Are you completely overwhelmed by the options of free WordPress themes? WP makes it easy for anyone to design a website, but what if you don’t have a natural eye for style and details? You don’t want your romantic bridal boutique to look like it’s a website for a punk rock band. Sometimes, too many choices are a bad thing and you might not know where to begin.
WP is constantly coming out with new themes, and most people don’t need to pay for the premium ones. There are plenty of free options, and that’s a great place to start for most small business owners. If staring at thumbnail after thumbnail of possibilities is more stress-inducing than fun, stop worrying. Here are the best WP themes for nearly every business.
Zenith and Strap Slider Lite
All themes should utilize responsive design, so make sure it’s ticked off your must-have list first. Zenith is stunning in its simplicity with a black background, plenty of white space and room for five images on the homepage. Numerous layout options are offered within this one theme. Virtually any business can use Zenith, whether it’s a massage therapist or organic spider mite control business.
Strap Slider Lite takes a trending approach with a large image as the background. Fortunately, this trend is likely here to stick, so there’s no worry about it looking outdated in a few months. A sliding panel is featured on each page and it’s easy to use with Twitter’s bootstrap system. It’s a little more stylistic than other choices and is definitely a website rather than a blog. Business owners who want to look like they paid a pretty penny for web design should start here.
Origin and Folder
Origin is very clean, but it also has just the right amount of kitsch. Utilizing a 2013 trend of a font rich with character, you could easily imagine a brewery or trendy boutique having this design. The colors are neutral and muted with just enough pop to catch the eye. Get customized widgets and a two-column layout with the free version. The bright white text contrasted against the clay and brown background makes reading the content easy.
For something totally different, check out Folder. It has a retro vibe, but not the kind that makes people think all you sell are plastic flamingoes. Since it’s art-centric, it’s ideal for a business that wants to display images, whether it’s up-dos from a salon or stunning art prints. If you depend largely on images to sell your products or services, Folder might be for you.
How to Decide?
If you’re feeling up to exploring more free WP themes, start by having your non-negotiable list in hand. You need a site that’s responsive, is either blog or website-driven and you need to know just how much you’re going to depend on images. The perfect match is out there, and you don’t need to settle or “pay up” to get it.