Word Press
There are many, many excellent free WordPress themes. In fact, some of the designers of the very best premium themes, like Chris Pearson and Brian Gardner, also offer free themes. Then there are the free themes from designers like Sadish Bala, who offer top-notch free themes and support as well as a few premium themes.
If you are a beginning blogger, without a technical background and no design to code rather than write, it is hard to see how you could go wrong with free themes from any of these designers. This blog currently uses Sadish Bala’s Paalam theme, which I’ve also installed for several other bloggers, including Cindy Shebley’s PhotoWalks Today. Sadish Bala’s Misty Look is also tremendously popular.
Chris Pearson’s Cutline is not only clean and well-coded, it is a great theme for anyone who likes to customize the look of their blog. Chris has precise, easy to follow directions right on the theme’s demo for those who can’t wait to start changing things around.
Why Pay If Free Is So Good?
With so much great stuff available for free, why would you pay for a theme?
One advantage to a premium theme is the look. Brian Gardner’s Revolution Magazine theme, used for Ghost Leg’s monthly magazine, delivers an extremely professional looking site with flexible content management. Pearson’s Thesis theme has beautiful typography, far beyond the run of the mill blog style.
Even more important than the look is the optimization. The best premium themes are designed with an eye to maximum SEO. multimedia presentations, and great support. If you want your blog to stand out from the crowd and you want to gain instant credibility, you can’t go wrong with a premium theme from designers like Gardner or Pearson.
(I’m most familiar with Gardner and Pearson. I love their work. But there are other terrific premium theme designers as well. Do some sleuthing before you decide on any one premium theme.)
Is It All Good?
Custom coding of WordPress themes has become a lucrative cottage industry. Like any other group, custom theme designers run the gamut from ace professionals to beginners with dollar signs in their eyes. I’ve encountered several themes from large template resellers that look good but behave badly. That’s annoying. But worse, they offer no support at all. If you buy a buggy theme from a template warehouse, well - tough - you’ve bought a buggy theme.
My advice?
Buy from the creator. Google the theme before you buy. Check the specs, check the designer’s reputation, look for sites that use the theme.
If you do your homework between the time you fall in love with a theme and the time you pull out your credit card, you can spend your time writing instead of pulling out your hair. And you’ll have a blog you can be proud of.
