How to choose the best Magento 2 theme for your store
Modern CMS platforms, such as Magento, allow you to create an online store in a matter of hours. Even without experience in web development, it’s not difficult to deploy your store. However, in the creation process, the question may arise — how to get Magento support services or how to choose the best Magento theme for your online store? After all, this is important because now you are selecting the “storefront” that your customers will see and interact with.
This article will briefly and essentially tell you about types of Magento 2 themes, their must-have features, and demonstrate some popular Magento themes.
Crucial features for Magento e-commerce themes
When choosing a Magento e-commerce theme, you should consider several factors to get an effective and profitable online store.
Great user experience
Magento stores must combine two qualities at once: a visual-pleasant interface, convenient for users as much as possible. The theme should be such that customers spend a minimum of effort to perform the target action, whether a purchase or a request for a callback. However, if the Magento design template is user-friendly and beautiful but has performance issues, it is better to abandon it.
Bottom line, choosing a Magento theme must necessarily contain:
- Straightforward and intuitive site navigation
- Button to return to the home page in an obvious place
- The traditional layout of the search bar and shopping icons
Match with your business
During the creation process, you need to choose a theme and layout that stylistically suits your business. In simple words, you have to choose between a standard design, which is universal, and a trendy, niche-oriented design. For example, if you sell computer hardware, a traditional design will go well with your product. If you sell brand clothing, it is better to use thematic templates to stand out against the competition.
Proper placement of promotions and banners
Choose themes with intelligently placed ad units and banners in terms of UX. A sliding or rotating banner is the best option here. It’s efficient for delivering information to users. Moreover, it does not irritate and distract from viewing the main content. Magento 2 templates, which do not provide a place for a banner or advertising slider a priori, can not be good and just limit your business opportunities.
Extensive customization options
Choose themes with flexible configuration. Even if you are implementing a template designed specifically for your type of business, then there is a chance that it will not ideally suit your business processes. In addition, visual or functional trends are changing at an incredible rate. Your site should be easily customizable without involving developers, so you can stay on top of the wave.
Cross-browser compatibility
Ensure that the theme you have chosen for your online store is displayed correctly and works in all browsers. Otherwise, you can lose part of the customer base that prefers a specific browser, negatively affecting your income and reputation. The client will not try to enter through another software, being sure that this is a global problem of the site.
Responsive design
Nowadays, it’s mobile traffic that makes up the majority of overall Internet traffic. This is the reason why it is essential to ensure that users visiting your site from a smartphone or tablet get a great user experience as if they were accessing the site from a personal computer.
SEO optimization
As a general rule, most Magento themes are SEO-friendly. However, it is better to ensure that the site meets all SEO requirements and search engine criteria.
High site performance
This factor is essential for several reasons at once. The first is that search engines track page load speed and take these results into account when ranking a page in search results. A slow site will never be at the top. The second reason — modern users are accustomed to the fact that the page loads in seconds. If that doesn’t happen, they usually go to another resource. The problem of poor speed often occurs because of the large number of heavy images and the overload of various additional functions. Pay attention to these points when choosing and customizing a theme.
Built-in blog
You need a blog for two reasons. The first reason is the regular publication of exciting and valuable content on the site helps to improve its ranking in search results. The second reason is that you will be able to attract people to your site through this section who are looking for information related to the topic of your business.
Types of Magento themes
Magento themes can be divided into two types: ready-made and custom.
You can purchase ready-made themes on particular marketplaces such as Themeforest or the official Magento Marketplace and others. Currently, the number of available themes is in the thousands, which allows you to find a template for any type of business. At the same time, it can confuse those who have no experience in this area. You don’t need any special knowledge to install such a theme. However, it may require updating and customization for the needs of a particular business that you cannot do without experts. Their main problem is the lack of uniqueness. How can your website attract buyers with its design when it is used all over the place?
Custom Magento 2 theme development solutions address this issue. You can create a unique design to stand out from the competition and increase brand awareness. In addition, the development of the theme by qualified professionals guarantees the presence of all the main features outlined above.
Pros and cons of custom Magento 2 theme development
Magento 2 theme development gives you complete freedom to create innovative and unique features that turnkey solutions offer. The only thing that can limit you is time, technical characteristics of some technologies, and sometimes your budget.
However, it also has positive and negative sides.
Advantages
Inimitable Website Design
If off-the-shelf themes fully met the needs of a business, there would be no need for custom themes. However, in addition to the functional component for the company’s success, it is also essential to stand out from the rest. Custom themes can make your site different, add unique features and capabilities that no one else has. Often it seems minor changes from the canon turn into a competitive advantage that disrupts the market and becomes a trend.
The Most Optimized Feature Set and Design
When creating a custom theme, you can incorporate the necessary set of features by eliminating everything unnecessary. Such a solution contributes to site speed and performance increases. The same is with the design — when creating from scratch, you can think about the visual elements. For example, you use a Magento enterprise theme. However, all realizations of the shopping cart don’t suit your ideas on how to promote a product. Custom theme smoothly solves this issue.
Guaranteed SEO-friendly Сode
If you are not an expert, it’s difficult to determine whether a theme from the marketplace is SEO-optimized. Suppose we are talking about custom development, and you have applied to highly qualified professionals. In that case, you can be sure of high-quality code and SEO friendliness. The growth of the site’s income is directly proportional to its ranking in search engines.
Disadvantages of Custom Magento E-Commerce Themes
There are two related drawbacks to custom Magento 2 templates. This is a longer development time for the site and a higher price, respectively. When you use ready-made templates, you just need to install and customize them. Custom, in turn, first requires the development of a design, its implementation, and only after that deployment on the site.
Top Magento 2 themes
Here are a few examples of the most Magento 2 themes
Porto
Source: ThemeForest
- Compatibility with the latest Magento extensions
- Advanced control panel
- Extensive library of layouts
- More than 20,000 users worldwide
- Professional support
Sahara
Source: ThemeForest
- Megastore Magento theme
- Easy to customize
- Feature-reach
- compatible with most popular browsers
Summary
The Magento platform has a phenomenal ability to customize. If you’ve chosen to open your online store, you’re not mistaken. As for the Magento design templates, we recommend using ready-made themes for small businesses that try themselves on the market.
However, suppose you plan to open an online supermarket with tens of thousands of products and as many users. In that case, we recommend creating the theme from scratch to build the brand at once. IT Delight specialists are ready to help you with any questions related to Magento services and development. Feel free to contact us.
