To understand a little bit into this question? I was asked via my Ask Nile form on what specific WordPress theme will give the best website conversion rate. The person went on to say that she’d been to some WordPress meetups and had been told repeatedly that one specific theme did this.
So, she re-designed her site all around that theme and it lead to frustration as her conversion rate plummeted. Instead of getting anywhere from 1 to 5 subscribers in with her newsletter, and at least 4 product purchases, she was getting NO results at all.
So, here is my answer to her dilemma in my Ask Nile Series.
What WordPress Theme Will Help Me Get the Best Website Conversion Rate?
Recommending a specific WordPress theme for website conversion, especially to a lot of people who run websites in different niche is an un-wise move. A theme is what you make of it. Remember- what works for one site, may not work for another.
Yes, there are some really cool looking themes. There are themes that look like they could produce great results. Even if a theme comes with a price tag, you’re not guaranteed it will convert until you can put your own content on it and put it to the test.
A/B Testing and even running analytics on each individual site in each niche for that WILL prove that very point. Sometimes the difference is colors, sometimes it’s overall design (yeah, some niche attract more with an ugly design), sometimes it’s copy, and sometimes even ease of use for the end user.
A duty of a web designer or developer is to use the best decision that works. A web designer or developer – who builds sites that convert – will look around, and do research on what works best in a niche, and then test further to see how much more they can improve results.
Use your common sense and don’t automatically think that one person’s words will be true just because they told a bunch of people about it. Be ready to test. If your web developer only has a good eye for design, be ready to change things in order to optimize your site for conversion, or hire someone that specializes in website conversion.
Are you a WordPress “expert” recommending one specific theme that converts? If so, why, and does it hold true for every niche when you test it?
Nothing related to online marketing and coversion is carst in stone. Minor or major tweaks are always necessary. This doesn’t apply only for WordPress, but for any kind of websites. UX and UI are critical, but there are so many other small details.
Although I am personally a fan of a couple of WordPress theme frameworks, I could never recommend one as “the best” for conversions. Personally, I think your offer, brand, and sales copy matter more than what theme you use.
I don’t know if this is slightly off from the topic of conversation but I switched themes, based on a theme saying it had great SEO features and reading others praise it. I did this at the time I switched my site from wordpress.com (previously it had a redirect/domain mapping to a URL) to wordpress.org. It took me longer than anticipated to get the new site up (I was in maintenance mode for at least a week!) and then I found the number of regular daily visitors fell from what I got when I was on wordpress.com.
In addition, my site stopped coming up in Google Alerts — I write about a very well known destination and, before the switch, my new posts would come up in Google Alerts. I understand that Google Alerts may be phased out in the future, and the people at my theme’s support said they are “dying,” but right now people still use them to find out about topics.(I tried using Google site maps to help as was suggested but that hasn’t changed things.) I’ve still never been able to figure out how to correct whatever changed – I’ve often wondered if it’s related to the theme. I spent so much time arranging thumbnails of photos (there are over 1000 posts) and I’m afraid now to switch themes, not sure if that will all convert and I don’t have extra money to trouble shoot any problems.
So, yes, buying a new theme that sells itself on certain functions can sometimes backfire. (If anyone has any tips for me, they are welcome.)
Cathryn
Hi Nile,
I totally agreed with your points, you just can’t guarantee that one particular theme is going to increase your conversion rate. It basically depends on your niche and kind of audience you have. A/B testing and understanding the behavior of your audience is the key here.
Believing from a recommendation is a good start but then it has to be tested on own site. It would be better not to raise your expectation too much so when the theme didn’t deliver you won’t get frustrated and would not blame the person who recommend it.
Hello Nile, what a shame that person took notice of their advice. Unfortunately, some people who recommend strategies, are better sales people than they are experts in the field in which they’re recommending. There’s so many other factors to take into account, with regard to conversion – including the ones you mentioned Nile, there’s also: the target audience and whether the visitors going to the blog ARE the targeted audience. Then, it depends on the offer and the product that’s for sale. It’s not really the blog or the theme that converts, it’s the kind of content on a website that causes it to convert.
Informative as always Nile. I’m not a developer but as a blogger I do try to at least stay somewhat current with trends and issues that periodically pop up. What I am not is an “early adapter” because I’ve learned the hard way to get more than one opinion, test and do my homework. Takes a little longer on the front end but saves money, stress and time on the back end.
Very informative guide and i totally agree with your all points. Mobile friendly and Responsive themes will make good conversion and make sure you pick a SEO friendly themes which is an importing thing to consider.
Hello Nile, I completely agree when you say different theme’s are required for different kind of websites. I have a few clients that come with a preoccupied notion that one theme of framework is better than the other. The next time I get any customer who does not listen to me. I will tell them to Ask Nile.
Hello Nile, I don’t really think a theme is going to help conversions, although I do know that there are more features with paid themes. Right? I think it does have to do a lot with YOU!! Great article Thanks for sharing Chery :))
Chery… it does. That’s what A/B Testing is for. It’s to test content and design in order to optimize for the best conversion.
A theme can hurt your conversion rate because it causes your site to have an inconsistent look and feel
For example – a theme that works for an audience of guys ages 14 to 25 for gaming will probably not be the best choice for a mommy blogger – the color scheme, fonts, layout options etc. will be much harder to adapt for the mommy blogger – where for the gaming site it’s a slam dunk
And worse lets say that the mommy blogger succeeds in getting the theme to work for her site – it’s highly likely that there will always be something “not quite right” about her site – probably nothing anyone could put their finger on – but this sense that something isn’t quite right – and in the end it will point back to picking the wrong theme.
Some themes are completely flexible and you can do just about anything you want with them – but others – especially those designed for a specific niche – will be hard to modify for purposes other than those they were intended for.
Great post Nile
Yes, agreed that one size dose not necessarily fit all. Would be foolish to think so.
But I do believe in recognition, meaning that niche sites that come before is smart to follow to some extent, theme wise.
I always prefer genesis framework. In the starting I used Thesis and that too was good and seo optimized. There are many options in genesis also.
By profession I am a web developer, I have tried hundreds of theme at my side but never seen the SEO like Classipress by App themes, Only in one day after submission, my result is on first page. I think this is the best theme I ever found which basically follow the Google Webmaster data structure guidelines
hey Nile,
It’s not blog or the theme that converts, it’s the kind of content on a website that causes it to convert
i agree theme is important to make it fancy but not really!.
Love the question that led to this post. It is a bit like asking what song will sound the best. To who? In what market? Does it have a good band playing it? Does the singer have a good voice? The same goes with a theme’s conversions. Who is the theme targeting? What market are you selling to? Was the theme made to be responsive and fast loading? Do you have good content to put with the theme? The answer to all of these questions will determine if a theme converts