As one of the best blogging platforms of today, more and more people are looking into WordPress to jumpstart their blogging careers or set up their websites. If you are looking for the best WordPress theme for your website in 2020, this article will help you decide on which one is best for you.
What to Look for In Your Ideal Theme?
But, before we delve into the specifics of each article, we will look at the factors that you need to consider when choosing your theme first. We will be looking into these factors when deciding which among the 2020 WordPress themes are the best.
Design and Customization
The design of your website can significantly affect the traffic on your site. That is why you should select a theme that is simple and clear. The moment people visit your site, they must not find it challenging to navigate. The widgets should also be appropriate. Try to avoid overcrowding your site with widgets.
You must also pay attention to the color palette you use. Most people do not like bright backgrounds. Most of the top-earning sites have white backgrounds. You can add in pops of color in the headers and bars, but stick to eye-friendly colors as possible. Try to avoid superfluous fonts as well. Match your font styles to the content of your website.
Performance
The second thing that you need to look up is performance. To ensure that your site performs well, the theme you choose must have a good code quality. If your chosen theme has poor code quality, it can increase lagging, saturate the junk in your database, and even risk the security to hackers.
However, it can be quite tedious to check every single file and code that comes with the theme. So, you can do three things. First, you can use a theme checking plug-in such as Theme Check to scan the code quality of your chosen theme.
Second, you can select to use themes from reputable providers only. Checkout shops that provide premium themes and have an established reputation. But because they are premium themes, they can cost some money. If you opt for something free, then you can for the third option.
The third option is to check the download count. The second option works best if you are on a tight budget and only wish to use free themes. Checking out the rating along with the download count is also a boost. Try to choose themes have that have at least 10,000 downloads and a rating of about 4.5.
Responsiveness
Before, using responsive themes for your website is mostly optional. However, today that is no longer so. If you want your site to do well among the many competitors there, it is a must that you get a responsive theme.
Responsive themes can adjust their layout to match the viewing screen of the visitors. It means that regardless of whether your visitors are using their phones, tablets, laptops, or desktop monitors, they can still see your website well.
Many people these days use their phones to view websites. If your theme is not responsive to mobile screens, then you will lose a chance to gain a significant amount of traffic.
To test your chosen themes, mobile responsiveness, you can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Simply copy the themes demo URL and check it through the testing page.
Plug-in Compatibility
The next thing you need to check is plug-in compatibility. The WordPress theme that you will choose must be compatible with many plug-ins. There are plug-ins to manage social media, payment, SEO, traffic, emails, and more. At a minimum, your chosen theme must be compatible with the basic WordPress, as well as must-have, plug-ins like Yoast SEO, and others.
SEO-Friendly
Another essential factor to consider is SEO-Friendliness. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is vital if you want to rank your site on Google. That is why your chosen theme must be SEO-friendly. Remember that most of the people who need to find or purchase something online often uses the Google search engine, and Google uses SEO as one of its references to rank your site.
Although you can optimize the content of your website to match SEO standards, the coded HTML of the theme must also be SEO-friendly. A theme can look good but maybe poorly optimized. Check the features of the theme and make sure that SEO-friendly is one of them.
Support
When you choose a theme, you need to make sure that it comes with updates and support, especially premium themes. Having a support system in place for the theme can help you fix problems when they occur.
Most theme shops and companies have forums with questions and answers related to the themes. Your chosen theme must have complete documentation. Some come with chat and email support.
Multilingual Ready
The last factor that you need to consider is multilingual compatibility. Your theme must be translation ready. There are a lot of WordPress themes out there that are not in English. That is why you must make sure that the theme is compatible with translation and multilingual plug-ins if they do not come with those.
Top 6 Best WordPress Themes for 2020
Considering the factors that we mentioned, it is time to meet the top 6 WordPress themes for 2020 that are the best in the market today.
1. Avada
If you are looking for a WordPress theme that works great for either a regular or an e-commerce site, then the Avada Website Builder takes the cake. This WordPress theme has topped the selling list this year based on its over 600,000 users.
