How to Choose a WordPress theme – Free, Premium or Custom ?

After installing WordPress on your blog, the very next step is to choose a best theme, that suites your blog. There is no rocket science behind choosing a WordPress theme, but what all you need is some basic analysis on your blog.

How to Choose a WordPress theme ?

WordPress themes can be classified into : Free themes, premium themes and custom themes. Let us explain the difference between them, so that it will be easy for you to choose the right one.

Also Read  : 5 Reasons why we choose Genesis over Thesis

Free WordPress Themes

Free WordPress themes are available to download at Official WordPress Repository. All these themes are created and submitted for review by many Developers and themes houses.

1. Features
   Many free themes are just bare-bones themes and doesn’t possess features that are offered by Premium Themes. Some free themes are offering admin console, but with limited options only.
2. Support
   Support for free themes is not guaranteed, but WordPress community got many active developers and they will respond to queries at Official forums. You can also use WP Codex for further information.
3. Updates
   Update frequency of free themes is good, but not as frequent as premium themes. Also it is not good to use an outdated theme which do not offer further updates anymore.
4. Niche Themes
   Layout of all free themes is similar and themes based on particular genre or niche are rarely found. If you got a Real Estate niche, its damn difficult to find a theme that fulfills your requirement.
5. Unique Design
   Free themes are used by thousands of bloggers and web masters, hence unique design is not guaranteed. If you are good at coding, you can make some tweaks to change your free theme to custom one.

Premium WordPress Themes

Premium Themes are offered by many theme houses. All these premium themes are constructed over a basic theme framework and helps to stand out of the crowd.

1. Features
   These themes comes bundled with many unique features, hence no-need of customization. An in-built admin panel is available for premium themes, hence easy to configure options.
2. Support
   As there is a competition between these theme companies, A grade support is offered through forums, blogs etc. Most of the premium themes comes with life time support, hence its worth paying for them.
3. Updates
   To withstand the competition, premium themes are regularly updates and all the bugs, security issues are fixed. Some theme houses like StudioPress got their own plugins too.
4. Niche Themes
   Based on the genre of your blog, different types of themes are available. Some of them are based on Question & Answers, Job Board, Coupons etc. Pricing of all these varies based on the requirement.
5. Unique Design
   Premium themes got many color schemes and are unique in look and feel. Many resources are also available to customize these themes, hence you can easily get the unique design using a premium theme.

Custom WordPress Themes

Custom WordPress themes are developed by freelancers and theme houses based on your requirement. It is not always recommended to go for a custom WordPress theme, as the cost involved in it will be very high compared to premium themes. And every other factor like Updates, support etc are purely based on the person or firm  you hired.

If your blog is unique and if you are trying to brand your product, then custom design is advised. We also design custom themes based on Thesis and Genesis frameworks, if you need one please do contact us to get a quote.

Now based on the requirement and considering these things choose a WordPress theme. If you need any further help, feel free to drop a comment, so that we can help you in choosing a perfect WordPress theme.