What is a Responsive Wordpress Theme and Why You Must Have One

If you are a business owner with a website you should be well aware of Wordpress. 

WHAT IS WORDPRESS

Wordpress is a software program released in 2003 originally developed to free blogs with ease. 

With it's simplicity and CMS (content management system which enables you to make changes online rather than having to uploading new website files to a server via FTP) Wordpress proved so popular that as of December 2011 it was reported 65 million users had downloaded Wordpress. This popularity only drove Wordpress Developers to improve the program with updates increasing the functionality of the software; so much so Wordpress is the quietly preferred website platform of Google.

WHY IS WORDPRESS SO POPULAR

One of the reasons Wordpress is so popular is that in it's purest form (set up via wordpress.com or.org),  Wordpress is a ready to use program with over 40,000 different template themes available to design yourself a simple yet effective website. 

However, web developers will tell you not to create your site via wordpress.com. The reason? One of the greatest developments for Wordpress is not actually available for installation at wordpress.com. This is the Plugin. Due to the security risks of some plugins, wordpress.com will not allow them to be installed on their server. Therefore you must house your Wordpress website on a host server.

WHAT IS A WORDPRESS PLUGIN

A Plugin is defined as a software component that adds specific ability to a larger program. In other words, a plugin is a software extension you can add to Wordpress that increases the functions available on your website. For example, a plugin we regularly use at Small Business Gurus when developing websites is the 'Disable Comments' plugin. As we do not want our websites to look like a blog (the natural format your wordpress design will resemble), we install the 'Disable Comments' plugin which removes the ability for your visitors to leave comments on your website, hence looking more like a website than a blog.

WHAT IS A WORDPRESS THEME

A Wordpress Theme is simply a template you install to Wordpress that defines the design of your Wordpress website. 

The significance of the wordpress theme is not simply the design, but what you can customise within the theme without having coding knowledge. Many themes will allow you to easily change colours, headers, backgrounds and fonts, others will not so you must find a plugin to assist you (or have the coding ability to make changes).

Each year, in fact each day, brings a new Wordpress Theme with more flexibility. The most recent and now the most necessary of themes, is the Responsive Wordpress Theme. Simply, if you do have a Wordpress website you should consider upgrading to this theme, or if contemplating a new website, insist on the Responsive theme.

THE RESPONSIVE WORDPRESS THEME

Although there are some outstanding wordpress themes available, one of the complaints from web designers has been that the website size does not fit the width of the browser. This can, of course, be fixed with coding changes. However, now with the popularity of Notebooks, iPads, Tablets and Mobile Phones, the browser issue has become one of greater importance.

Business owners have lost visitors in droves, and business leads, having websites that are incompatible with all browser types. What may look great on a desktop monitor (1024 x 768 is now used by a mere 9% of users, most website visitors have larger screens these days), may not convert well to a mobile phone. The Responsive Wordpress Theme changes that.

The Responsive Wordpress Theme enables your website to naturally adapt to the size of the browser it is being viewed on. You may have been told by your web developer your website fits all browsers, I urge you to check this for yourself. Many of our clients have thought this then come to us as when viewed on a small device, sections jump all over the place and links cannot be clicked on successfully. With a Responsive Wordpress Theme this issue is no longer. If your business website matters, the Responsive Wordpress Theme is for you.

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If your wordpress website is due for an upgrade or you do not have a website, ensure you insist on a Wordpress Website with a Responsive Theme. Cost effective and browser compatible (and I highly recommend you check out Small Business Gurus to build it for you).