You’ve undoubtedly heard the word “WordPress theme” before if you utilize WordPress as your content management system (CMS). Themes are important in establishing the overall appearance of a website and allowing you to create a aesthetically pleasing site without having to code. With the appropriate theme, WordPress users can customize their website’s design components, such as color and typeface, to reflect their company personality. There are thousands of free and premium themes available for WordPress, so finding the perfect one for your site can be a bit overwhelming. You’ll learn about different theme kinds and how to pick the best one for your WordPress site in this article.
What Can a WordPress Theme Do?
If you want to build a WordPress site without coding it from scratch, themes are your best bet. You can find free themes in the WordPress directory or purchase premium ones from third-party shops. Once you upload the theme file to your WordPress admin area, all you need to do is activate it and those changes will be applied sitewide.
Each theme comes with its own set of features that change up your site’s design, including:
- Navigation menus.
- Custom headers.
- Custom backgrounds.
- Sidebars.
- Post formats.
A basic and lightweight WordPress website is already installed with a default theme that you can use or modify to a free or premium theme. You may either utilize it or replace it with a free or paid theme. Some WordPress hosting providers also include complimentary themes in their packages. Keep in mind that once you switch from one WordPress theme to another, the design features may alter considerably since each of them is designed for a certain purpose and has its own distinct style.
What Is the Difference Between a WordPress Theme and a Template?
While the terms “theme” and “template” are often used interchangeably, they actually refer to two different things.
A WordPress template is a file that defines the design of your website without adding any content. It includes the layout, color scheme, typography, and other visual elements of your site.
On the other hand, a WordPress theme is a collection of templates along with additional functionalities that work together to create a complete package. In addition to templates, themes usually include skinning features and plugin integration.
You can think of templates as the foundation of your site on which you build your content, while themes are what give your site its overall look and feel.
Types of WordPress Themes
When it comes to WordPress themes, there is a wide variety of designs and features to choose from. Here are some of the most popular types of WordPress themes:
1. Blog Themes
Blog themes are designed specifically for blog sites. They usually have a simple layout with a large header image or slider, making them ideal for personal or lifestyle blogs. Most blog themes also come with social media integration and custom widgets to help promote your content.
2. Ecommerce Themes
Ecommerce themes are designed for online stores. They include features like shopping carts, product pages, and checkout forms. Some ecommerce themes also come with built-in support for popular plugins like WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.
3. Portfolio Themes
Portfolio themes are perfect for creatives who want to showcase their work online. They usually have a grid-based layout with large images and light colors. Some portfolio themes also come with masonry layouts and filterable portfolios.
4. Magazine Themes
Magazine themes are designed for news and magazine websites. They often come with multiple column layouts, featured content sliders, and custom widgets for displaying popular posts and categories.
5. Multi-Purpose Themes
As the name suggests, multi-purpose themes can be used for any type of website. They usually come with a variety of features and customizable options, making them ideal for businesses or sites that require more than one type of content.
Which one is best for WordPress Website Design?
Astra:
Theme stats:
Downloads: 1+ million
Rating: 5/5
Notable features: lightweight, 100+ starter templates
Best suited for: all kinds of websites
Price: freemium (from $49/year or $239 for a lifetime license)
Astra is the most popular freemium WordPress theme with more than 1 million users. It’s also one of the fastest WordPress themes, loading in under 50 KB. This has a positive impact on SEO and user experience. Additionally, this multipurpose theme offers over 100 free WordPress templates to get you started quickly, whether you’re building an eCommerce site or a personal blog. The theme supports popular page builder plugins like Elementor, Divi, and Beaver Builder.
Ocean WP:
Theme stats:
Downloads: 700,000+
Rating: 5/5
Notable features: WooCommerce integration, free extensions
Best suited for all kinds of websites
Price: freemium (from $43/year or $177 for a lifetime license)
Oceanwp is one of the most advantageous free WordPress themes- due in part to its 15 fully responsive theme demos for all sorts of websites, personal blogs included. eCommerce sites will see particular value in this theme given its great WooCommerce integration and native online store features like a shopping cart pop-up and multiple checkout options. Not to mention, it only takes minutes to set up an entire site!
Neve:
Theme stats:
Downloads: 300,000+
Rating: 5/5
Notable features: AMP-ready, SEO and speed optimization
Best suited for: all kinds of websites
Price: freemium (from $69/year)
The Neve theme is a rapid multipurpose WordPress theme. This theme will help reduce website load time thanks to its page size of 32.4 KB. It’s also compatible with WordPress accelerated mobile pages (AMP) to make the loading speed on mobile devices even faster by using stripped-down HTML files. This versatile template has free template options that include online stores, video blogs, and online portfolios. In addition, because this multipurpose theme is SEO-friendly, it’s an excellent choice for creating a quick-loading and high-ranking website.
Hello Elementor:
Theme stats:
Downloads: 1 million+
Rating: 4.5/5
Notable features: lightweight, compatible with Elementor
Best suited for: developing a WordPress site with Elementor
Price: free
The free Elementor WordPress theme is a lightweight WordPress theme designed for use with the Elementor page builder plugin. The creators of Elementor utilize this theme to test new versions of the page builder, so you won’t have to worry about compatibility problems. There are no pre-made templates available in the theme itself. However, you may download one from the Elementor template library.
Conclusion:
There are many elements that play into how people view your brand, and one of the most important is how your website looks. A professional, clean, and responsive design will help increase conversions and make you look more credible.
Even if you’re using a free WordPress theme, there are many high-quality premium themes available for download. These can serve as a wonderful starting point for your site, with pre-built templates and simple customization options. Even though there are several multiuse WordPress themes available, selecting a specialty-specific theme may help you save time and get better results. A WooCommerce template, for example, might include eCommerce functionality such as a shopping cart or product view choices, eliminating the need to obtain separate plugins for that.
Remember that getting your theme from the WordPress theme directory is usually a good idea to guarantee that it is well-coded, works with the most recent version of WordPress, and has a responsive design.
According to my experience HELLO Elementor Theme is best Because millions of WordPress users will be able to easily install and activate it directly from their WordPress dashboard, as well as receive auto-updates for new versions.
Hello is completely compatible with Elementor page builder and is both lightweight and clean. Hello gets out of the way, allowing you to focus on designing your pages and sites.
