When you choose WordPress to design your website, you will quickly be confronted with the question: what is the ideal theme for my WordPress website?
Among the wide variety of themes available, it's hard to find your way around: freemium, premium, responsive... Don't all these terms mean anything to you? Don't panic.
Through this guide, we propose to take stock and help you choose the Wordpress theme that will make the difference.
What is a theme?
In the WordPress world, a theme is a set of template files and CSS style sheets that determine the graphic identity of your website. Formatting, colours, fonts, navigation menus, and headers are all controlled by the activated theme. In addition, each WordPress theme has an interface that allows you to manage and modify settings with a few clicks.
Thanks to their wide range of features and customisable elements, you can be sure to find the theme that will suit your business and make it stand out.
The choice of a theme is wide, and that is an understatement. On the internet, there are many free and paid themes. If you can't find what you're looking for, it is possible to create a custom theme.
But before embarking on such a programme, it is important to ask the right questions.
Which WordPress theme for your project?
There are thousands of themes, all different from each other. So how can you find your way around this endless stream of customisations?
Features and functions
The first things to look at are the main features and functionality of the theme: what do you need and what does your site need?
An e-commerce site will require an online shop and other shopping related services. Your theme should therefore be compatible with plugins like WooCommerce, the most popular open source e-commerce solution in the world.
A journalistic blog, on the other hand, requires a theme adapted to regular news with articles directly highlighted on the homepage of the website. In addition, a newsletter module, sharing buttons on various networks or functions that allow engagement with readers seem sensible.
So first make a list of the main features and functions that are essential to define your needs, and sort the topics according to your order of priority.
A responsive theme
The second thing to do is to ensure that the theme is responsive.
Indeed, since 2021, the share of global Internet traffic via mobile devices represents 55.35% of 4.8 billion Internet users. In 2022, this figure is expected to rise to 59%... This means that your website has to adapt to mobile devices.
This is where a responsive theme comes in.
A responsive theme will adapt to all screen sizes, from the smallest device such as a smartphone to a 4K monitor or a family tablet. In concrete terms, this means that the content on your site will automatically rearrange itself according to the space available on the screen.
To make this possible, your WordPress website must use a responsive theme. Rest assured, it is now very easy to find one in the WordPress catalogue.
Read reviews and ratings
The reviews and comments area is a real goldmine of information, so take advantage of it! Other users are sure to have already chosen the theme that you have chosen.
The popularity of a WordPress theme is measured by an overall rating, comments and the number of sales or downloads.
An overall rating of more than 4 stars out of 5 is a guarantee of quality, provided that there are a sufficient number of reviews. The sales or download figures give a quick idea of the reputation of the theme. As for the comments, it is always good to look at them to gather feedback from users. Of course, each review should be taken with a grain of salt; there are those that are constructive, and those that are not... But it can help you to see the theme in a new light and to consider long-term use.
Maintenance and updating
The fourth and final decisive point in choosing your WordPress theme is the support and update frequency.
Indeed, it is important that your WordPress theme is regularly updated to ensure the integrity and security of your website without it becoming obsolete.
Moreover, in case of a problem, being able to rely on a support team that answers the slightest of your questions is an element that should not be neglected. This customer support is usually available for paid themes, which is unfortunately not always the case with free themes.
If you've decided to go the free route, look for an active community of WordPress site builders, and don't forget to check out the documentation. This is an important source of detailed information that can help you with your questions.
Where to find a WordPress theme?
Right. Now that we've gone through the essentials of choosing a WordPress theme, it's time to go get it.
But where can you find a WordPress theme? On the internet, there are plenty of sites offering you to download cooler than usual WordPress themes. And they probably have good reasons for doing so.
However, to avoid the inconvenience of stumbling upon a malicious theme that will affect the security of your website, we advise you to choose your theme from one of these solutions.
WordPress.org
WordPress.org is the official website of the most popular CMS in the world. The platform alone contains over 9,000 themes for WordPress.
By clicking on the "Commercial Themes" link in the gallery, you can access a selection of paid themes with advanced features.
Once you have found a theme, you can download it and install it on your WordPress site through the admin panel.
ThemeForest
The website ThemeForest offers thousands of WordPress themes, all of them paying, classified in several categories.
Looking to create a WordPress wedding website? ThemeForest can suggest several themes to suit your needs, thanks to its advanced filter system.
ElegantThemes
Formerly a merchant platform with 87 themes, ElegantThemes has undertaken a 360 degree turn in recent years to offer more than just two high quality themes: Divi and Extra.
