Line25 is reader supported. At no cost to you a commission from sponsors may be earned when a purchase is made via links on the site. Learn more
Using WordPress to build your website for starting your blog or any digital presence for your online business is often the best choice you can make. WordPress is most used by people who want to start their work with fewer hassles, and who want to do it in the shortest period of time possible. You can have full control over your website with WordPress, and that makes it easier to work with. When you start with WordPress, one of the essential things to start with is selecting an appropriate theme.
There are many options for a WordPress theme that you can choose from. It might seem easy to choose any theme from the options available, but often, users tend to spend a tremendous amount of time trying to pick the one theme that is a perfect fit. When you select a theme, maintaining caution is a must. Before you finalize your WordPress theme choice, consider specific steps that will help to choose a theme that makes sense for you.
In this article, we list some of the things NOT to do while choosing a WordPress Theme.
1. Themes that limit your use of WordPress:
Specific themes that only support pages, in such case, whenever the theme is changed, the content may need to be changed. It is a time-consuming job to keep changing content when the theme is changed. Persistent monitoring is needed when you have to undertake the task of changing content with every change of theme. It is just that the theme should work with the page and post. So you must select a theme which needs to support the content it has.
While working on WordPress, you would have to continually keep updating with the contents, theme and the upcoming work. The one thing you need to take care while selecting the theme is always checked whether it has a custom admin panel or dashboard on the page which ensure changes made when required. It ensures that you don’t go deep into the coding but also have a theme which is compatible with the page, post and also changes made as and when needed.
2. Multiple Plugins:
There are a lot of WordPress Plugins that are very helpful and make the work easy. Plugins come with various features and functionality which helps in improving user experience and getting the page loaded quickly. But there are specific uses of the Plugins that are available. You have to make sure that according to your need, you install a plugin. Choose a plugin that gives you overall performance. Installing multiple plugins can create conflict between them. Once you have installed multiple plugins and later uninstalling them can leave specific bugs in your system.
At times uninstalling specific Plugins can cause your system to act crazy. So it is advised to avoid having multiple plugins to avoid bugs in your website and also to improve the user experience. There are specific themes which upfront lets you know which Plugin is needed. At such time, install the Plugin. Whenever there is a need, install the apt Plugin and then uninstall it whenever the need has passed. There is no point in having multiple Plugins.
3. Heavy use of Shortcodes:
We know Shortcodes in WordPress are a boon. Shortcodes add compelling contents in WordPress widgets, pages and post. It helps the user to use certain functions without coding knowledge. Shortcodes are a great tool to use until used for every other thing in WordPress. The thing about shortcodes is that it needs to be processed.
When every other function created through Shortcodes, it makes the page site performance low. So when you choose a theme with inbuilt Shortcodes, it turns out to be messy. And it is messier when you change the theme. So whenever you have to switch the theme, you would have to remove all the shortcodes. Possibly avoid the process of removing shortcodes from multiple pages and then switching to a different theme as it consumes much time. The shortcode has a place in Plugin, and that is where it should stay. Avoid heavy use of shortcodes for better user experience.
4. Not considering fast loading times:
The important thing about any website be it WordPress, it should have a better user experience, and the page must be loaded quickly. So while considering any theme for WordPress, you have to examine whether it doesn’t take much time to load. Some Plugins slow down the page. Shortcodes also have to be processed, which give the page load and make it slower.
Specific visual effects also bring everything to a halt. Before you go through different WordPress theme, all you should do is go through the reviews and comment. Learn how fast the theme would take to load when operated. Select your theme, taking into consideration the above points. If the page doesn’t load within a few seconds, the user tends to prefer other pages. It might seem easier to select the theme, based on how better they look, but how it affects your page must also be known.
5. Lack of Support:
The first rule to follow when you select a WordPress theme is to check whether the theme has its community support. If you select any such theme which lacks community support, you are bound to have problems which would be hard to solve. Always make sure, the theme you select has active and significant community support which can avail solutions at any point you encounter with a bug or some issue. You would need help with relation to the theme you use, and you have to go for the community support. If at all any theme doesn’t have such support check whether it has active users.
