The right theme can make a huge difference for your WordPress website/blog. When you want to find the perfect WordPress theme, it’s important to consider your industry/niche, SEO and a few other things.

Your WordPress theme is going to provide the structure and design of your new website. It will also play a role in your overall SEO profile. Here’s a look at some of the things you should consider before you choose a WordPress Theme for your new website.

Consider your Industry/Niche

Some of the themes, both free and premium, are designed for specific industries/niches. If you can find a theme that fits specifically with your industry/niche, it may provide design benefits you won’t get from another type of theme.

However, you don’t have to choose a theme specific to the subject of your site. Some themes can be modified to fit with your niche or industry by adding your logo and other images.

Simplicity is Always Good

There are thousands of free WordPress themes found online. When you try to sort through them, finding one that is simple will serve you better than a complicated one. The same goes for a premium theme and simplicity will make a difference.

A simple theme will be easier to work with, easier to customize and compatible with most browsers. It will also load faster, which helps your overall SEO profile.

Free vs. Premium Theme

A free theme has the obvious benefit of not costing you any money. However, it may not provide the best choice for your WordPress site. If you do decide to go with a free theme, make sure it comes from a trusted developer.

Premium themes come with support, more options and are often better designed. They will cost anywhere from $10 to $200, but it’s an investment in your site. You may not change your theme for a few years, so it’s a small cost to use a premium theme over the long term.

Some of the best places to find your new premium theme include:

ThemeLab
Elegant Themes
iThemes
StudioPress
Themify
Headway Themes

You can even use the option for a custom theme design from some of these premium providers.

How to Install your WordPress Theme

After you select the perfect WordPress Theme, you will need to install it. Here are step-by-step instructions to help you with the installation of your new WordPress theme.

Download the New Theme

Whether you buy a premium theme or use a free one, you will need to download it before you do anything else. It will download to your computer as a .zip file, which you will use to install it through your WordPress dashboard.

Upload Your New Theme

After you download your new theme, you will need to log into your WordPress dashboard and go to the Appearance tab. Find the “Themes” option and this will take you to a page that looks like this:

From here, you can click the “Add New” link at the top or the “+” Sign inside the dotted box that says “Add New Theme” to access the upload page. This will take you to a page that looks like this:

Now, you need to click the link at the top called, “Upload Theme” to access the upload page.

Just click the “Choose File” button, locate the .zip folder for your new theme and select it. Then, all you have to do is click the “Install Now” button and activate the theme when it has completely installed.

You are now all set with your new WordPress theme and you can start working on designing your website/blog.