12 Tips for Choosing the Right Responsive WordPress Themes 2019

WordPress is the most sought after and popular online publishing platform and over 1.1 million new registered WordPress domains come to the fore every 6 months.

Currently, WordPress powers more than 30% of the web.

As it turns out:

Some of the world’s most popular websites including Facebook Newsroom, BBC America, The Official Star Wars Blog, Bloomberg Professional, Sony Music, MTV News, and Wall Street Journal are all powered by WordPress.

But here’s the BIG QUESTION?

Out of the 75,000,000 active WordPress websites, why only a few are popular?

The Answer is simple:

First, they invest their time and resources in curating and publishing enriching, and entertaining content that invariably resonates well with their target audiences.

Second, they smartly pick and use the right responsive WordPress themes that capture their target audience’s attention unfailingly.

We’re sure you’re wondering:

“How to pick the best WordPress themes that can quickly make your website popular amongst your target audiences?”

Well today we’re going to pull the curtains and show you a power-packed list of 12 tips to choose the right responsive WordPress themes that can turn your websites from Zero to Hero this 2019 & beyond.

So, let’s get started. Shall we?

1. Look Beyond Just the Best Design

A lot of people and businesses only pay heed to the design when picking up WordPress themes for their website.

Sadly:

A large number of website owners’ end up picking up flashy WordPress themes that are full of hidden spammy links or other malware.

To make a point:

This is a wrong approach for choosing responsive WordPress theme! If you’re looking to pick the best, responsive WordPress theme, you’ll need to think just beyond its design. WordPress site should be responsive deign websites.

Here’s what you should do when selecting a theme:

Carefully mull over your needs and wants, the type of content you’re looking to publish at your site, the pool of your target audience and their website behaviour, and other key elements including advertising blocks or banners to be placed at your website.

Definitely pick a well-designed and attractive WordPress theme, but don’t forget to ensure that it is a fully-functioning theme with proper customer support.

2. Download Only from Credible Sources

A lot of people download WordPress theme packs from unknown, incredible sources. Resultantly, they end up creating security weak spots on their websites.

In fact:

According to a recent report by wpscan.org, of the 3,972 known WordPress security vulnerabilities, 11% are from WordPress themes, while 37% are core vulnerabilities and 52% are Plugins vulnerabilities.

And that’s not all:

According to Smashing Magazine, ‘Drive-by-Download’ is one of the four most common WordPress malware infections.

What does this mean for you?

Downloading responsive WordPress themes from unknown, incredible sources may turn your website vulnerable to security risks.

Here’s the bottom line:

Always download WordPress themes from known, credible and trustworthy sources that guarantee no errors in coding, no virus threats, or spammy links. WordPress.Org is perhaps the safest source that to choose from and download responsive themes for your website.

When comparing and choosing WordPress theme, don’t forget to check out the reviews and ensure if the theme is well-supported.

3. Keep it Non-Complex

Did you know?

Hubspot found that 94% people abandon a website if its design is too complex and cluttered.

Think about it:

What’s the use of choosing a theme for WordPress website that is cluttered with fancy features, but is unable to retain visitors?

And that’s not all:

A feature-laden theme may even slow your website speed and site performance. And as it turns out, 53% mobile users abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load, according to findings by Google.

Google also found that probability of visitors bouncing a website increases with increasing load time.

This means:

Look for non-complex and clean-looking, responsive WordPress themes for your website. Do well to ensure that your theme is agile and properly optimized for high speed.

4. Pricey Themes Aren’t Necessarily High Quality

Well, here’s something you need to know:

A pricey theme that boasts a staggering line-up of features isn’t necessarily a good quality theme.

On the contrary:

There are a lot of free, responsive WordPress themes that offer the best quality, user-friendliness and awesome functionality.

This means:

You should remain careful of analysing, comparing and checking hundreds and thousands of responsive WordPress themes before zeroing in on one.

5. Refrain from Choosing Common Themes

You’ll probably agree:

Your choice of WordPress theme will carve the identity of your website on the web.

Sadly:

A large number of WordPress websites on the look alike. This is because most of these websites use free WordPress themes.

