8 Free WordPress Templates for Small Businesses

There are thousands of free WordPress templates.  This presents a challenge for business owners. Every template has it’s own set of options and settings and you never know what you’ll be able to change until you start using it.

I spent some time trying out a variety of free WordPress themes and I played with their settings and options.  Many didn’t make the cut as they lacked essentials like the ability to add a company logo in the header.

This article attempts to cut through the confusing marketing lingo used to describe WordPress themes to get to the heart of matters so you can choose the right theme for your business.

Free WordPress themes recommended for business

Amadeus

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I was pretty impressed with Amadeus.  It has a good set of features and options.  It supplied lots of color settings and the ability choose your own fonts (though doing so is a little complicated).

The logo is centered in the header which is nice when you want to give your logo prominence within the design and worked well with both  wide and tall logos.

Highlights

• Logo Support
  • Works well with tall and wide logos
• Custom Fonts (but it’s a little tricky)
• Robust color options
• Footer widget areas
• Full Image background support
• Lots of blog options

Pro Blogg

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Pro Blogg also puts your logo large at the top of the page.  It didn’t have as many features as Amadeus but the setup was easier.  Adding social media icons was especially easy.  Just type in your links for Facebook, Twitter, etc. and the icons automatically appeared at the top of the page.

Highlights

• Logo Support (works with wide or square logos)
  • Logo is large and centered
• Easy social media icon support
• Minimal color options (background only)
• Full Image background support

Leeway

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Leeway  is a solid theme with a bold color-scheme.  It’s layout is clean but not boring.  It’s great for blogging, any athletic teams, or companies that use red as part of their branding.  It also had social media support, though it wasn’t as easy to use as Pro Blogg.

Highlights

• Logo support (works best with wide-set logos)
• Left or right sidebar options
• Social Media Icon Support (somewhat tricky)
• Full Image background support

MH Magazine Lite

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MH Magazine Lite is a no-fuss minimalist theme.  Out of the box it looks like this.  But it works. And it doesn’t need a lot of bells and whistles to do its job.  Red bars add a touch of style without being overbearing.   It has logo support, though taller logos tended to create some awkward spacing in the header.

Highlights

• Logo support (best for wide logos)
  • Show Logo alone or with title and tagline
• Minimal color options

Switty

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Switty features a sticky header (the kind that follows you as you scroll) and a large header image.  Since the sticky header scrolls down the page with you, it’s important that your logo isn’t too large (which you’ll need to take care of yourself). The “header image”  is easy to change so it’s a good choice if you want to display a large photo of your product at the top of the page.

Highlights

• Logo support (best with wide-set logos)
  • You can adjust the Logo Size Options
• Sticky header (scrolls down the page with you)
• Large header Image Support
• Minimal color options (background only)
• Full Image background support

Louelle

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This no-fuss theme boasts fast page loads and a simple clean layout.  Its simple to setup as long as you don’t need lots of customization.   Choose this theme if you value speed over features.

Highlights

• Logo support (best with wide-set logos)
• Minimal color options (background only)
• Full Image background support

Spa and Salon

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I saw some bad reviews for this theme, but most of those seemed too be complaining about the paid version.  Overall this theme looked nice and worked well.  It looks like this out of the box so it’s versatile  enough to be used for a variety of industries.  It also had support for adding a phone number to the header (which was surprisingly uncommon in the templates I tested).

Highlights

• Logo Support (tall or wide)
  • Logo is centered
• Phone Number in Header
• Easy Social Media Icon support
• Testimonial section
• Featured Posts support
• Minimal color options (background only)
• Full Image background support

Media Phase Lite

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Media Phase Lite has a ton options for making a custom homepage.   It was fancier than most of the free templates I tested, reminding me of premium themes I’ve used in the past.  The setup might feel overwhelming for less-experienced WordPress users, but shouldn’t be a major barrier for anyone willing to do a little reading or experimenting.

Highlights

• Logo Support (works well with most logos)
• Phone Number and email in Header
• Full Width layout option
• Lots of fancy Homepage options
  • Main Features section
  • Meet The Team section
  • Latest News section
  • Homepage elements are actually widgets
• Custom Font Options

This list is far from comprehensive.  Do you have any favorite themes you think should be added?  Let us know in the comments below.