5 Tips for Improving WordPress Website Designs for Small Businesses

1. Themes 

The WordPress website theme you choose will represent the face of your company, so you want to select the right one.

You also want it to be able to load in various browsers and display properly on a mobile phone.

While there are free options available, you may want to invest in a paid option that has the look you want, customizable options, SEO support, browser compatibility, and mobile-friendly responsiveness. Popular themes include Divi, Ocean WP, and Astra. 

2. Compress Your Images

The size of your image files is a big factor in how fast your page loads, so compressing images can help you make your page load more quickly. Not only does speed appeal to users, but it also affects Google rankings.

Many designers use a plugin such as Smush, which compresses images automatically as you load them onto the site. This saves you the labour of having to save each one manually.

On the other hand, you need to make sure your images have a high enough resolution to make them look sharp. Low-resolution images will appear blurry or pixelated on your website.

3. Manage Comments

Comments can form an important part of your interaction with clients as you answer questions and trade ideas.

These comments can also affect your search engine optimisation since search engines crawl the comments as well as your content. Since you want to manage your comments and weed out the spam, you can go to your settings to choose whether to allow all comments or approve them one-by-one.

However, if you’re getting hundreds of comments, deleting each spam comment becomes an impossible task. In this case, you can look for an antispam plugin such as Akismet or Antispam Bee to moderate comments. 

4. Use 3rd-Party Search Engines

WordPress themes usually use the default WordPress search function.

However, third-party services usually have more reliable results.

You can install a Google search feature with the WP Google Search plugin. There are also online tutorials with instructions for installing Yahoo and Bing.

5. Create an Online Shop

If you plan to sell things on your website, you need an e-commerce plugin.

One popular plugin is WooCommerce, which allows you to list an unlimited number of products, offers features for customization, and has an extension you can use to create sponsored Facebook ads. 

Another plugin, Ecwid, has a simple interface and can be used to list your shop on any website.

If you’re selling only digital material, you can try Easy Digital Downloads, which sends your customer a link to your material after they purchase it, and allows discount codes and activity tracking.