Getting started with WordPress is a very exciting time. The creators of premium themes and paid plugins understand this very well. This is why when you are first signing up with WordPress, marketers will do just about everything they can to get you to purchase their theme.
As a new WordPress user, it will be very tempting to buy – what is being sold as – the latest and greatest theme ever made. This is nine times out of ten a bad choice for the average WordPress user.
There are thousands of free themes that are able to handle a wide range of websites. Putting money into a premium theme is really only helping the person selling it.
Most of the features on premium themes are going to go wasted to the majority of WordPress users. The premium features are really built for those that are ready to take their website to the next level. Before purchasing one of these themes you should have a well-established website or already have all your content ready to go.
Choosing The Best Free WordPress Theme
If you are ready to go with your website the best place to start looking for WordPress themes is right in your dashboard. The customize section of your Theme section will automatically be populated with a variety of free themes that you can try out on your website.
To explore even more free themes, you can select to “Add New” [theme]. This will direct you to an even more expansive selection of free themes.
One of the great perks of theme searching is that you can test out the theme on your website while looking for the best option. Most of the themes will have a ‘Live’ version that you can try out.
If the free theme doesn’t have this option, you can always just download it, activate it and see how it looks. If you don’t like it, simply choose a new one to activate.
What To Look For In Free Themes
The best way to find a new theme is to check out the demo versions of what the theme will look like. This is a great way to get inspiration for your website design.
Themes are typically created for a particular niche and will perform the best for visitors when applied to those niches.
For example, a landing page style theme is great for a local business looking just to let potential customers know where their store is located and the business hours. On the other hand, a more expansive magazine style theme is great for someone looking to add a lot of content.
When you are choosing your Free WordPress Theme, be sure to know your goal with the website. Having this in mind will greatly benefit you when it comes to designing the content that will go with the website.
Once you have decided on the free theme that will best fit your brand it is time to install and activate it.
As you have probably seen, the demo themes always look perfect and the images seem very professional. The secret to this is planning.
If you are able to plan your website and the content before diving in head first the better your chances are for a good looking and visitor friendly website. The technical term that many online experts use is UX or user experience.
The user experience on a website is critical for keeping a visitor interested and, on your website, longer. If the website is disorganized than the visitor won’t find what they are looking for and most likely leave.
Organizing your content with well positioned graphics or images is extremely important in gaining consumer attention and growing your audience.
Final Notes On Free WordPress Themes
Before you go and Google free WordPress themes be aware of offers that are too-good-to-be-true are often just that. For everyone who is trying to better the WordPress community there are dozens of people trying to capitalize on new users.
Be careful when downloading WordPress themes from third party websites. These are hot spots for hackers and scam artists to take advantage of your online innocence.
There are thousands of free themes within your WordPress dashboard. This is the best place to start your search for a new theme. As you get more into WordPress, and learn which websites are reputable, than you can explore other options from third party websites.