How to Choose the Right WordPress Theme

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Choosing the right theme is extremely important. Not only is it the image that you will putting out for the world to see, it is also the vehicle that you will use to make money online. So, it needs to look good and work well.

One of the most frustrating and time consuming tasks in building a new WordPress blog can be modifying a theme especially, if you’re not an HTML “whiz”. Therefore, when I am choosing a theme for a new blog I try to find one that already contains the key components placed where I want them.

For example if I pan on using a 468 x 60 pixel banner ad in the header of my blog and a 300 x 250 pixel video in the sidebar then I try to find a theme that already has places for those key components built into the design. That is always easier than trying to fit those components in after the fact. I also choose themes that use the color scheme, or very close to the color scheme, I want to use. This means I won’t have to spend as much time editing the CSS (Cascading Style Sheet)

Here’s a good method to use when looking for the right theme for your blog. Take out a piece of paper and draw what you want your blog to look like. Make sure you include key components like ad spaces, opt-in forms, page navigation, RSS links, logo, etc… Now, search out a theme that most closely matches your drawing.

One last thing to consider when choosing a theme is that you want to make sure you choose a widget-ready or “widgetized” theme.

What are widgets?

Widgets are drag-n-drop components that you can put into your blog’s sidebar without having to know how to edit HTML. There are literally 1000’s of widgets for everything from Recent Posts, to Email Forms, to Ads and much, much more.

Premium Themes

I recommend using a Premium them for a more professional, customized look and to insure proper coding and no embedded “spam” links. I use and recommend the following premium themes. The support, coding and search engine optimization on all of the following are excellent.

Revolution Theme by Brian Gardner - This theme comes in several different styles and can be completely customized to get almost any look you want. I use it on my site and I really like it. The only down side is that it does require some coding knowledge to update even basic things like front page and sidebar content.

WP Remx - Probably the most comprehensive and customizable WordPress theme out there. It offers several different page templates for each part of the site.(i.e. Home, Content Pages, Shopping Cart, Blog, etc…) This theme can be used to build complete websites using WordPress as a content management system. Warning, this theme is not for beginners. Unless you’re comfortable with code I would not recommend this theme.

iThemes – Offers and wide selection of premium themes for all types of sites. Their WordPress install and setup videos are also excellent.

WordPress Dream Theme by Ben Cope - This is another very nice theme that can be completely customized to look more like a website than a blog. The advantage to using this theme is that it includes setup and customization.

NOTE: All of the above, with the exception of the Dream Theme and iThemes, require a good working knowledge of HTML and PHP to setup. They are also mainly used as “magazine” style themes. This is great if you want your WordPress home page to look more like a “traditional” website and less like a blog.

Free Themes

There are a lot of really nice looking free WordPress themes available online. And with some customization you may be able to find one that works for you. The problem is finding one that is coded properly. Below are three free theme sources that I trust.

• Courtney Tuttle SEO’d Themes - http://courtneytuttle.com/seo-wordpress-themes/
• Brian Gardner - The free themes are below his paid themes http://www.briangardner.com/themes
• Free WP Premium Theme

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