Dec
How To Choose A WordPress Theme
by admin
To choose a WordPress theme for your blog is quite an important decision as it is the first thing that your visitors will see. A bad design will send visitors running despite the fact that you may have good content. A theme must satisfy several demands:
- It must be visually attractive and suit the subject of the blog.
- It must be SEO (Search Engine Optimized, so that the spiders can index your pages.
- It should be widget friendly.
- It should have the needed templates included. For example 404, archives etc.
- Optionally, it should have builtin support for some of the more popular plugins to ease customization.
To fullfill these demands you have a number of choices:
Designer Themes
First of all, the downside to this is that it will cost you. But to offset that there are many reasons for going this route:
- It will be unique, this will help you stand out from the crowd
- It will be exactly what you want.
- The designer can offer you advice and act as a sounding board to your ideas of what you think you need.
- You should have support from the designer if anything goes wrong or you need to have the theme modified.
Commercial Themes
A commercial theme will cost money and their quality while generally high, is still available for others to purchase, so you are not unique. Most times you will have support if things go wrong.
I have noticed, from other posts, that some designers are one- trick-ponies, they have one basic layout and sell variations of that theme. When looking for a designer have a good look at their past work and checkout any client recommendations.
Free Themes
There are literally thousands of themes available. The range in quality is huge, from total crap to themes that rival or are even better than commercial themes. But how do you know which are good or bad? Because they are freely available, other sites will be sporting them as well. If you want to modify them you either have to now what you’re doing and have the tools to do it or pay someone else to do it for you.
Courtney Tuttle has recently started going through good free themes and improving their SEO qualities. You can find them at SEO WordPress Themes, highly recommended.
DIY Themes
Probably the most time consuming way of getting a theme and you need to know xhtml, css and php as well as being graphically creative with PhotoShop or the Gimp. But you have the satisfaction of building it yourself and it is exactly what you want. Also, if you want to modify the theme, it will be easier because you designed it.
This is the path that I took, I completed the basic layout in a day and then spent a couple of days fine-tuning for plugins. It is not rocket-science as long as you approach it methodically and I shall be running a series on it in the not to distant future.
So, how are you going to choose a WordPress theme for your blog? If you are in a rush for a custom design and can’t find a designer contact me. Whatever you decide, take your time in picking which path you take and what you want the theme to look like.
Tags: blog, seo, theme, wordpress, wordpress theme
Category wordpress |
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How To Choose A WordPress Theme | CK Marketing…
There are many ways to choose a wordpress theme and there are many sources where you can obtain them. Choosing the right theme for your blog can be difficult, it must suit the subject matter of the blog, it must be seo (search engine optimized) and it …
No matter what blogging system you are running choosing the right theme is a dig deal. You do leave out how easy it is to modify a free theme though.
Most Free Themes can be modified just by changing around a few numbers or pictures. It is also a great way to learn how to make your own someday. Learn by Example.
Cameron
Blog theme is just like cover on your book.
This is first impression that people will judge you when 1st visit on your blog.
Thanks for your sharing on choosing the blog theme.
I, myself still need to improve my own bog theme.
Kent
Very informative post. I myself have decided to use a free theme since I am new to blogging. Once I become more experienced and gain more readers, I will then look into a designer theme that fits my needs better.
I am really impressed with your blog’s appearance and layout. Out of all the themes you mentioned in your post, which type did you use?
@Cameron: I have to leave something so you guys can shine
@Kent: So right, your theme is your calling card, if you need help with your theme contact me.
@reno: Thank you Reno
I built the theme from scratch, took a day to put it together, but I’m continually tweeking it, next I want to widen it so there’s more space in the content area for images and vids.
Colin King’s last blog post..How To Choose A WordPress Theme
COLIN: This provides sound advice for people looking for new themes (like me). I want to set up a niche blog and have just started searching for free themes. I’m definitely looking for SEO themes but I can’t tell an SEO theme from a non-SEO theme.
I’m looking forward to your DIY series. Good post.
Thanks for this…..I am guilty of sticking with the same theme for different blogs and just changing the header graphic! Not imaginative I know. Some good ideas here. I’m grateful
@Dee: At least you chose a decent looking theme, the header image suits the page.
@Chanya: That’s the problem, you need to look at the code, then what plugins/widgets are used and finally how you write the posts. You can trust the themes in the link in the post. They are good themes that Court has cleaned up. In the DIY series I will be covering these topics, not just how to, but why as well.
Colin King’s last blog post..How To Choose A WordPress Theme
Thanks for this, I’m in the middle of switching over to Wordpress, and was looking for some themes. I finally got my hosting, so now its theme/plugin search + installation =P.
I choose the best themes I can find in wordpress. What are your thoughts about changing themes every few months? I see blogs out there that change their themes like underwear. Is that a good idea or not?
@Mitch: Good, you will find the independance liberating
@Debo: It is not good to change themes too often, visitors don’t like change (unless it is an improvement) and I’ve heard it does have an effect on your ranking. Essentially, the theme is an extension of you, much like your writing style. Your blog attracts people that like that. If you change either then you run the risk of losing them. Of course you will attract visitors that like the “new” blog but that takes time. Doing this often will not do any good for sustaining visitor levels. When you do change themes, it is wise to have a post about it with a screen-shot of the old theme so that visitors can mentally change themes as well.
As an amateur blogger, I’ll start with the free themes for now. If I decide to pursue blogging more passionately, I will definitely be contacting you for some advise. Thanks for the information!
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Choosing the right theme for your site is imperative if you want to build traffic. There are so many sites wherein the author is picking what he/she thinks is cool - but might turn viewers off. Clean and simple is the way to go - just my opinion.
@Susan: At least you chose a clean theme
One thing I would look at is about 1/2 way down, the “create your Zwinky” image is covering about a cm (1/2 inch) of the right column. It takes a while to load because of the visitor widgets in the left column.
@Mani: No matter what design you choose you will put off some people, that’s life. The “trick” is to have a theme that attracts the kind of people that you want as visitors and/or customers. As a blog is essentially a conversation you want them to be on the same wavelength as you. In the past I have designed sites that I would never have, but they were totally suited to the client and their visitors.
Colin King’s last blog post..The EntreCard Meme
Colin, hope this helps…
101 SEO Friendly Wordpress Themes
Sam
@Sam: Much appreciated, thx.
Colin King’s last blog post..How To Find The Missing Link
Hi,
Thanks for sharing this. I’m always in search of that perfect theme, problem being that I don’t really know exactly what I want, I just know that when I see it I’ll know :). I’ve taken to slowly learning how to modify free themes in the hopes that one day I’ll have enough knowledge (and courage) to take that step and maybe create my own.
@Vanessa: Have a look around at other sites and jot down the ones you like and why. After a couple of weeks, examine the list and see if there’s anything that keeps cropping up.
Colin King’s last blog post..How To Get Started Creating Web Pages