Here’s what you should do:

Look for uncommon and unique, responsive WordPress themes to ensure that your website looks unique. This will help you carve a unique brand identity for your business online.

6. Test Your Theme Before Installing It

Remember:

You shouldn’t just jump into action and start installing a responsive WordPress theme as soon as you find it.

To make a point:

You must invest some time testing out the efficiency of your chosen theme to see how it fares against the current WordPress standards.

Here’s how you can do it:

Install the ‘Theme Check’ plugin to check the efficiency of your theme. Now, review your site before taking it live on the web. Check how your website performs on mobile and if images load properly or not. Don’t forget to check if the fonts are legible and easily readable.

Invest a little time playing around the demo version of your WordPress theme to see if it resonates well with your brand and if it is captivating enough for your target audiences. If you feel it works, go ahead and download!

7. Don’t Forget SEO Still Matters

We’re sure you’ll agree:

The core objective of putting up a website is to be found by the users on the web. Quite expectedly, improving SEO is the top priority for 61% marketers.  

This means:

Your responsive WordPress theme can significantly affect your SEO efforts, so you should remain careful of choosing a theme that is ready for SEO. 

Here’s how you can do it:

Check if your chosen theme is up-to-date with latest coding standards. Check it to make sure it has valid HTML, CSS and that it works well with mobile devices. In order to do this you may use these code validators:

• W3C Markup Validator
• Validator.nu
• HTML5 Validator

Check to see your chosen theme is ‘Schema’ ready. Schema Markup helps make your content visible and helps search engine crawler understand the relevance and topical authority of your website. But how will check if your theme is ‘Schema’ ready.

Here’s how:

Open your theme’s demo and then click “View Source Code”. On the page where you get the source code, click CTRL+F and search for “schema.org” or “itemscope.” If you’re able to find either of these terms in the codes, it means that your theme is ‘Schema’ ready.

8. Check Your Theme’s Effectiveness Across Browsers

As you already know:

Your website must work well across different devices – desktop, mobile and tablets.

But here’s something you need to know:

Besides different devices, your website must also look and work well across different web browsers.

Here’s what you must keep in mind:

Choose the theme that works well across major web browsers. Check it across different web browsers including Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, etc. to see that your website looks legible and user-friendly when opened with different web browsers.

9. Look for Technical Support

A large number of responsive WordPress themes come to the fore each year. Some of them become old and abandoned, whereas others go string year on year.

Look for themes that are updated and popular. Remember, choosing an old and abandoned theme, that’s no longer supported, will only hurt you in the long run. Look for technical support options when selecting a responsive WordPress theme for your website. This will help you tackle any technical issue that may crop-up later.

Don’t forget to check the reviews of your chosen theme to see if it is technically supported and if people’s problems are getting fixed, without having to run from pillar to post.

10. Do a Competitor Analysis

You already know this:

In order to stay ahead of the curve, you need to understand your competition well.

Remember to do a thorough research on your competitors to understand how their WordPress theme helps them attract visitors and sales. This will help you understand what should you improve or modify in your chosen theme to make it better than your competition.

11. Flexibility is The Key

Now you’ve selected a theme, you’ll want it to portray your brand’s personality. That’s why you must make sure that your chosen theme is flexible enough to be configured according to your needs and wants.

Do well to see if your brand’s visual elements match well your theme’s design. Always remember to choose the theme that can be easily edited and has an easy-to-use configuration bar. This will help you adapt the installed theme to your brand’s needs and wants, without having to burn midnight oil.

12. Pick Monetization Ready Themes

Last but not the least:

Look for responsive themes that can be instantly used for monetization of your website, especially if you’re looking to place advertisement banners and blocks at your site.

Look for responsive themes that offer a minimum of four blocks to include advertisements and banners. Also, don’t forget to check if your intended responsive theme supports advertising scripts that can be used in the future for monetization.

Parting Toughts!

So, there you’ve it – 12 stupid simple tips to choosing the right responsive themes for your WordPress site! We’re sure you have identified a few quick tips that you’ll like to try now.

So, go ahead and put these quick tips into practice and easily choose the perfect, responsive theme for your WordPress site.

Do you have questions about anything you’ve read here? If so, leave us a quick comment now.