How to create, promote a premium WordPress theme

Select a niche

In most cases, when people look for a premium WordPress theme, they want something which is designed specifically to fit the objective of their site.

You could create a niche theme for environmental, modeling, design or photography sites. Before selecting a niche, you need to carry out some research to find out who your competition is and how much demand there is in the market.

Create an attractive theme

With the multitude of premium WordPress themes out there, you must ensure that yours stand out among the rest. This will require additional effort and creativity in your theme's design. Use compelling text and attractive images to grab the attention of your prospects.

It would also be advisable to have several design options such as different layout options or color schemes.

Use basic coding standards

WordPress offers two sets of coding standards; one for CSS, and another for PHP and HTML. When creating a theme therefore, be sure to stick to these basic standards. This will enable other WordPress developers to understand and edit your code appropriately.

Before going public with your theme, you can use a plug-in such as Theme-Check to check your code against the conventional WordPress standards.

Make it easy to customize

Many people look for a theme which they can tweak easily to suit their needs. Therefore, make sure your theme offers users sufficient customization options.

To make the theme easier to customize, you could build a theme options page which has custom templates and various short codes which users can choose from.

Include detailed documentation

It can be very frustrating for someone to buy a premium template and not have an idea of where to start from. You must therefore ensure that your theme is accompanied with proper documentation which shows users how they can setup and configure the settings. It also gives them guidelines for using the custom templates.

Market your theme

With the level of competition out there, you need to have an effective strategy for selling your theme to prospects. There are several options you could consider:

• Submit the theme to one of the many marketplaces online
  
• Market the theme yourself through your own website
  
• Create a framework which has an examples store or gallery, and then add your theme to it
  
• Submit your theme to WordPress.org

Each of these alternatives has its own advantages and disadvantages. For instance, if you decide to promote the theme yourself, it might be difficult to reach a significant audience. Though submitting to a marketplace might expose you to a larger audience, you will face a lot of competition from the other themes listed. Therefore, you need to take time to compare the different options to determine what would suit you best.

Have a plan for support

When people purchase your theme, they expect to get reliable and quick support. Offering poor support can be detrimental to your reputation as a theme developer. One of the major advantages of most theme marketplaces is that they offer an inbuilt support system. However, if you are planning to market the theme yourself, you'll need to create a support system. This means that you'll need to make time to answer customer questions and solve their problems.