There is no need to elaborate on the popularity of WordPress as this CMS is behind a lot of popular websites nowadays. WP continues to be the default choice for thousands of companies and entities seeking feature-rich, scalable and enticing websites. However, the CMS is also used by a lot of educational institutions, including schools, colleges, universities and entities imparting technical education worldwide. If you want to use WP for developing an educational website, it is commendable. However, picking the right WP theme will be necessary.
The importance of picking the right WP theme for your educational website
WordPress has a huge range of themes, and these are paid and free. For making a WP based educational website, selecting the apt theme is important. The target visitors will not like the look and feel of the site if the right theme is not applied. Imagine browsing a school or university website with colours and fonts that resemble the website of a food delivery brand! You may pick from free or paid WP themes in this regard. Of course, you will gain by seeking the services of a veteran WordPress website development company.
Things to check when looking for educational WP themes
When you look for educational WP themes, look for a few major aspects. These are:
- The first thing that you need to check is the visual elements and design of the theme. The colour palette and font styles supported by the theme have to be assessed. Some of these themes also ship with embedded animation effects.
- Another thing that you need to check is the features in the theme. Some WP educational themes are tailor-made for making school or university websites, while there are others that are ideal for making websites for offering online classes. Some themes are flexible and let you tweak the layout as per your needs. If you want to offer paid online classes online, the website must have online payment provisions. The same feature may be required for school or university websites too.
- You should choose a WP theme that is highly customizable. The customization should include nuances like visual elements and layout design, along with font selection.
- It is necessary to check the third-party component integration of the theme. For example, you may look for support for Components like WooCommerce. If it comes with a form builder component or lets you use such plug-ins, that is handy.
- The theme has to be lightweight, for sure.
- Checking the themes for user reviews and developer information will be handy.
- Choosing a theme that is SEO friendly by default is advisable.
Some WP themes are ideal for creating educational websites
The plethora of WP themes can make choosing the apt one hard for any entity. The same dilemma can arise when developing an educational website with WP.
Listed below are a few tried and tested WP themes that can be used for making educational websites.
- Astra- This theme has been chosen by several educational institutions across the world. The theme ships with many starters and demo websites, along with templates. This is a lightweight theme and is compatible with learning management systems like LearnDash. Even if you are a beginner with WP, using this theme for making an educational website will not be hard. To make the most out of the theme, you may hire a veteran WordPress web development agency. You get a lot of customization choices in it.
Astra is fast, so you can be assured of your website rendering fast on most devices and PCs. It is also compatible with WooCommerce. You get plenty of colours and typography options in it.
- MemberPress- This WP theme is ideal if you have plans to set up a WP website to offer online training courses and classes. This is something many institutes are doing these days. This can be added to an existing WP theme, which is bliss. The Course builder tool makes it easy for you to set up membership pages. You can customise aspects like membership payments, offering digital downloads etc.
- LearnPro- This is a versatile and highly customizable WP theme meant for creating educational websites. It can be used to develop websites for offline and online schools. You may utilise the theme to set up a website for offering a distance learning course. It is compatible with the WPBakery extension, so you can edit page content fast. It also works smoothly with WooCommerce and Full ContactForm 7.
- TPG University- This is an educational WP theme tailor-made for educational organisations. With this theme, developing a website for different types of educational institutions will be a cakewalk, even for first-time users. The template is adaptive, so you can be assured of the site adjusting to varying screen sizes and resolutions. There are 4 colour schemes, but you can also develop a personalised colour scheme when using this theme.
- Scholarship Pro- This premium WP theme has all features needed to develop an online portal or a school website. The layout is simple, and the templates are enticing as well. This theme has an SEO friendly design—Scholarship Pro ships with some nice animation options.
- Education Base- There are several free WP themes that you can use for making an educational website, and Education Base is a prime example. The layout and default colour scheme are engrossing enough. The full-width header layout makes the task of advertising for your school or university simple. It also supports WooCommerce and SiteBuilder.
- Education Zone- If you are looking for a minimalist but useful educational WordPress theme, picking this one will be prudent. When you use this WP theme, segregating the website homepage into some parts is easy, and that makes things better for the target visitors. It also makes it easy for visitors to connect with the website owners using social media platforms. It is an SEO optimised theme, too.
Of course, there are many more WP themes that you can use for making stunning and functional educational websites. Some of the free themes also offer useful features. If you are unsure about picking the apt one, contact agencies that offer custom WordPress development services.
Summing it up
There are plenty of themes in WP that can be used to make content-rich and visually appealing websites. Using most of these themes is straightforward, and you can manage that without being a coding expert. However, some of the themes, especially premium ones, come with a lot of features. You will gain by hiring agencies offering WordPress development services in this regard. These agencies will guide you in picking the apt theme for educational website creation. They will also assist in tweaking the chosen theme in the best way.