The more the users, you can look forward to asking the troubles to them, there are chances they might have encountered with the same issue. But having excellent community support is recommended while opting for a theme. Many time there are problems like website stops loading or the site becomes inaccessible to your customer, and if there is no support time or enough FAQs that can solve it, you’ll be in problem. Recommending that whenever you get any theme, make sure it has community support online or adequate FAQs which can solve your issues. Every time an issue arises doesn’t mean you switch to another theme.
6. Not considering branding:
Every brand has its preference and colour palette they use in their brand. Whenever a website is in the making, it is a must that you should keep into consideration the brand you are designing. Always before choosing a theme, keep in mind the theme should go with the design of your brand. The colour palette, colour scheme, features and functionality of the theme and whether there is space for the logo all must suit with the brand you are working. Considering all these points helps the users by immediately letting them know about the website.
Keeping branding in mind is because, when a user visits the website, he would come to know about the brand instantly, and it would remember the same for an extended period. If the product or brand differ from the website, it would be difficult on the part of users to recognize the brand. The whole point of the website is of no use if the website is unable to convey it to the audience the brand language. While opting for a theme, one must keep the brand in mind.
7. Poor Font:
The font has been given importance, just like the other essential tools and function when it comes to designing websites. Conveying the right message and idea can be through contents and fonts. The right type of font with the theme helps the brand to reach a much larger audience. There are many themes which come with fix fonts. These are the necessary kind of themes. Now, it is available that you can choose the theme, and there is an option to select font styles to create the best.
The primary thing to take care while choosing a theme is to select a font style that is readable enough. There are handwritten fonts which are preferred for particular branding as it speaks the brand language. Whereas most people prefer simple and plain font to make sure the readability is good. It doesn’t matter the theme is good and then you choose an altogether different font which doesn’t match the theme and makes the mix worse.
8. Theme not compatible with other devices:
Multiple choices of theme leave you in confusion which to choose. There are elements to be considered when getting the theme for your website. One of which is to check whether the theme is compatible with other devices. Some users are working on their systems which would get the website as it is.
It possible that there would be users who access this website through mobile. The situation above makes very necessary that theme must be selected, which can be compatible in all devices such as mobiles or tablets. We can’t restrict the users based on device-based. If in case, any user finds the website not compatible with the mobile, he may switch to other websites. The moment your website gives the users a bad experience, they are bound to choose your competitor. Choose the theme compatible with other devices as well.
9. Low Budget:
When you have decided to get the website done, make sure you spend your money wisely on tools that render you the best. There is plenty of free WordPress theme available, but it comes with certain limitations like fixed fonts, limited customization, not compatible with other devices and much more. When you cross the budget, and there are limitations to the theme you select, then there would be chances that the website may not be as per the mark.
The theme of the website decides the market for you are your satisfied users. The moment the theme is compromised based on the budget, the whole sense of creating a website becomes futile. So it is recommended, you choose a theme which defines and reflects your brand language no matter if there is expense included. As while selecting for the theme for your website, a little extra cost is worth it, as it would be your investment.
10. Wasting time to perfect it:
As you might have seen there are multiple options of the theme to select. Selection of the theme itself takes much of the time. Once you have finalized the WordPress theme, there comes customization, editing tweaking and much more. When it comes to making the theme perfect the time taken is forever.
While spending time for making the theme look better other important work may be left undone. When we decide to make something perfect, we tend to keep on doing it and finding some of the other faults. Nevertheless, the important thing is to keep the website updated and postings regularly. Making the theme perfect can be done once you have launched the page and make sure it is running well. Never forget basic optimization is a must but not on the cost of the other important work.
You know what things you should let go while opting for a WordPress theme. Selecting a theme may take time, but giving appropriate priority to the essential things that matter it would yield better results. Always consider the time and money spent while considering the theme for your website. The above points mentioned are the common mistake people tend to commit while choosing the WordPress theme, all you have to do right now is, learn and recognize the time spent and utilize the best from the given resources. Save your time by making sure not choosing to spend time on the points mentioned above.
