Tag Archives: responsive wordpress themes

A guide on how to choose WordPress themes for local businesses

need wordpress theme

Local businesses are mostly on the rise in terms of getting online. So a parlour nearby or a restaurant nearby no longer just targets nearby customers but the entire city with better roads, buses and transport facility as well as delivery available. Hence it is important these local businesses properly choose their WordPress themes as per their needs.

The first question which comes to our mind is why local businesses should choose WordPress themes?

WordPress as we know has been on rise and used by over 75% websites designed and developed in 2015. Hence WordPress CMS looks like a good thing. Also WordPress themes can keep the costs low since Premium WordPress Themes have the ability to change images, text and laying out the content is easy one doesn’t require any developer or designer to get them going.

Also WordPress CMS is nowadays available with most hosting companies at a single click installation hence installing a WordPress theme is just like a piece of cake. And it keeps the costs down for a local business which might not be interested in spending a lot on their first website.

Here is a guide and reasons we think are important which will help any local business choose their first website WordPress theme:

requirement WordPress themes

  1. Choose what you need: It is very important that since it is your first website or it is going to be a do it yourself website you don’t need a multipurpose WordPress theme since it might be too much for your needs and plus you don’t understand all the technical mumbo jumbo. Hence it is necessary you find a perfect WordPress theme which satisfies all your needs of website functionality as well as it is not too tedious plus not too simple either considering your future needs.

choosing WordPress themes

  1. Future needs: You should always consider near future needs like adding a blog or adding your own contact form. Adding an event calendar or a gallery area or might be some difficult or typical functionality like adding an accordion FAQ section. Hence these functionality or features should be pointed in the initial requirement itself while finding your WordPress theme. Otherwise after buying the WordPress theme if these things are lacking in that particular theme you either end up buying another one or paying a developer to get this item done on your website.
  1. Design wise: Design wise a WordPress theme should be elegant and look professional or creative if you need creative design but should display info properly because that is what matters in the long run. What good is a WordPress theme if it doesn’t display phone numbers, contact info and other important info about the company properly. Tedious designs can actually have higher bounce rates and lower conversions and hence it is always beneficial to have simple websites. By simple we don’t mean overly simple but ones which can be navigated easily and where info is properly visible on the pages.

call to action WordPress themes

  1. Call to actions: Call to actions are essential as what use is an online website unless it leads people to either call, sign up or enquire about services by filling a contact form. Hence you should choose proper WordPress themes which has good call to actions like quick contact form or phone number on the top which appears clickable when viewed from a mobile phone and email us button or email id written clearly on top. Even social media links to follow can also increase customer interaction as Facebook and other social media have reviews about you.costly WordPress themes
  2. Recurring costs vs lifetime: This is a long term perspective which you should always check. If a WordPress theme has recurring costs like yearly or monthly fees then of course its going to cost you more. Also many WordPress themes have license such that you can use it in a single domain. So tomorrow if you want to use the same WordPress theme on a different domain for different business you need to purchase it again. One should always check for GPL licensed WordPress themes which are available for single purchase for lifetime unlimited usage. So you don’t need to bother about any future costs while using this particular licensed WordPress theme.
  1. Ease of use: Ease of use is equally important while you consider WordPress themes as if the theme is not easy to use and set up then you would be required to hire a developer which defeats the purpose of using a WordPress theme instead of going for custom website in the first place. Hence check existing documentation for a WordPress theme which you are going to purchase and always check if its easy to use by either trying their sample theme or checking documentation and if its easy to understand for you. Reviews of WordPress themes also help one to understand how easy a theme is.

seo friendly WordPress themes

  1. SEO friendly: This is also important as one should be easily able to find your local business by typing its name. So it should integrate with Google places, Google plus as well as have Google map for easy location in contact us as well as should be SEO friendly to get you located easily online. This will definitely increase your business.

fast loading wordpress theme

  1. Speed: Speed is nowadays important. A slow website will cause more users to leave it and go elsewhere looking for information. A faster website will have more visits and people will be able to check your info easily. Hence properly coded WordPress themes with lesser fancier javascripts load quickly. Hence as we have said in the initial paragraph select simpler WordPress themes which will efficiently use lesser scripts and load very fast and quickly to get your more visitors overtime.

responsive wordpress theme

  1. All device Responsive: Not just mobile but tablets are also on the rise and hence a WordPress theme should be mobile responsive and tablet responsive plus should pass Google mobile friendly test.
  1. Plugin compatibility: Plugin compatibility is essential to increase flexibility and scalability of a WordPress theme and website. Hence if a WordPress theme comes advertised as tested with gallery plugins, contact forms, and E-commerce as well as social sharing and media plugins it will be easier to have additional functionality in future using this theme.

support WordPress themes

  1. Support: Support for a WordPress theme is equally important. Since you are doing things on your own there might be some places where you get stuck. It is important at that time support team of the paid WordPress theme handles and answers your questions properly. This will save yourself a lot of time and efforts.
  1. Try before you buy: Some WordPress themes marketplace have the option to try a theme or try the trial free version before buying the actual theme. This actually sets expectations straight and the customer also doesn’t find himself cheated because he has tried the theme before actually purchasing the same. We also offer free WordPress themes to try before you can actually buy them.secured WordPress themes
  2. Security: Well this is the most important aspect nowadays for any WordPress theme. Many themes rely on plugins and those plugins are never updated and may cause problems. Hence we design WordPress themes independent of plugins but only externally if you add them you get notified of plugin updates. So not bundling plugins into WordPress themes. This alone fixes a lot of problem and takes care of security problems.

