A theme is everything that contributes to the look, style and design of your site. It includes basics such as the layout, fonts and colours but can also include custom elements such as headers, sliding images and built-in homepage widgets.
While you might think of this as a being a template for your site, WordPress uses the term ‘template’ in a more specific way. A theme is responsible for all the pages and posts on your site, but a template is a layout within that theme for a particular page or group of pages.
Although the default theme is adequate for many purposes, you probably want certain features for your website that the default theme does not offer. Most themes – including the eight below – are available as a fully functional free version in the WordPress repository, so you can access them easily from your WordPress dashboard.
Many also offer paid-for premium versions with extra features and functionality, and you’ll see the extras on offer when you visit the sites we’ve linked to below.
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Shapely
Get Shapely
Shapely is a great one-page theme for business, ecommerce or portfolio websites with numerous customisations available. The built-in homepage widgets enable you to add products and services, testimonials, portfolios, or contact forms.
You can change the background, change font colours and add parallax-effect sections to your homepage. Shapely is well structured for SEO purposes and is suitable for use with all popular widgets such as Yoast, Jetpack and WooCommerce.
Storefront
Get Storefront
If you’re looking for an ecommerce theme then Storefront should be your first port of call. Storefront is the official WooCommerce theme and WooCommerce is by far the most popular ecommerce plugin for WordPress, so we recommend you check that out if you’re just setting up your first online shop. The default installation is easy to use, has a nice clean design and you can access the Storefront Powerpack for greater customisation.
Best WordPress plugins
Colormag
Get Colormag
Colormag is a highly customisable magazine theme which is ideal for displaying content and pictures on a news- and features-style site. There are five custom widgets and over 15 different widget areas as well as boxed- and wide-layout options.
The popular premium version offers multiple colour and font options, custom menus and a host of other features.
Blossom Coach
Get Blossom Coach
For professionals offering services such as life coaching, consultancy or personal training then Blossom Coach is the ideal theme. Blossom Coach has lots of brilliant design and layout options as well as a great look and feel to it.
There are numerous sidebar options, over 600 fonts to choose from and dedicated sections are available for clients, services, call out and contact form.
Construction Landing Page
Get Construction Landing Page
Construction Landing Page is suitable for many businesses but especially for trades such as building, plumbing and roofing. This lightweight, SEO-friendly theme is perfect for anyone in the construction industry is looking for prominent sections on their home page for prices, services, area covered and testimonials.
Options for call-to-action buttons and prominent enquiry forms mean that with this theme you can convert website visitors into solid leads.
GeneratePress
Get GeneratePress
GeneratePress has been downloaded over 2 million times and has established itself as one of the most popular WordPress themes. It is a fast, lightweight theme and is compatible with major page builders such as Beaver Builder and Elementor.
It offers 9 widget areas, 5 menu locations, 5 sidebar layouts and many more customisations. Compatible with all major plugins such as WooCommerce, GeneratePress is suitable for a wide range of websites.
Cali
Get Cali
Cali’s strong focus on visuals lends itself to use in design, fashion, lifestyle, online magazines, and travel blogs. The theme features a full width carousel to display your images on the homepage and offers MailChimp and social media integration and is WooCommerce compatible.
FotoGraphy
Get FotoGraphy
Photographers looking for a theme to display their pictures should look no further than FotoGraphy. This theme features a slider at the top of the homepage to showcase your best work, a portfolio section, service section and Instagram showcase.
There are numerous page and gallery layouts to choose from as well as sections for team members and testimonials.
And if you’re looking for somewhere to host your new website, check out the best WordPress hosting packages.
