WordPress is a popular choice among people who wish to develop their own websites and blogs but don’t have any prior knowledge of coding. The utilization of the program does not incur any costs on the user’s part. It does not cost anything to install, use, or customize for anyone.  

In its early days, the primary application for WordPress was the production of blogs. Now, in the present day, the software has advanced to the point where you are able to construct whatever kind of website you desire. You are able to construct personal blogs for hobbies or lifestyles, professional portfolios, websites for businesses, online shops, mobile applications, and membership websites. 

What is a WordPress Theme?

You can modify the structure and design of your website by using something called a WordPress theme, which is a piece of software. You are able to tailor the look of your website by employing themes, which can change not only the layout but also the font, color, and other aspects of the design.

A theme is a folder that has been compressed and contains a group of files. These files include a set of page templates that are written in the computer language PHP as well as some CSS stylesheets. The files that come together to form a theme are commonly referred to as the theme’s templates. A theme can be applied to a website to alter its appearance.

When you first create a website with WordPress, it will already have one of WordPress’s pre-defined themes applied to it. WordPress allows you to modify the theme so that it better fits your requirements and business. If you select the appropriate theme for your website, it can become more visually appealing, simpler to navigate, and more engaging for site visitors.

What Exactly is a theme in WordPress?

A WordPress theme is a folder that holds a collection of files that, when combined, define the aesthetic of your website. This folder can be downloaded from the WordPress website. The template files, stylesheets, graphics, and potentially even JavaScript files that make up a theme are all included in a theme. The appearance of your blog posts and pages will be altered as a result of all those files.

Changing your WordPress theme won’t necessarily have an effect on the content of your blog, pages, users, or any other information that is saved in your database. Your theme will just alter the manner in which all of this information is presented to visitors to your website.

Which are the most popular WordPress Themes? 

Your choice of theme is one of the first things you should give some consideration to when you set up a website using WordPress. It is a good idea to choose a theme that not only has the look and functions that you want but also is continuously updated and maintained. Let us find some popular WordPress Themes.

• Divi: A flexible, drag-and-drop page builder theme created by Elegant Themes that may be used for a variety of purposes.
• Astra: A fully customizable theme that comes packaged with example content that has already been prepared, allowing you to get started in a matter of minutes.
• Genesis by StudioPress: A streamlined and quickly loaded theme framework that may be customized using child themes.
• OceanWP: A theme that is easy to customize, very lightweight, and completely free to use. It is ideal for beginners. 

How to Choose a WordPress Theme? [9 Dos & Don’ts]

Do make sure to pick a theme that is compatible with the most recent release of WordPress.

The most important thing to remember is to prioritize usefulness and safety. Because of the following factors, the WordPress theme that you pick needs to be compatible with the most recent version of the platform. If your WordPress theme isn’t fully compatible with the most recent WP release, you may find that certain aspects of your site do not function as they should.  If you choose a theme that does not support new versions of WordPress, you may opt to stop upgrading WordPress. This decision can cause security vulnerabilities that lead to crashes, data breaches, site defacement, and other things that you do not want to happen. If the plugins you use for your site require the most recent version of WordPress, but you are unable to update because of your theme, you will have increasing difficulties with the functionality of your site.  

Do not select a theme that is no longer receiving regular maintenance or updates.

Check the themes you are considering have been updated within the recent past, preferably within the last few months. Check out the line that says “Last updated” in the information box. If a theme hasn’t been updated in more than a year, there’s a good chance it won’t get any more updates. This means that sooner or later, it won’t work with the most recent version of WordPress, even though it works with the most recent version of WordPress right now. 

Do select a theme that is applicable to the objectives of your website.  

It is very simple to sit down and do in-depth research whilst looking at ALL THE THEMES but doing so may cause you to become attracted to a theme that has a fantastic appearance but does not actually perform the functions that you require your theme to perform. 

Do choose a WordPress theme that displays and functions beautifully on mobile devices.

You should be seeing the mobile version since you are doing it on a mobile device. If there isn’t a mobile preview option on your desktop, you can check the tools menu of your browser for something called “responsive design mode.” You may also sample the theme on your mobile device using WordPress after downloading the free trial version. 

Do go with a theme that has received favorable feedback from other customers.

Find a few themes that are up-to-date and work well on mobile devices in your particular niche. Check the ratings and comments, so you can find these on the page for the theme on WordPress.org, just below the information box. You can search the reviews for keywords that are important to you by clicking on the ‘See all’ button, and you can read more about specific reviews by clicking on the names of those reviews. Additionally, help threads, active topics, and unresolved topics can be accessed through the review page’s associated links. This allows you to gain a better understanding of the problems that are associated with the themes and how responsive the publisher is. 

Do not select a topic from a vague or unidentified source.

While we’re on the topic of reviews and publishers, here’s a piece of advice: don’t choose a topic from an unidentified source. There are a large number of publishers that may be trusted, and the majority of them list their themes on both their own websites. If you want to avoid the possibility of downloading a theme that contains malware, you should stick to these sources and examine reviews. 

Do go with a WordPress theme that has a low resource footprint.  

It implies that the theme was built to make the least amount of use of available resources in order to ensure that it loads quickly whenever users go to the website. This is done to ensure that users have a positive experience when they go to the website.

Do go for a theme that has been optimized for search engines. 

You can save a lot of time optimizing your site behind the scenes if you use a theme that is optimized for search engine optimization (SEO), and it can also help you do better in search results sooner.  The makers of the theme highlight the characteristics that they have added for search engine optimization (SEO), such as a URL structure that is simple enough for search bots to crawl, quick load speeds, and a design that is favorable to mobile devices. 

Do prioritize quality over cost when selecting a WordPress theme to use for your site. 

It’s possible that you already have a few different themes in mind that you’re giving serious consideration to, including ones that come in both a free and a premium version. If money is really limited for you, a totally free theme can be a good alternative to consider for your website.

A premium theme, on the other hand, will provide you with features that you might require in order to expand your company, and it might come with additional customer service alternatives than the free version does. When making a decision, you should take into account the worth of your time, the level of expertise you have with WordPress, and the long-term ambitions you have for your website. 

Conclusion:

We hope that at the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of what a WordPress theme is as well as how to select a WordPress theme by following certain Dos and Don’ts. 

When selecting a theme for WordPress, you will need to give careful thought to a variety of factors before making your selection. There are a variety of aspects to think about when selecting a theme, including whether or not it is responsive to different screen sizes, the amount of personalization you want to be able to implement, and the design style that most appeal to you.