WordPress is a free and open-source blogging software and publishing platform, written in PHP and MySQL. It is often modified for use as a Content Management System (CMS). It has many features, including an architecture for additional functionality, and a template system. WordPress is used on more than 14% of the top 1,000,000 websites. (information from WikiPedia)
It was first released on May 27, 2003, by Matt Mullenweg as a variant of b2/cafelog. Every WordPress software comes with 3 or 4 free themes. Usually website owners don't prefer them because they want to stand out (and they do).
Choosing a theme for your WordPress blog is a very important decision. The appearance of the website is often the only criterion for thousands of WordPress users.
[su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#1f9c012″ margin=”25″][su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#1f9c017″ margin=”5″][/su_divider]
But it shouldn't be the only thing. The first impression of the website comes second when good SEO and a decent loading speed are included in the selection criteria.
Optimization for search engine indexing is facilitated by the theme code, and unfortunately, there are currently themes on the market that we can describe as, to put it mildly, unacceptable.
Below we will see what a proper theme for your WordPress website should have.
[su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#1f9c012″ margin=”25″][su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#1f9c017″ margin=”5″][/su_divider]
Let's start with the appearance and type.
Choose a theme that is close to what you are thinking of creating. If your goal is to create a personal website, buying a theme developed to promote cooking recipes is completely irrelevant, even if you really like the design.
There are thousands of themes available for creating a personal website, you just need to search until you find what works for you.
Simplicity
There are currently themes on the market that pack all sorts of features: From WooCommerce support, to BuddyPress templates, double and triple menus, huge footers, maybe at the right price you'll even be able to find one with... a swimming pool.
Do you really need all this?
Think about what you need. Too many features in a theme means code complexity. Code complexity means slow speeds, difficulty in modifying, and incompatibilities with browsers and plugins.
Find a simple theme with clean code, to which you can later add or remove (why not) whatever you want.
If you're not one to tinker with code, find a theme that meets your needs and doesn't contain a single extra feature.
SEO
A theme made by a graphic designer-developer will certainly be impressive, but it will not reach the performance of a theme developed by an SEO professional. Themes without schema and microformats markups may have a look, but they will not help your site rise in search results.
You can check if the theme you are interested in is built for SEO from the link below:
https://developers.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool/
[su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#1f9c012″ margin=”25″][su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#1f9c017″ margin=”5″][/su_divider]
Generally:
Avoid theme super markets, and prefer reliable companies that, in addition to designers, also have SEO experts.
Free WordPress Themes are often tempting, but they are not perfect. No one forces the developer to continue support.
Customize your theme carefully, or create a Child theme and change its settings. This way, your customizations won't be broken with every new theme update.
Choose a responsive theme so that it appears flawlessly on every screen size.
[su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#1f9c012″ margin=”25″][su_divider top=”no” divider_color=”#1f9c017″ margin=”5″][/su_divider]
For the closing:
Simplicity counts. Choose a simple theme with clean code that you can edit later. If you don't know how to code, ask for help from people who do. Incorrect settings cause malfunctions.
If you're buying a theme to attract readers, the goal is completely wrong. Content is what counts, and in themes, what counts is usually not visible to the eye.
________________________________________
iGuRu.gr uses a Custom Child theme that we have developed for our needs.
