If you’re thinking of setting up a website, odds are you’re going with WordPress. It is no surprise that WordPress is the most widely used platform in the world today; mainly due to its simple, user friendly layout and superb functionality. WordPress accounts for 25% of the total websites globally!

And once you’re set on WordPress, the second thing to decide upon is who to choose as your domain host. There are many options in the market offering competitive pricing. Many companies even offer discounts and deals. For example, it is easy to find tempting iPage or hostgator hosting coupons over the internet.

And finally, once you’ve installed your WordPress site on the domain, it is time to choose the right theme for your site. Here are a few factors you must keep in mind while making this decision.

Customization

The first thing you need to do is figure out whether you want to use a theme as it is or customize it? And depending on your answer to that question, pick a theme. Some high quality themes are perfect and might look bad on customization. But something simple and basic might actually benefit from alterations such as the font, color, background, etc.

Features

Create a mental picture of your future sight. Does it have single or multiple columns? Do you want a flexible header for it? It is very important to decide the kind of features you want in advance. The main reason for this is that WordPress allows you to customize your search for themes based on features. So the more you’re certain of, the better options you get.

Responsiveness

You simply can’t afford to pick a theme that doesn’t look as good or doesn’t work as well on devices other than a laptop/PC. Therefore, look for a theme than seamlessly transforms itself without as much as a hiccup onto other devices such as mobiles, tablets, etc. Look for menus that are easy to navigate through, look for fluid site grids and flexible images so that they can easily transform and load onto a mobile device.

Design Do’s and Don’ts

This can be simply put as – choose a website pleasant to the eye. Avoid bloated themes as too many features never impress customers. Instead look for simple but effective layouts. Additionally, pay attention to fonts. Make sure they’re easily readable. It is also advisable to look into the psychology of colors and pick a combination that works best with your website.

Test the theme

It is always a good idea to test out your product before giving it out to the world. An easy way to test your WordPress theme is to install the ‘Theme Check’ plugin to see how it looks. Load all your content, proofread it, run it on multiple devices to check responsiveness, check the loading time of images and other media and only release the final version when you’re completely satisfied.

These five steps should give you a head start into picking the right theme. However, be open to changes, learn from user behavior and keep upgrading for best results. And here’s a smart tip – thoroughly look into your competitor’s sites, their design and user reception to gain insights for yourself.