Customizing Your WordPress Website: A Beginner’s Guide to Themes and Plugins

WordPress reigns as the backbone of over 43% of websites globally (2025 report by hostinger.com). 

The increase in its popularity is because of its flexibility, intuitiveness, scalability, and effortless customization of sites using different themes and plugins.

Customizing your WordPress theme allows you to create unique and aesthetically pleasing designs that align with your brand identity, style, value, and personality. With a well-customized site, you can stand out from the crowd and build lasting relationships with your visitors.

Here is the ultimate guide to customizing WordPress themes and the best practices to consider.

Ready? Let’s dive in.

Why Should You Customize WordPress Theme​?

Customization is an essential aspect of wordpress theme development​. It helps you build a unique website that stands out from the crowd. Here are 4 promising reasons to customize your WordPress theme -

Improved Branding

Customization lends a distinct look to your website. By leveraging custom fonts, colors, and other design elements, you can develop sites that align with your brand’s value and resonate with your target audience.

Enhanced User Experience

Theme customization enhances user experience by making navigation effortless and intuitive, allowing users to find information easily. 

Better Functionality

Your site’s functionality can be improved through customization. Custom features and plugins enable your website to align with your business needs and objectives and deliver an enhanced user experience. 

Improved Security

WordPress theme customization improves your site’s security by eliminating redundant and outdated codes and optimizing your site’s structure.

Along with the above 4, improved SEO is also one pressing reason to choose WordPress theme customization. It involves optimizing the site’s code, content, and structure to make your website SEO-enriched and improve its rankings. 

How To Customize a WordPress Website Theme?

Customizing a WordPress website theme can be a difficult task and might require the help of an experienced wordpress development company​ in New York. This section of the blog explores five effective ways you can customize your WordPress theme to your preference.

Step 1. Using the Default Theme Customizer

Default Theme Customizer can be an easy and quick way to customize your WordPress theme. To do so, follow the steps here -

• Log in to your WordPress Dashboard
• Click on the Appearance option below your active theme and then select Customize
• You will then be redirected to a screen where you can customize your theme. For example, select the homepage settings if you want to add a shop page on your homepage
• From the drop-down menu, select Shop and then Publish to set Shop as the default page

And that’s it!

You can explore other settings to customize WordPress site theme according to your liking.

Step 2. Using WordPress Full Site Editor

You can customize your WordPress using the WordPress Full Site Editor, which increases the block editing capability beyond pages and posts. With this tool, you can customize your website using blocks and access it straight from your WordPress theme.

However, not all WordPress theme supports this editing feature, and to take advantage of it, you are required to use block-compatible themes along with higher versions of WordPress (5.9 or better).

Step 3. Using Framework/Builder for WordPress Theme Customization

Some of the experienced website developers​ use a page builder to customize your WordPress theme.

• All you have to do is 
• Install your page builder
• Find the Getting Started option
• Click on Create Your First Page
• Explore the options and begin the customization

Step 4. Edit Your WordPress Theme’s Code

If you are experienced with coding, you can customize your WordPress theme by modifying its code. Alternatively, you can consider professional development services​ to edit the codes for you. 

Editing the code lends significant control over your theme and allows you to choose advanced modifications. To edit your theme code -

• Log in to your WordPress Dashboard
• Select Appearance and then click on Theme File Editor
• After the backend is displayed, make the required changes from template files, style.css,

and functions.php to your theme’s outlook. If you have in-depth knowledge of HTML, PHP, and CSS, then this process can revolutionize your customization journey. Alternatively, you can partner with a web development company​ to streamline the process. 

Step 5. Customize Using A Child Theme

A child theme is at the heart of the best practices for customizing WordPress themes. If you are well-versed in codes and aim to eliminate the risk of altering your theme directly, then a child theme is just the option for you. It can be developed manually or using a plugin, which is quicker and easier.

To create a theme with a plugin - 

• On your WordPress Dashboard, select Plugin and then click on Add New
• Locate the Child Theme Wizard plugin
• Once found, Install and Activate
• After it gets activated, it will be visible under the tools section
• Under the tools section, select the relevant theme and add the required details
• After filling in the details, click on Create Child Theme

And you have created the child theme successfully. 

By following the above 5 steps, you can easily customize your WordPress theme. Some of the web development best practices​ you can follow when customizing your theme include using version control, limiting coding modifications, and using a local development site to make the changes.

Conclusion

That’s our take on customizing WordPress themes. Implementing the best practices and following the current wordpress web development trends​ when choosing themes ensures that your website is secure, functional, relevant, and optimized.

Regularly update your themes and plugins, optimize for SEO, and maintain responsiveness to establish a professional online presence.