Finding A Theme: Why You Should Avoid the Popular Page

When looking for website themes, the popular page is often the first place we go.

It's simply human instinct to believe what works for everyone else will work for us too, right? I mean, if thousands of others like a theme, that must mean it's a good one.

Well I can see some flaws in that argument.

The idea behind the popular page is a sound one, and it seems logical to check there for the best themes. However if you had the idea of using one of those themes, it's very likely that your website will end up looking very similar to other websites.

Reference, Not Choice?

After reading my above comments, that phrase may not seem quite right to you.

Why would you even want to use the popular page as a reference if it's not a good place to select themes from?

Well the popular page is full of great themes, that's true. And each of those themes are considered popular for good reason. So I would highly recommend anyone to check out the popular page often to see what works for other people and to see what's trending.

The themes found on the popular page can give you great inspiration for new ideas as well as show you which ideas are tried and tested.

Study the themes that consistently appear on the popular page. What sets them apart? Is it merely a good color scheme, or a popular brand name?

A lot of times it's a mix of the two along with various other features, such as great forum support along with back-end user friendliness.

So, it's okay (in fact I actually encourage it) to explore the popular page and browse the various themes, yet you shouldn't often choose your theme from the popular page. But trust me, it's certainly for good reason.

Choice: What it Comes Down to

Many themes from the popular page will almost guarantee that your website will end up looking similar to thousands of other websites out there. And if a theme is built for a specific industry, you may even be building your website to look like that of a competitor's.

As a theme on the popular page is much more likely to have been chosen by others, you'll want to try and avoid them to the best of your ability.

Instead, try looking into themes that aren't used as often, and yet host the same features as those that are found on the popular page.

The popular page, while a great place to go to see what's trending and to keep up with any new developments along with some examples of what to strive for, isn't a place to choose your own theme from. Instead make it a goal to put up a theme on the popular page instead of simply using one already made popular by other people.

Have you ever found a gem by avoiding them popular themes page? Share it with us below.

And also, be sure to check out our theme directory, which is filled with the best theme vendors around.