Design and Customization
Avada comes with a clean, multi-purpose, and modern design that can cater to any website that you want. The interface is easily customizable with its drag and drops feature. It is especially great for those who love to customize their site but know only a little about the coding part. There are also demos readily available that have one-click installations for those who just want to run their website as convenient as possible.
Performance
The Avada theme adheres to the coding standards of PHP and WordPress, so you can be sure that it will run smoothly. It also packs with enhanced features that improve loading speed, browser compatibility, fixes, and more.
Responsiveness
The Avada theme is responsive to mobile and tablet settings. It can adjust the layout according to the viewing screen. The theme also has an image management system that can customize the image set up, so it automatically adjusts to the viewing conditions. It quickly generates the best image to fit the situation.
Plug-in Compatibility
The theme is compatible with most WordPress plug-ins as well as many third-party plug-ins. Aside from that, the Avada theme is also compatible with the main internet browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer 9, 10, 11, and more. There is also integration compatibility with WooCommerce, which makes it easier for you to customize and add e-commerce plug-ins in your site.
SEO-Friendly
If your primary concern is SEO compatibility, then you do not have to worry about Avada. The theme is 100% optimized for SEO. Hence, you do not have to worry about whether Google will be able to detect your site when you publish it.
Support
The customer support for Avada is top-rated for its fast and efficient service. There are regular updates available, and new developments are also ongoing. It means that with this theme, your website will not stagnate in terms of new versions and new features. There is a ticket system in place for inquiries that directly links to the technical support theme. For those who like to do their troubleshooting, there are many video tutorials you can use as a reference.
Multilingual Ready
You do not worry whether your site is accessible, both English and non-English speakers, because the theme is translation ready. It is translatable to over 30 languages and comes with a built-in RTL support. There is also the Polyang Support and WPML plug-in. File extensions ending in .po and .mo are also compatible.
2. Divi
Another theme that you can consider for your website is Divi. Divi is an all-around theme that is great for multiple purposes. Whether you want to launch your company website, your online store, or your blog, this theme can offer you what you need.
Design and Customization
Divi’s design has a complete framework that gives you the freedom to choose the layout, color, font, shapes, and more you want to have. The interface is fluid and crisp. With this, you will be able to build your site from the ground up ultimately. But, one-click installation is also available with a predetermined setup. If you are looking for convenience, then that feature will do wonders. The stock layout is also completely customizable.
Performance
A good theme provides excellent performance for the website. With Divi, you will get not just convenience but outstanding performance. The theme follows the WordPress and PHP standards and comes with advanced code editing using an integrated code editor. The editor has full features that can help you enter codes with must ease. You can also add custom CSS or your codes on top of the pre-existing ones.
Responsiveness
Since responsiveness is a vital trait that themes must possess these days, Divi has it in spades. The whole framework, layout, images, and styles are highly responsive. They can easily adjust with the screen that your visitors are using to ensure that the website renders with the best quality possible.
Plug-in Compatibility
The Divi theme is compatible with WordPress plug-ins as well as third-party plug-ins. It is especially important if you plan to launch your business online. Plug-ins for checkout, payment, support, emails, and social media are some of the essential plug-ins that you need to make sure that your chosen theme can run.
SEO-Friendly
Since search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential factor that can affect your websites ranking in search engines, especially with Google, your chosen them must be SEO-friendly. The Divi theme optimization meets the SEO standards. Pair it with relevant plug-ins like Yoast SEO, and your website is ready. All you need to mind now is the content.
Support
With the Divi Support Center, you will be able to find solutions that problems in your site. There is also a system status check that you can use to fine-tune your site. There is a technical support team that is ready to answer your inquiries as well as comprehensive documentation.
Multilingual Ready
Since the internet is a global community, your website must meet this standard. Divi can translate into over 30 languages via its localization management system. There is a built-in RTL mode that automatically reflects on your website once you enable RTL in your WordPress Dashboard.
3. Flatsome
The third theme in this list that you need to consider for your website is Flatsome. Flatsome’s design is suitable for company websites, online shops, and business pages. If your site inclines around these types, then Flatsome is a good option.
