One of the greatest advantages to designing a website using the WordPress platform is an endless selection of free themes. At times, however, this great variety of themes can also be intimidating. After taking the time to locate a good website hosting company that supports wordpress hosting, many webmasters spend additional hours looking though hundreds of screenshots trying to discover that perfect theme. In order to save some time the next time you go hunting for WordPress themes be sure to note these five essential ingredients that make up a great WordPress theme – for any type of website.

1. Widgets

For blogs and portal sites that aim to keep their visitors busy during each website visit, the inclusion of sidebar widgets is essential. Basic widgets include things like a calendar, time/date, and local weather reports. More advanced widgets like mini video games or a feed from a live webcam can also be dropped into the sidebar of any WordPress theme that supports the widget feature.

2. Multiple Post Formats

In order to offer a variety of content offerings not everything on a blog or website needs to be a standard post. With this in mind many WordPress themes support multiple post formats such as audio, video, image, quote, gallery, or link. Each type of format is stored in the optimal way within the WordPress site. By using different post formats for different types of content you also make it easier for your visitors to find the content they are looking for.

3. Mobile

Today’s web surfer is just as likely to visit your site using their mobile device such as an iPhone, Android smartphone or T-Mobile BlackBerry phones. In order to optimize your site’s design for these devices’ tiny screens it is suggested to choose a theme that supports output which is optimized for mobile browsers. Mobile friendly themes can automatically detect if the visitor is viewing the webpage on a phone and loads a much lighter version of the page for them increasing the chances they’ll stay on your site.

4. W3C Compliance

While this theme feature isn’t quite a sexy as the ones mentioned above it is still essential to make sure your website works for all browsers. The W3C is an organization that sets website standards and major browsers like Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Chrome all strive to implement its recommendations. With a W3C compliant theme you can be sure that your site will look the same across most browsers.

5. Wide Screen Resolution

Today’s web surfers are mostly using wide screen tablet or desktop devices. Studies show that over 90% of all internet users have a display with resolution set to 1024×768 pixels higher than 1024×768. In order to take advantage of all this screen space a good WordPress theme will need to support wide screen resolution.

This article was brought to you by Mark Thompson from the web hosting review site Businesswebhostingplans.com