Can you choose the 'perfect' wordpress theme first time round? Almost impossible
One of the hardest things you can do when you’re starting out on your IM (Internet Marketing) and setting up your first website is choosing the ‘perfect’ Wordpress theme. First problem is what constitutes the perfect theme ‘aesthetics?’, ‘layout?’, ‘functionality?’ ‘ease of use?’ ‘plugins?’ It’s probably a combination of all those things and others I haven’t even mentioned. And the weight that each issue carries will depend on your own views and tastes and hopefully some of your potential customers.
So where do you even start choosing that theme? Well when you set up your website in WA – the instructions sensibly advise not to spend too long on selecting a theme because you can change it later. That’s true – but when you go to pick a theme you’re suddenly faced with 76 pages of possible themes.
Now if you’re anything like me and the aesthetics of your site are very important – it’s not an option just to pick through the first one you see. I’ve looked at every single one of those themes on the 76 pages (at least 3 times!) Did it make my final choice any easier? Well perhaps a bit. I was able to discard some just on the colour.
However, I was aware that I was making the choice from a point of ignorance. I didn’t understand all the other information such as whether the theme had ‘featured posts slider’ or ‘navigation and threaded comments’ or ‘widget ready’ or ‘SEO optimised’. Did I need these things? I had no idea.
So in the end I had to choose a theme. Was I happy? No of course I wasn’t – I think I lasted about two days before I changed it to my second choice. After that I lasted another three weeks before I changed it and learnt more about the parts I liked and the limitations for what I wanted. I’ve changed the theme quite a few times since then and at times have cursed the amount of work in changing headers, footers, the size of images ...
I will shortly be making another change to my site and I think with the knowledge I have – I have now identified an ‘almost perfect’ theme.
So what have I learnt about choosing a theme?
- Choosing the ‘perfect’ theme the first time is ‘almost’ impossible.
- Choosing a theme that is ‘good enough’ is fairly easy
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Getting quality content written is more important than finding the ‘perfect’ theme
- Accept that it takes time to learn about the intricacies of different themes and what you want.
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Start with a free theme before you invest in a premium theme
- Don’t waste hours keep changing your theme.
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Do you research on colours and choose appropriate ones for your niche and customer base
- Have a suitable font size – If no one can read your content it won’t matter how good it is.
As for me, will I continue on my quest for that ‘perfect’ theme?. Probably – but I will severely limit the time I spend looking for it.
Recent Comments
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Thanks Beverley as always I find your posts so helpful. I've been agonizing about which theme to use and now have just decided to "pick something" and work from there. =)
Hi Beverly, I'm Bill. Nice to meet you! Before moving on to Lesson 5, I have a question. Unless my math is fuzzy, it appears there are roughly 800 WordPress themes to choose from (6 themes per page, roughly 133 pages). Since I've never built a website before, how do I know which theme is 'good enough'? Is there a way to quickly identify the free themes without reading the entire description? And how terrifying will the nightmare be should I decide to change my original theme? I would appreciate any help you have to offer!
All the themes that you can get through WA are free themes. Each theme will tell you how many people have recommended it - shown by the stars. Weaver II and Twenty Eleven are simple themes that a lot of people who are just starting out use.
I'm glad I started with a very basic theme to learn the ropes, but after your suggestion and help the site is just flat out beautiful. Thank you for helping me to see just how limited and restrained that basic theme was, because the new one is amazing and although I'm still learning about it I am able to see the extra's and customization possibilities. Thank You so much Beverley, the beauty of my site is thanks to your help and the help of the community.
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I'm choosing a theme and going crazy! First, I checked the list (all 869) and faved 37. Then I went back and added more faves for a total of 56! Plus, reviewing the details/demos on all of them! I'll just pick one! Too much time & effort trying to make it "perfect" now. Thanks again.