Design and Customization
Flatsome’s design packs both simplicity and user convenience in one package. The built-in UX builder works well with the block editor of WordPress. You can quickly build and customize your site in a jiffy with the drag and drop option. There is the element library with an extensive collection of items for your website. It makes the design entirely at your disposal. There is also a one-click demo available if you want to launch your site with as little hassle as possible.
Performance
Flatsome follows WordPress and PHP standards, as well as optimized codes. Because the codes are not bulky, it makes the interface not just user-friendly but fast as well. This optimization and fast speed are crucial factors needed to ensure that your website can load fast and do not lag. It also helps keep things clean and simple because you will not have to add more plug-ins.
Responsiveness
Along with the optimized codes, the Flatsome theme is also mobile-friendly. Many users today use their phones to view websites, so it is only imperative that your site should even go along with the trend. With a responsive theme, you can ensure that your site will load accordingly, no matter the viewing screen.
Plug-in Compatibility
Plug-ins are essential components of any website. Plug-ins not only help in improving the performance of a site, but it also helps add features that can enhance your site. The design of Flatsome design is compatible with many plug-ins by WordPress and third-party providers.
SEO-Friendly
To land your site in top searches in Google, SEO is an essential factor. If your site is not SEO-friendly, you will find it difficult to rank high in Google searches. Many websites rely on SEO content to do the job. But optimizing your content is only a portion of the situation. It is more important to make sure that the theme that you are using for your site is also SEO-friendly. Flatsome has this feature covered well.
Support
Flatsome comes with comprehensive documentation, technical support, and other support functions. It means that you have access to solutions for things that need fixing for your theme. The theme also comes with regular updates to keep up with new versions of WordPress and WooCommerce when they arrive.
Multilingual Ready
Flatsome already has translations in over 12 languages. It also comes with a built-in RTL feature as well as WPML support. It can significantly help your visitors who are not English speakers to understand your site despite the language disparity.
4. BeTheme
Another great theme to consider is BeTheme. The new BeTheme is well-known for being lightweight at only 6 MB. That is a considerable improvement from the old version, which is bulkier at 31 MB. If you are looking for a light theme for your company website or blog, then consider getting BeTheme.
Design and Customization
The design of BeTheme is simple and clear, but still eye-catching. There is an Auto Revolution Slider available that comes with pre-built one-click installation websites for more convenience. However, if you want to customize your site layout and design according to your needs, you can do that too via the Muffin Builder. There is also a shortcode generator that you can use to build pages quickly.
Performance
BeTheme also prides over its optimization to the latest WordPress and PHP standards as well as speed in mind. There is also image optimization that helps the site launch faster, especially if your site is image-heavy. You do not have to worry about your site crashing because of coding incompatibility, or lagging due to its bulky content. The theme comes with custom CSS and JS options that keep the core theme safe from sudden modifications that can affect your site performance.
Responsiveness
With its built-in optimization and adaptability features, BeTheme is highly responsive. It can easily adjust to whether your users use a phone, tab, pc, or laptop when visiting your site. It is also highly responsive and compatible with all browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, and more.
Plug-in Compatibility
So that you can add in more features to your site, BeTheme has high compatibility to many WordPress plug-ins, as well as plug-ins from external providers.
SEO-Friendly
The BeTheme adheres to the best SEO practices that will be of great help if you want your site to rank in Google. And since the theme is compatible with many plug-ins, you can even further improve your site’s SEO compatibility by installing SEO plug-ins like Yoast SEO or All-in-One SEO.
Support
BeTheme comes with an easy one-click update that does not add-in on the bulk as it does not come with additional plug-ins. But there are premium plug-in updates available as well. The technical support service is available in case of questions via tickets. There are also video tutorials available.
Multilingual Ready
The built-in translator that comes with the theme helps your visitors access and understand your site even if they are not English speakers or readers. Using the translator, you can easily convert your website from one language to another, but if you want to make it automatically multilingual, then installing a WPML plug-in will do just fine for that.
