The Guide To Choosing A Proper Theme That Can Change The Future Of Your Website

Do you think looks don't matter? It's 2018, and it's time for you to think again. When it comes to website design, looks have never been so important. Then again, beauty depends on perception and how exactly can we quantify the beauty of something inanimate like a website? How can you at all judge your website depends on how it looks? Are you supposed only to consider the aesthetics of it? What do experts mean when they refer to a site's "looks"?

Questions like these must have already started ravaging your think machine. Let us simplify it a bit for you. When we refer to the looks of a website, we don't mean the artistic value of it. We also refer to its functionality. Modern website design demands a marriage of looks and functions. No website can enjoy higher organic traffic or better ranks because it has good looks. Frilly themes and grand layouts are no longer in fashion. The design has become a part of SEO. That is exactly what you need to remember while picking a theme for your new website.

Why does choosing a template to involve so much pre-emption?

Good website design is about picking a great template, choosing safe fonts, a fitting theme for your business/products, retina ready images, responsive design and customizable menus. At this moment, you may want to ask what the purpose of so much trouble is, you need a platform to sell your products anyway. Modern website designers need to take the trouble of sorting through hundreds of themes and templates, design styles and menu options to create the perfect website for the sake of customers. You must remember that your website should be able to provide your customers with an unparalleled experience. You do not want a potential buyer to visit your website once. Ideally, your customers should keep coming back to your site, and your website design should have that captivating effect on them.

Choose a responsive theme for your site

Some recent trends are transient, some are still in the truck with SEO, and some are here to stay. Responsive website design is one such trend that is here for the long haul. Google has not yet overtly stated their preference for mobile optimized also known as responsive sites, but visitors prefer websites that fit perfectly on their mobile devices. Think of this – you have just left office, and you want to grab takeout. What do you do? Take your phone out and Google it. No one uses a desktop on the go. Mobile devices get all the preference. If your website does not fit on a mobile screen, your competitor will utilize this opportunity to market their product or business to your target users right on their mobile devices! While picking your website template/theme, ensure that your website is easily accessible by mobile users, tablet users, laptop fiends and desktop loyalists alike.

Inherently SEO friendly themes help in boosting traffic

You will keep hearing how most ready-to-use website design templates are not SEO-friendly. It can be a fact or a myth, depending on where you are shopping for templates. Several website builders offer search engine optimized templates ready for development. The easiest way to find them is to look at HTML5 – CSS3 templates. These are Google-friendly and have clean core codes. Many developers prefer working with open source website builder platforms like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla since the core codes of themes are editable. However, with a little guidance from your ecommerce website development team, you should be able to find a template that’s responsive, good looking and SEO friendly, all at once.

Themes with marketing features will keep you noticeable

While choosing your template, pick one that has integrated marketing features. This is especially important for business websites and product websites. E-commerce websites need embedded social sharing widgets, banner options, pop-up ad options, carousels, header options, product filters, product search options and blocks of products on offer or promotion. A marketing friendly template makes it easier for your users to share and promote the products they like. If you manage to pick a website template that comes with these features, you will not have to pile on multiple plug-ins to add these functions to your website. Therefore, your resulting website will be lighter, faster and less clumsy. Additionally, you will be able to activate or deactivate different marketing options with one click.

While shopping for themes, ensure customizability

Several business owners, website managers, and website developers believe that opting for ready-to-use templates or WYSIWYG builders handicaps the customization options of a website. Depending on which platform and theme you choose, that can be completely untrue. Always pick the right combination of CMS, builder, and theme that can impart personality to your business. The right color combinations, fonts, and logo will contribute more than you think of the website UX. It is like the McDonald's experience – wherever you notice the two golden arches on a red background, you automatically think about the brand. Getting a new website is a step towards online branding, and you need to take this step in the right direction. 

Always emphasize on intuitive design

Next, we come to one of the most debated aspects of a good-looking website – intuitive design. In reality, intuitive website design is indeed invisible. This is exactly the reason it is difficult to implement and maintain. It is not 3D rendering, it is not high res images nor is it the use of the latest template styles. It is the replacement of complex user interfaces (UI) with simpler ones that can support the intent of mobile website users. It is about keeping the template clean, conventional and predictable. One of the easiest tests of an intuitive UI is the grandma test – ask an older person to use your website. Can they navigate properly? Can they add products to the cart? Can the find a particular blog? If the answer to each question is no, you need to reconsider your website design ASAP.

Great website design is more than aesthetics. It is about usability and functionality. User-ready templates with high ratings and good reviews are one of the easiest ways to find a template on a WYSIWYG builder.