The strength of these themes lies in the way they create websites using a parent extension: the Divi Builder.
Divi Builder is a page builder that aims to design complex pages on WordPress without having to write lines of HTML, CSS, JavaScript or PHP code. Using a drag-and-drop system of various modules, the creation becomes accessible and intuitive. In addition, a page builder allows you to view changes made to a page in real time, putting you directly in the shoes of your visitors.
Your heart is swinging between Divi and Extra? To help you make your choice, the Divi theme can be used for any type of website (shop window, e-commerce, functional...) while its little brother Extra specialises in blogs and "magazine" sites.
With a developer or a web agency
You've been through these three libraries without finding THE theme that suits your needs and expectations? Are you starting to lose hope? Have you thought about calling on a professional to create your own custom theme?
With WordPress, this is entirely possible!
There are many experts in the field who can help you design your own custom WordPress theme with its own unique design and features.
By entrusting the creation of your WordPress website to a web agency like us, INGENIUS, our experienced professionals and specialists in the fields of web creation will be able to determine your expectations and needs in order to propose you the ideal theme.
Web development, design, marketing, digital strategy or IT security, our wide range of skills all essential to the creation of qualitative and efficient themes will guarantee a particular attention to the details that will make your project a success.
For more information, please visit our service offer.
The best free WordPress themes in 2022
To guide you in your choice, we have put together a selection of the best free WordPress themes with features and customisation elements that deserve your full attention.
Astra
Astra is one of the most famous free themes. Light and minimalist, easily customizable and powerful, Astra will suit all types of websites: shop window, e-commerce, blog, etc.
The $49 pro version of the Astra theme will take design even further with unlocked access to premium templates and integration with the WooCommerce e-commerce plugin to create an online shop.
Neve
Neve is a very good free theme with over 300,000 active installations and an overall rating of 5/5. Easy to use, Neve is an excellent choice for getting started with WordPress.
The theme is responsive and offers a good SEO optimization thanks to an optimized loading speed. Lightweight and minimalist, its features make it a very scalable solution to fit any type of website.
OceanWP
OceanWP is Astra's main competitor for free WordPress themes. With over 3 million downloads, OceanWP is one of the most popular WordPress themes.
Compatible with any page builder, OceanWP has templates that will allow you to stick as close as possible to the theme of your site. The downside: to take full advantage of all the features and extensions, you will need to purchase the pro version of the theme.
Hestia
Hestia is a theme that benefits from a simple configuration and administration, suitable for beginners. Coupled with a page builder, Hestia is the perfect theme to make a good impression on your visitors with a modern, quality, responsive and SEO optimized website.
Airi
Airi offers excellent results in terms of speed and SEO performance. You can count on efficient support and detailed documentation in case of a glitch.
Airi is of course compatible with the best plugins and offers templates to start creating your website quickly.
The best paid WordPress themes in 2022
To go further in the customisation of your WordPress website, you will surely need to start with a premium theme, if only to have an efficient customer service in case of problems.
So here are the best paid WordPress themes in 2022.
Divi
ElegantTheme's star theme, Divi, is no longer in the news. To get access to over 800 templates and 40 modules, it will cost you $89 per year or $249 if you opt for a lifetime license.
Avada
Beginning with the forbidden spell name in Harry Potter, Avada is one of the most popular premium themes on WordPress.
For $60, Avada offers a wide range of choices with 82 templates to create a professional website in a few clicks without any computer programming knowledge.
The7
The7 is a premium theme that aims to be versatile to create any kind of website. To do this, The7 has an embedded page builder (WPBakery) and ready-to-use templates. Note that The7 is also compatible with the Elementor page builder.
With its 1000 setting options and 250 page modules, The7 is one of the most customizable themes in 2022.
Enfold
Enfold is a complete theme suitable for all types of websites. Simple and light, Enfold integrates an intuitive page builder and allows you to do without many plugins by integrating their functionalities directly. Moreover, the theme benefits from a good customer support and regular updates allowing it to remain stable.
Choosing a Wordpress theme: summary
WordPress offers a wide variety of useful themes. With just a few clicks, you'll have almost complete control over your site, giving it a beautiful look and structure that suits your needs.
If we had one piece of advice to give you, it would be to take your time. As your entire website will be based on your theme, it is important to choose it well from the start. If you change or deactivate it, you will have to do it all over again. Be aware of this.
Did our selection convince you? Which theme would you choose for your WordPress website?
