Picking the Right WordPress Theme for Your Blog

Zac Johnson 2271 Views,
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When it comes to having a blog of your own, there are plenty of things you will need to think about. The purpose of your site is most important of course, then comes the domain name and all of the actual content and writing you will be doing for the site. Once you have all of that laid out, then you need to start thinking about how you want to have your blog to look. Fortunately, through the use of WordPress, it’s actually quite easy for you to pick and choose a design that is right for you, but with so many options out there, this can also be quite the task.

In this post we are going to break down a few of the many different ways you can play around with your blog design, and eventually come up with the perfect wordpress theme for you and your site.

Free WordPress Themes

For those of you who are just getting into blogging or simply creating a blog for a hobby or just to get something going, a free wordpress theme is a great way to start. There are plenty of web sites and directories out there that list the best free wordpress themes that you can instantly download and setup with your blog. While free wordpress themes are great, there are some disadvantages, such as being in low quality and coding, footer links and theme ownership disclaimers and little to no support if you run into any problems with a theme. As mentioned though, if you are simply blogging for fun, a free wordpress theme is the way to go. If you would like to start looking for themes for your site, the WordPress Free Themes Directory is a great place to start.

Premium WordPress Themes

premium wordpress themes

If you are looking to create a blog that is more business oriented or something you are planning to build up into an authority site and maybe try to make some money with, it’s really important to have a great design and layout. Premium themes are some of the best wordpress blog designs around. Since they are not designed exclusively for your site, they are much cheaper than getting an original and custom design, but they can still bring your blog to life and many of them offer full customization options within wordpress. Many premium wordpress themes will run from $39 to $129 per theme, or you may even come across a few membership based wordpress themes sites like ThemesForest and Elegant Themes which offer full access to all of their themes for one low monthly or annual price.

The Custom Designed Blog

Free wordpress themes are good, Premium wordpress themes are pretty cool and can get you on the right path… but having your own custom theme created for your blog is the highlight of every blogger! With your own blog theme you stand way out from the crowd and best of all, the theme is designed to fit your blog setup and how you want readers to view your content. Have your designer create your header, navigation bar, sidebar widgets and comment sections any way you like.

Deciding Which WordPress Theme is Right for You…

Using the points I listed above, take some time to decide what wordpress theme is right for you. A free theme if you are just starting out, a premium theme if you would like to have a quality design with a nice look, mobile compatible and option built interface, or go high end with your own custom theme.

I’ve personally be blogging for over 5 years now and I made the decision from day one to invest in my blog with a unique theme design. Yes, it can cost a lot of money, but it’s well worth it in the end if you are looking to create awareness and branding around your site. When looking for a designer for a unique wordpress theme, you have a ton of options. You can look around through the search engines, find a designer, look through elance.com for designers or even create a contest through design market places like 99designs. In the end it comes down to finding a quality designer than can provide the work you are looking for, while also fitting in your budget.

Zac Johnson

Zac Johnson is a online marketer with 15 years of experience and also a blogger at BloggingTips.com and ZacJohnson.com, as well as the author of Blogging Tips: Confessions of a Six Figure Blogger on Amazon.

9 thoughts on “Picking the Right WordPress Theme for Your Blog”

  • Hi Zac, for me best WordPress themes should be simple and looks proffesional, with simple navigation.
    Regards, Chris

  • I think wordpress theme based on Popular theme work like thesis and Genesis are the best as they have some very great features , BUT as it is mentioned in the article if you want your website a unique identity then must invest in its design. So in my personnel opinion it is better to get a child theme on theme framework.

  • First impression is last impression, If your visitors didn’t like your theme and design they most likely to leave your blog without reading any of your posts. This is really frustrating and can be easily taken care by using premium theme.

  • I always try to use simple themes not too much overloaded theme that slow down loading speed indeed first impression was last but quality is also meaningful specially for loading point of view.

  • I started a new Insurance blog and thinking to take it to very high level and for that only I tried to get someone who can build custom theme for me but they were very costly so I am currently using thesis theme.

  • I really like using the Genesis theme and customizing it for each site. I know how to change little things in it so that helps too.

  • Free themes for WP may be great, especially for those who are new to blogging. Paid themes such as Thesis and Genesis are much better, they may cost some money, but it will be worth it in the long run.

  • I believe that the wordpress theme should reflect what the content of your blog is about and your personality. It should be a conscious look that will achieve coherence and help you with branding as well.

  • Thank You Very Much Sir for sharing this useful article. I am a new blogger and I really need this article of selecting right wordpress theme for my blog 🙂

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