Buying a WordPress Theme Online: Buyer Beware

Is buying a WordPress theme worth the investment?

This question is one of the most frequent questions we hear from clients. While there are benefits to free WordPress themes, buying a premium theme comes with several added benefits. These include:

• more control over customization to create a unique site,
• technical support if something should break, and
• updates to keep your site up to standard with the latest versions of plugins.

But buyer beware! Not all WordPress premium themes are created equal. Some might slow down your website, disrupt necessary features, or are inaccessible on smartphones. So do your research.

Think about your website as a vehicle that mobilizes your brand. This is an investment where potential customers can discover more information about who you are and what you do. But before signing on the dotted line for your new “car,” you will need to take a good look at what you are buying. In other words, make sure it’s not a lemon! Of course, you have your checklist of must-haves, but the test drive is where you’ll get a better idea of what you’re buying.

So, how do you test-drive a premium WordPress theme? What are some things you should look for? Well, we’re going to dive into eight things you should consider when buying a WordPress theme online:

Post-Sale Support and Regular Updates

One of the advantages of buying a WordPress theme is getting support when you need it. While free themes are easier on your wallet, the coding behind them may not be up to WordPress standards. This means you risk your website going down if something goes wrong with the theme.

But many premium themes offer a support team for such situations. Be sure to check that they are easily accessible in a forum, chat, emails, or by phone.

Let’s face it; even the best coding is susceptible to malware and viruses. It happens. But a developer’s response in this event is crucial. The premium theme should also have regular updates to combat viruses and fix bugs.

We recommend taking a peek at the theme’s documentation to see what was fixed or updated and how often updates are made.

A high-quality theme will have excellent customer support service and detailed documentation of updates. That leads us to the next consideration: What are other people saying about the theme and/or its developers?

Reviews & Ratings

There are more than a dozen websites to buy a WordPress theme from. The best theme marketplaces have their own review and rating systems from genuine customers. When purchasing a WordPress theme, take a look at the experiences of other users.

Let’s take a look at ThemeForest, one of the biggest WordPress theme marketplaces. According to ArkTheme, this is the only site with objective reviews because they do not allow authors (the theme developers) to tamper with the reviews.

Themeforest sells tens of thousands of WordPress themes.

ThemeForest also breaks down its ratings into separate categories: Design Quality, Customer Support, Flexibility, Feature Availability, Documentation Quality. This really helps you narrow in on the best or worst components of the theme. It might have an average 4-star rating for Design Quality but a 1-star rating for Customer Support.

Make sure you dig into the details of the written reviews. Sometimes it’s easy to tell if a 1-star rating is legitimate or a less-than-knowledgeable customer venting their frustrations.  Do your research to see if there is a pattern of bad reviews or good reviews for the theme’s particular components or features.

Just as important, how are the developers responding to reviews – particularly to negative reviews? If they are openly responding to problems and resolving issues with customers, that’s a great sign.

Performance & Functionality

We know that site speed is important, especially for SEO purposes. This is why we caution you to look at the performance and functionality when buying a WordPress theme online. Having too many elements on a site can significantly reduce your page loading speed and confuse your visitors.

As we mentioned earlier, make a wish list of the most important features you want from a premium theme. This means you’re not purchasing and installing a theme just because it has many features – most of which you probably won’t use.  While some standard theme features are deal-breakers, most of your needs can be answered with a plugin. But it is still a delicate balancing game.

Plugin Compatibility

Buying a WordPress theme that plays well with important plugins is key to a beautiful, functional, and SEO-friendly site. Again, let’s go back to that wish list and prioritize the key features of your website.

Do you need to sell items online? Do you need a members portal? Do you need a property management system? Are you planning to use an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math?

Good theme documentation will list out which plugins, and up to what version of those plugins, are compatible. Sites like ThemeForest will specifically list out which versions of popular plugins will work with a particular theme. If you’re unsure, check out the reviews or reach out to the developer.

Responsive Design

Having a responsive design must be on your list of criteria. Simply put, having a “responsive” website means that the design responds to the size of the user’s device – whether it is a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. This is non-negotiable. The latest data (as of February 2021) shows that almost 48% of all total web visits are mobile. This means that if you are buying a WordPress theme that is not responsive, you lose almost 50% of your audience. In other words, you’re throwing away your money.

But proceed with caution! Many themes claim to be responsive, but once tested on a smartphone, the text is unreadable, and everything is out of place. You’ll want to make sure that the font size, alignments, image sizes, etc., can be set differently for phones and tablets. We’ll talk more about testing this in the demo and testing section.

Easy Customization Options

Your website is an extension of your brand. The colors and fonts should match your business’ branding guidelines. The customization settings should help you turn a common theme into a design that matches your unique brand. So when buying a WordPress theme, be diligent in checking the customization options.

The theme should give you total customization freedom. When doing your research, you should look for these options in the customization tools: unlimited color selection, ability to choose different fonts, page layout alternatives, background formats, etc. You don’t want to be surprised when, after purchasing a theme, you find out you can only use pre-selected color palettes, or the font of your brand is unavailable or unable to be installed.

This brings us to our next consideration… test, test test!

Demos and Testing

Some of the theme marketplaces, such as ThemeForest, feature a live demo of every theme they sell. This tool allows you to see the theme in action to see the functionalities for yourself.

The live demo is also where you can test the customization of each theme. You can extensively test the ability to change colors, backgrounds, and layouts.

When buying a WordPress theme, we encourage you to use your imagination when trying out the live demo sites. Many come pre-configured with stock photos and placeholder content that can influence your decision-making. Try to evaluate the theme by imagining content that best represents your brand. This will give you a better idea of whether or not this is the best theme for you.

Don’t forget to test the mobile responsiveness while you’re there! Just open the demo site on your mobile device, or use the Chrome Developer Tools to simulate a mobile preview.

Money-Back Guarantee

At the end of the day, the theme isn’t a block of code that can be used anywhere. It’s not like a piece of clothing that you decide you don’t like and need to return. This is why many theme developers offer a money-back guarantee. Sometimes the theme doesn’t fit your needs, and you need to purchase a different one – that’s ok!

Before making any purchase check the policies and process for the money-back guarantee. Most are given within 30 days of purchase, so make a plan to thoroughly review the functionality for your business’s specific needs within that time frame.

Buying a WordPress Theme: Next Steps

We hope you gained some useful information as you move forward in selecting your premium WordPress theme. Now go and make your wish list!

As we mentioned, it’s best to start by creating a list of the most important features you’ll need on your website. This will help narrow down your selection. Then, feel free to start browsing and testing out different themes. Maybe think a little out of the box than what you had in mind. You’ll never know what theme will surprise you with all the beauty and functionality you need to stand out!

Still not sure about buying a WordPress theme? Let’s chat about it.