Steps to Build a Mobile Friendly WordPress Theme

mobile-banner
Steps to build a mobile friendly WordPress theme have been discussed in this article.

With the huge boom in the number of mobile phone users, the web activity via cellular devices is becoming increasingly common. With the passage of time, mobile phones are becoming an important part of our lives.

This is largely due to the fact that it allows us have ease in multiple walks of life. With the ownership of mobile phone and access to the internet, you can connect with anyone in the world. To simplify your daily tasks, there are multiple tools in the form of applications.

In a nutshell, mobile phones have made life easy. Based on this assumption, we can safely propose that the society has all the just reasons to be reliant on such a device.

Keeping in mind the utmost need and necessity of mobile phones in this age of technology, this fact cannot be negated that there is an increase in the number of website visits from this device. This fact calls for the need of having mobile friendly WordPress themes.

Considering this, we will walk you through different steps to build mobile friendly WordPress themes.

This will help you tap into a large market of users who use applications or surf websites through their mobile phones. Moreover, if you are able to build mobile friendly websites then you will rank better on search engines.

As a result, a larger audience of people will benefit from your services. In a nutshell, there are multiple reasons that should lead you to making your website mobile friendly.

Here you will learn how to create responsive WordPress themes. So, let’s jump on to it!

1. Choose the right hosting plan
hosting
This is one of the first and foremost requirements when you are planning to build a mobile friendly WordPress theme. A good hosting company always aids you to optimize the website perfectly well for mobile phones. In this regard, here are a few things that you should consider.

  • Your website should not be shared over a common server. This is because of the fact that, over common servers the loading speed is slowed down multiple folds.
  • Go for quality services over anything
  • The traffic towards your website must be handled very efficiently by the hosting company

 
Before actually stepping into the playground of making responsive WordPress themes, it is recommended that you keep in mind the above instructions.

2. Make the correct choice of WordPress theme
wordpress-plugin
After the choice of the most suitable hosting plan, you are now required to choose a responsive WordPress theme. There are a few considerations that should be kept in mind:

  • The theme should load very fast
  • Should adjust to all the screen sizes and dimensions
  • Adheres to all your organizational objectives
  • Suffices for the purpose of delivering service to the audience
  • Offers great user experience
  • Should be cross browser compatible and cross device compatible
  • Should be checked with Theme Authenticity Checker and Theme check plugins for security purposes

 
Moreover, you should avoid themes that:

  • Are not coded professionally
  • Have got a lot of images
  • Take a lot of time to load

 

3. The Content Should be Adaptive
content
It simply means that mobile friendly WordPress themes require such content that is easily scalable based on the size of the device. In other words, the adaptive content has got the ability to scale up or scale down its dimensions depending on the device. One of the best techniques in this regard is to make the content catchy and very precise. This makes it even more adjustable. On top of that, visual representations such as graphs should be avoided as they are not suitable for the size of some devices.

4. Have a check on the plug-ins
plugin
Always keep it simple. Make use of very less plug-ins and ensure that you deliver maximum user experience through minimum effort. Jamming a lot of plug-ins to your WordPress website can cause a lot of issues. This includes slowing down of the website and sometimes problems with various functionalities due to conflict among the plugins.
Thus, it is suggested that you keep a strong check on the plug-ins.

5. Image Optimization
image-opt
It is a general understanding and fact that images play an important role to keep the users engaged. There is no way to negate the importance of images. However, cluttering too many images on your website can slow down the loading speed. This negatively affects the user experience. Thus, it is really important that you optimize your images in such a way that there is a proper balance between the speed and user experience. This applies especially to the mobile website. Thus, it is recommended that while making a responsive WordPress theme – pay special attention to the image optimization.

6. Installation of a theme-switcher
theme-switcher
This is extremely important especially when you have decided not to use a plug-in for the provision of a theme. There is a variation in the level of control that each plug-in offers. Thus, it is required that you make a wise choice during the selection. Ensure that all the requirements of the targeted platform are properly sufficed.

For a better approach, the choice of “any mobile theme plug-in” is recommended. It is one of the best plug-ins to make mobile friendly WordPress theme.

7. Test, test and test
test
Once you are through the above checklist of tasks, the next step is to test the website. Make sure that you pay proper attention to all the performance parameters. No matter, how detailed the checklist is – you should never reach conclusions without proper testing in that matter. For proper testing and check, it is recommended that you test and check the website on multiple mobile devices. Browse through various sections and interact with various elements to have a better idea of everything.

With this type of testing and proper attention to detail, it will be rest assured that you have a mobile friendly WordPress theme. In other words, you will be providing services and better experience to a large audience of people.