The quality of a Woocommerce site is often determined by the choice of theme. In order not to go wrong and start your site creation on the right foot, here are some tips to follow to choose the best Woocommerce theme.
Woocommerce is renowned for its ease of use: if you are new to creating a website using this CMS does not require extensive knowledge, and if you are more experienced then there are many possibilities available to you.
But whatever your level, the quality of a Woocommerce site is often determined by the choice of theme.
In front of the large number of Woocommerce development themes, some being free, others paying, it is difficult to make a choice. In order not to go wrong and start your site creation on the right foot, here are some tips to follow to choose the best Woocommerce theme.
1. Make your choice in the right place
Just as you aren’t going to shop anywhere, you aren’t going to pick a Woocommerce theme from just any site.
By going to reputable and trusted libraries you will reduce the risk of choosing the wrong Woocommerce theme. You can go to the following sites:
Woocommerce
Obviously, the official Woocommerce site is the best place to choose your theme.
You will find paid ones by clicking on “Commercial Themes” but a wide choice of free themes awaits you, we are talking about several thousand here.
Themeforest
On Themeforest thousands of themes are listed and classified in many categories. Note, however, that you will only find paid themes.
One of the main strengths of this library is certainly the filtering which allows you to view the themes according to precise preferences: theme style (one page, minimalist, for photographers, etc.), price, number of sales already made, evaluations, compatibility with some plugins …
ElegantThemes
If the choice seems limited on ElegantThemes , the 87 themes offered are nevertheless of high quality.
This library is considered to be the one offering the best value for money themes, even though everything is in English.
2. Decide between a free theme or a paid theme
This is a question that many are asking.
While I usually recommend a paid theme, free themes should not be overlooked. They can be used for the following reasons:
- You want to create a personal blog
- You prefer to familiarize yourself with Woocommerce first
- You don’t need extensive functionality
- You want a simple design for your site
If, on the other hand, you want to create a professional website, like your brand, and which may evolve over time, then a paid theme seems the best solution. You can customize your theme more easily, sometimes very extensively, and provide your site with advanced features.
Regarding financial investment, a paid theme can range from around ten euros to around 60 €.
- Evaluate the popularity level of the theme
If you trust the comments and ratings left by previous customers when making a purchase, this good habit should be kept when choosing a Woocommerce theme.
Popularity can be assessed using the following criteria:
- The overall score : a good theme should have a minimum of 4.5 / 5, if not more. Obviously, a note is relevant if there is a large number of voters. This information is easy to identify on ThemeForest.
- Comments : Just because there are a lot of comments doesn’t mean the theme is of poor quality. Try to take a closer look at the content of the last messages left.
- The number of sales or downloads: I personally prefer to go to a theme that has already been purchased by several thousand (or even hundreds of thousands) of people, this is a sign of quality.
- The date of the last update: if the previous criteria lead you to choose a theme, do not forget to look at this date. A recent update indicates that the theme owner is maintaining the theme and making improvements.
These first indications will allow you to make a first selection among the Woocommerce themes that have caught your attention. Now let’s take a closer look at what they offer …
- Look at the features offered
Before embarking on the creation of your site, you have certainly drawn up specifications. Resume the expected features and verify that the Woocommerce theme supports them.
For example, if you want to create an e-commerce site SEO Sydney you should check that the theme is compatible with WooCommerce. Also check if there are any shortcodes included in the theme, if so which ones and for what? Take for example the Avada theme. By reading the description of the theme here are the main features that we can discern:
- Integration of a slider and photo galleries
- Integration of forms
- The presence of icons
- Translation ready in multiple languages
- The possibility of customizing the sidebars
- The presence of many widgets
- Etc.
For paid themes, the list of features is often long. I therefore advise you to check that those which seem essential to you are present.
- Don’t neglect the design
With a free theme it is obvious that you will be limited in its customization. With a paid theme, however, you can modify the colors, fonts, CSS, logo, header, etc.
Start by assessing how customizable these elements are:
- Does the Woocommerce theme have a limited number of colors?
- Can you add any typography?
- What are the different possible arrangements for the header? And the footer?
- Where can you get your logo to appear?
Regarding the design of the theme, also check the different possibilities to arrange your elements. This is to determine if you can create several columns for example.
Finally, it’s obvious but it should be checked, make sure the theme is responsive.
To assess the quality of the design you must take the time to look at the demos offered. If you find that you can change the colors of all the elements, then don’t focus on the appearance of the theme, but rather on the layout possibilities.
Think about it
If you are not afraid of HTML and CSS, you will be able to make changes to your theme that are not intended in the theme editor. To do this, you will need to create a child theme to avoid “breaking” your theme.
6. Don’t forget about customer support
This last element is often overlooked, yet it is very important. If you have a problem with your Woocommerce theme or if you have any questions, it is best that you can ask for help from its creator, and especially get an answer.
You can already look at the comments left by users. On ThemeForest you can easily see if the theme authors are responding to messages, and if so within what time frame.
If we take the Avada theme again, we see that the support team is reactive: users often have an answer on the same day the question is asked.
Still on ThemeForest, a “Support” tab appears for each Woocommerce theme. In this section you will have more indication as to the help that can be brought to you.
Finally, don’t forget to take a look at the theme’s documentation. It is already a good thing that there is one, but the ideal is that it is well provided and detailed.
Did you know?
Customer support is often present for paid themes, which is unfortunately not always the case for free themes. In this case, try to see if there is an active community around the topic in question.
By taking all these elements into account you will be able to choose the best theme for your Woocommerce site.
