How to Pick The Best WordPress Theme for Your Blogsite Project

The default WordPress theme

One of the most important parts of any of my WordPress projects is the initial meeting when we discuss which WordPress theme would best meet the client’s needs. If you haven’t worked with WordPress yet, a WordPress theme gives the site its layout and navigation structure, as well as its “look and feel”.  When you initially install WP at your web host – you get the default theme – which works fine, but is very “vanilla”… as you can see in the screenshot at left.

Almost always, I work with premium themes, from established vendors such as WooThemes, DIY Themes’ Thesis, StudioPress, Theme Foundry and more. I find the support is much better, there’s more sophisticated features and is always well worth the expense (which is nominal in any case).  These days, however, there are SO many choices out there and the number of themes available at just one vendor can be overwhelming. To add to the dizzying options, there are new and wonderful themes joining the market almost daily.  Needless to say, I spend quite a bit of time surfing around checking out new releases (which is very fun, by the way!

So, what do I look for in a WordPress theme? Most of the time it’s way more about function than form…

Think FIRST about the planned content.  Will the new site have a lot of photos? Videos? Does it need to appear like  a traditional website, or will blog posts be front and center?  How much “sidebar” content will there be? An email opt-in box? Does the navigation need to be especially flexible? Generally, can you visualize your content “fitting” the theme?  Some themes are for portfolios while others are optimized for video content – there’s a lot of variety out there, so it’s best to be clear on that so you can narrow down your options.

The theme’s navigation structure needs to be looked at carefully. Some advanced themes will actually have two navigation bars, one for blog content (driven by post categories) and a page navigation.  This is immensely useful for a site with a LOT of blog post content, as it makes it easy for your visitors to find post content that is of interest. An example would be using a category called “Product Reviews”. Whenever you post an article to that category, it’s added to that navigation item automatically, and a visitor looking for “Product Reviews” will find them quickly. An example of a dual-navigation theme would be Spectrum by WooThemes.  Older themes would limit you to adding pages only to the navigation, but newer premium themes will sometimes allow you to add outside links as a nav item. An example of this is the “Domains & Hosting” menu item on this site – you will notice that it links to an outside domain.

Are there enough “widgetized” regions? WordPress “widgets” are blocks of content you add (typically, but not always) to a sidebar – easily managed within the WordPress “Widgets” section. Widgets make it very easy for a non-webmaster to add, edit or move content without coding.  Some themes not only have the sidebars “widgetized” – but also regions of the home page, which makes editing much easier.

Are there multiple page templates? Good WordPress themes will give you options on the page layout when you create a new page.  Generally, you get a “default” page template and an “archives” template (for blog posts).  Its always good to have other choices such as “full-width” (a page without sidebars) and even a ready-made sitemap.  Some new themes (Woo’s Inspire, for example) come with a “contact” template with a built-in form, or even image galleries.

On the design side, will the theme lend itself to the desired branding? If you have a clear visual style in mind – a logo, color scheme, a look and feel – it’s important to pick a theme that will adopt that brand without too much of a fight. Almost any theme can be adapted to any brand with a bit of imagination and flexibility, but some themes lend themselves to customization better than others.  On the other hand, you may just fall in love with the look of a theme “out of the box” and decide to not modify too much.  Some themes are very customizable (such as Thesis) but are VERY plain when installed without modifications, so there is always a need for customization time in the project.  Other themes are fabulous looking (such as Elegant Themes) right out of the box, but may also be less flexible – or simply be too time consuming to customize to the desired state -  and this may be just fine if you want a terrific looking site in a hurry.

Here’s a brief list of my favorite WP theme vendors (there are many other great ones, but this is my short-list):

• WooThemes – Both “sexy out of the box” and easy to customize, along with a huge variety of theme types and designs available. New stuff every month and great support, too.
• DIY Themes’ Thesis – The mac-daddy of WP themes… very utilitarian and easy to customize,  I recommend this when the content is primarily a blog, or when SEO and back-end flexibility is a key concern.
• The Theme Foundry – Elegant, clean and solid… great features – and very adaptable to branding.
• StudioPress – Great themes for businesses, combining flexibility and a professional look. Wonderful themes available for real estate pros.
• Elegant Themes – When you are in a hurry and customization isn’t that important, these themes will give you a gorgeous blog ASAP.

The bottom line is that any WordPress blog project is best approached with the end in mind. I always include with blogsite projects a web meeting with the client to discuss the content, branding and preferences   – and demo the theme on-screen, if possible, so that the client can better visualize what the site would look like and how it would fit the content and goals of the site.

What’s your favorite WordPress theme?