Most people feel overwhelmed when trying to choose a theme for their WordPress website. There are several factors that they must consider to choose an ideal theme, but somehow they end up prioritizing the visual aesthetics over all others.
We understand that style, user experience, and functionality are necessary aspects to popularise a website. But in our opinion,
WordPress is one of the most popular web designing platforms due to several reasons. When you choose an
Loading Speed
One of the reasons behind WordPress’s popularity is the clean codes that enable the website to load faster. Loading speed is one of the prime parameters of
A responsive code structure allows the website to open equally fast on all devices. Instead of using static measurements, these themes use dynamic ones like percentage or em units, which enable them to function similarly on any device. Therefore, a visitor will have the same positive experience with a responsive theme irrespective of the device they use to access your website.
WordPress themes that use other forms of measurements in their code structure might present usability problems for smaller devices like smartphones. For example, they might try to display a very large image or text that needs horizontal scrolling. It could make them non-responsive and could affect your ranking negatively.
Google also looks for mobile-friendliness as a ranking criterion to display websites on smartphone searches. Since more than 55% of the American population use their smartphones for search engines, a responsive theme can help you outrank the non-responsive ones.
Lack of Outbound Links
Do not use any theme that has one or more outbound links that cannot be removed. When looking at WordPress themes, try to notice any links embedded on the web page footers. Sometimes theme developers embed outbound links in the footer section to promote their website designing services.
Some developers also sell the footer link placement of their themes to other businesses. Avoid using any WordPress theme that contains a link in the footer section that you cannot remove easily.
Embedded outbound links will appear on all of your webpages and posts, which means they will steal from your website link equity. These links will siphon off your website’s ranking power, which will affect your
Cross-Browser Compatibility
You can boost your
So you could hurt your search engine ranking if you use a WordPress theme that does not offer cross-browser compatibility. Moreover, you could be losing out on a lot of potential customers if they cannot access your website properly.
There are several tools available that can help you test a WordPress theme for cross-browser compatibility. Some of them also allow you to test premium themes to check their compatibility before paying for them.
SEO Plug-in Support
WordPress has many effective
Malware Free
Search engines would not rank your website higher if you are using a malware-ridden theme. Your website could also get de-indexed if the WordPress theme contains malware.
Free themes might be stealing your website data or creating unwanted pop-up ads for your visitors. Treacherous developers can hide malware in the theme code that cannot be detected easily. Thankfully, you can use one of the malware scanning plug-ins on WordPress to scan a theme before using it.
Frequency of Developer Updates
Developer updates for WordPress themes are essential for several reasons. Firstly, these updates ensure continued compatibility with the latest version of the WordPress platform and other plug-ins.
Secondly, updates are also necessary to eliminate security vulnerabilities that can leave you exposed to cyber-attacks. So if a WordPress theme does not get updated regularly by its developer, it is better to look for another one.
A WordPress theme can play a significant role in boosting or hurting your website’s
WordPress website on a computer screen -DepositPhotos
