5 – Must be translatable
In this day and age, there is no excuse for a non-translatable theme, but trust me when I say such themes are still out there! If your going to need to tweak the themes texts’s to your region, then you need to make sure your new theme is translatable. The theme must include a PO at the very least.
A good theme will be compatible with popular translation plugin WPML (our themes are fully WPML compatible) so its a good idea to look out for plugin compatibility when choosing your theme.
The post 5 Things To Consider When Choosing Your Next WordPress Theme appeared first on TommusRhodus.