It may sound silly but sometimes picking the right WordPress theme is a lot more important than one might realize in order to build a successful WordPress website.
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A lot of guides just skip the whole theme selection process, but the fact of the matter is that it can be quite overwhelming as there are many options, different theme builders, and lots of other variables to consider on top of the obvious (price, speed, security).
In this post, we’ll talk about three things to consider that you might not already know, assuming you are a WordPress beginner that needs help picking the right theme.
#1. Demo Site Is A Must
Nowadays, it’s pretty standard practice to have a demo site showcasing your theme if you are a theme creator. Of course, the screenshots are going to look magnificent, just like a car stock photo or an expensive piece of clothing. However, you want to see how it really looks in action. Check out their demo site on desktop and mobile to make sure everything is nice and polished. If the theme creator doesn’t have a demo site then it might be worth considering another theme.
#2. Pay Attention To Theme Builders
We now live in a world where theme builders make it even more complicated to select a theme. If a theme doesn’t reference a theme builder like Elementor, Divi, or Beaver Builder, then you don’t have to worry and the theme can be installed straight into your WordPress install and you can use WordPress’ native block editor, Gutenberg, with your theme.
BlazeThemes has some of the best Advanced Customizer-based Themes for blogging and news websites with variety of pre-built starter websites, and they are compatible with Elementor and Gutenberg builders.
Be careful here. There’s nothing worse than buying a theme and realizing you have to go down another rabbit hole of selecting and learning about theme builders too (if you aren’t ready for that).
If it does mention a theme builder, then you might need to purchase that plugin separately. Some theme builders have a free version though! To learn more and see if you should upgrade to a theme builder or stick with Gutenberg, check out our theme builder comparison guide between Elementor (our favorite) and Gutenberg.
#3. Look For Customization… But Not Too Much
When selecting a theme, it’s always good to start with one that you think looks best but you also want a certain level of customization so that you can make it your own. However, too much customization and you’ll find yourself drowning in the details. Chances are you aren’t going to want to adjust every little centimeter of your website when you actually start building. Sometimes this is tough to gauge from the outside looking in but with enough screenshots and a look at the back-end, you should be able to guess if there’s just too much going on.
Follow these three things and chances are you’ll select a theme that is mobile/desktop friendly, looks great, is compatible with whatever builder you’d like to use to actually build out your website, and has enough customization to make your website unique, but not want to make you pull your hair out!
