While WordPress plugins like WooCommerce make it easier for web developers to build eCommerce websites, there are a few precautions that must be taken before choosing an appropriate theme for a WooCommerce store (WordPress eCommerce website).
As we know that there are several free and paid WordPress themes that you can use for your next eCommerce website, I would still recommend that you must use paid themes only.
What are the benefits of paid WordPress themes?
a. You get good support
b. You get regular updates
Let’s learn about a few checkpoints that must be considered while choosing an appropriate theme for your WordPress website.
#1 Choose simple design themes
It is always advisable that you must choose a simple design theme for your website. A complicated theme may affect the overall performance of the website.
while choosing a WordPress theme, don’t get attracted by its flashy elements because they can cause you a performance issue in the long run.
#2 Choose themes with readable fonts
Fonts are perhaps very important ingredients of a website. Therefore you must ensure that the WordPress theme that you are going to choose has readable fonts.
It’s not only about the font size, but the font type and color also matter.
Responsive web design is not a new thing in the web design industry. Having a responsive website is not a fashion, it’s a basic necessity.
It becomes even more crucial in the case of eCommerce websites to have a responsive web design. If your eCommerce store is not responsive on mobiles and tables, you are going to lose a significant amount of sales.
#4 Check out the loading speed
Taking care of the loading speed of your web pages is equally important as its existence. While choosing a theme for your WordPress eCommerce website, you must ensure that its loading speed is optimized if you really want to get more sales and higher rankings on search engines.
Why loading speed of an eCommerce website is so important?
a. Fast-loading eCommerce websites get more sales. No matter how great the offers are or how visually appealing the website is, a slow-loading website is not going to keep users engaged, let alone convert sales.
b. Fast-loading websites get higher rankings on search engines. Yes, major search engines like Google consider a webpage’s loading speed as one of the important factors to rank a website on its search result pages.
#5 Test for different browsers
Before you pay for a WordPress theme, you must check its demo on all the major browsers. You really need to make sure that your eCommerce website looks well on all the popular browsers.
You never know which browsers are being used by your potential customers. Therefore, it’s always advisable to have a browser-compatibility test of your WordPress theme before you purchase it.
#6 Check out reviews
Before you purchase any theme for your WordPress eCommerce store, you can also check the reviews of existing users of that theme. You will come to know about the first-hand experience of existing users.
#7 Pay attention to the ‘Last Updated’ date
Now, this is something very crucial from a technical point of view. Technology is never stable. It keeps changing, perhaps, upgrading would be the right word.
It’s very important for web developers to keep upgrading their plugins and themes according to the changes in technologies or previous bugs. Therefore you must pay attention to the last updated date of the theme that you are planning to purchase.
The last updated date is always mentioned on the theme details page.