5. Impreza
Impreza is one of the top sellers in the market for 2020 themes today. It is an excellent choice for personal blogs, online portfolios, business page, online store, and more. If you want a theme that can cater to virtually any type of website you want, then Impreza is one of the themes that you need to look up.
Design and Customization
Impreza is well-known for its grid and header builder. If you want full customization in your Impreza theme, then these two, along with the built-in page builder and elements will be essential tools for you. There are plenty of pre-made designs available with one-click installation. There is also a bonus GDPR compliance checkboxes and bars.
Performance
Impreza has an outstanding speed performance. The theme has full optimization for speed. There is adaptive imaging as well as a lazy load to ensure that the essential details content your site will always load fast regardless of how image bulk you have. All coding standards for WordPress and PHP are in place, along with a JS / CSS size picker.
Responsiveness
Mobile phones cover a large part of internet viewing patterns these days. That is why the Impreza theme is mobile-friendly with layouts that can quickly adapt to the screen that people who visit your site use.
Plug-in Compatibility
Plug-ins are essential components of any website. That is why Impreza is also highly plug-in compatible. The theme supports many of the top WordPress plug-ins out there, such as Contact Form 7, WooCommerce, Updraft, Events, Yoast SEO, and more. It also supports third-party plug-ins as well.
SEO-Friendly
With the built-in Yoast SEO plug-in support and a schema markup support, using the theme can help your site rank higher in Google searches. These will also help gather more organic traffic to your site to boost your rank even higher.
Support
The Impreza theme comes with illustrated guides and will soon add in video guides as well. These will help you fix up minor troubles yourself. But when things get too tight, the technical quality support service will be able to tackle the issue for you. The theme also comes with lifetime updates, so you can be sure that your site can keep up with new versions and features available.
Multilingual Ready
Impreza is 100% translatable and multilingual ready with its built-in native RTL support. There is also a built-in WPML support. So, if you want a theme that is language flexible, then Impreza is an excellent candidate to consider.
6. Bridge
The last in this list that you can consider for your site is Bridge. Bridge is a flexible theme that comes with a comprehensive package of features that can adapt to whichever purpose you want for your website.
Design and Customization
If you want a website that has full customization capability with a chic design, then Bridge is a good choice. Bridge comes with many features that can help you customize your sites such as ajax transitions, infographic elements, page builder elements, and more. There over 500 one-click demos available to choose from, so you can be sure that, even if you create two websites with the theme, they will not look the same.
Performance
Because of its built-in optimization and responsive features, Bridge can perform well. The codes are under the latest WordPress and PHP standards. The retina adaptation is on point, which helps images crisp. The interface is fast and can accommodate a lazy load.
Responsiveness
Bridge comes with a responsive retina design that is highly adaptive to varying viewing situations without distorting the viewing quality. It can keep you missing out on possible traffic to your site, regardless of whether your visitors are using their phones, tabs, or not.
Plug-in Compatibility
Bridge comes with a plug-in bundle and is compatible with the most popular WordPress plug-ins. It makes it easier for you to integrate favorite plug-ins like WooCommerce, Contact Form 7, Yoast SEO, and more on your site.
SEO-Friendly
If you are looking for a theme that can help rank your site in different search engines. Then using Bridge can help you there. Bridge has full search engine optimization using the best SEO practices. Here, you can easily set meta keywords and descriptions to assist in the ranking.
Support
There are step-by-step video tutorials available through their Qode Interactive channel on YouTube that will help you start with the theme or fix problems. There is also a support team available if the video tutorials are not enough. The theme also comes with an auto-update feature to keep up with new versions.
Multilingual Ready
There is a built-in WPML multilingual plug-in that can help you translate your site into multiple languages for your various visitors. The RTL language support further boosts multilingualism. If you want to translate the theme manually, you can do that because it is compatible with both .po and .mo files.
Conclusion
Regardless of which of the 6 best WordPress themes for 2020 you want to choose for your site, do not forget to consider the necessary features. Do not just rely on the design but consider the customization, plug-in compatibility, SEO, updates, ready support, and other factors we mentioned as well. You can compare which features work best for you and which do not.