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Which WP Theme To Use For My New Blog?
May 25th, 2010 | Posted in Web Design.One of the first things someone thinks about when starting their own blog is how they want it to look; choosing the right template or theme for a blog is an important step! There are number of blogging platforms like WordPress, Blogger, Typepad , etc. All you need to do is a quick Google search and you can find a long list. One of the most popular and versatile is WordPress. There are literally thousands of blogs that utilize this platform. Because it’s an Open Source project, it is free of charge.
This article describes exactly how you should choose your WordPress (WP) theme. A WP theme is nothing but a piece of software used to build your blog. It gives you various options to choose from in order to make the blog look exactly how you want it to. Here are some tips that will help you decide which theme you want to pick.
1. Choose your category: Your category is a description of what you are writing about. You can use this description to target a specific audience. For example, if you want to write a blog about dogs, then your blog comes under the Pets category. Or, if you write about your children and family life, the overall category might be “Parenting”. Finding your category helps you to find the right theme and thus saving your time and energy in the process of setting it up and later correcting it. There are themes in every major category ranging from Travel to Music to Business. You can find these at the WP Theme directory and also at number of websites like Free wordpress themes, Daily Blog tips, themestudio.
2. Layouts and color schemes: There are bloggers who like to personalize their blogs by using their favorite colors. You may not be able to get an exact match to your favorite colors, but with so many themes available, there’s bound to be one that fits your desired color scheme. Again, if you get the right color at the start, you’ll save yourself time and energy later trying to modify a theme to fit your needs. But I recommend not to focus much on this aspect because it is not that difficult to change it later once you are comfortable with the code behind it. You should be concentrating on the layout of the theme better. Take some time to think about the layout that would work best for your blog. Be sure to take your time to find a layout that you like best by checking out the themes on the site. This will give you an idea of how it looks and then you can easily make a decision. There are number of layouts available, but popular are:
Single Column Layout
Two Column — one wider column and a single sidebar
Two Column — two columns of equal width with no sidebar.
You can also find layouts that are made especially for adding videos and photos. I feel you have to select a theme which you can live with it for long term as you are the one who visits your blog the most. Run some experiment pages with different themes if you want. Select a category, comment on it, and decide then if you like the way it looks. This is the best way to ensure you have the right theme. Do not see the blog theme from your own point of view but from your reader’s point of view.
3. The reason for your blog. It is essential to understand your blog’s purpose before choosing a theme. If you are going to write a blog only for you to vent out your emotions and thoughts, you do not need to give much importance to many other aspects of your blog like advertisements, widgets, etc. But if you blog to help others like this one you are presently reading, or to make money out of it, then you need to also consider few other things in addition to the above ones. You should think about whether or not you will be able to provide search engine optimization, whether or not advertisements will be supported, if you are able to use widgets like RSS feeds, Spam Protection, etc., and other things. By default when you have signed up for a Wordpress blog, you will be provided with default themes. If none of these layouts will do, you can always check out the various sites offering free WP themes. For a more professional look, services and support, you may also consider some of the paid WP theme sites.
4. Support. When choosing a theme, its important to look for one that offers support options from the author or site. I have seen many times, that the site owner from where the theme is downloaded could not able to help the user who have downloaded and used it for their blog because they are not developed by himself but somebody else and he is only promoting them. If this is the case when you need the support most, then it would lead to frustration and waste of time for you.
Want to find out more about wp themes, then visit Logan Oulman’s site on how to choose the best wp template for your needs.
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- Using A WordPress Theme That Matches Your Marketing Needs
- Create Your Own Video Wordpress Theme
- Fresh Releases Free WordPress Themes
- Photo WordPress Theme and its Contribution
- Earn More Money For Your Squeeze Theme Marketing Business with Blogging
