Yesterday I gushed about the great experience I had signing up with HostGator and getting them to transfer my existing blog from “Brand X Hosting” (GoDaddy) to the HostGator servers. It was seamless, flawless and painless. What a deal!
A Blog In Search Of A Theme
Now, I’m in search of the perfect WordPress Theme. For a number of reasons — all bad — I went with the Papercut Theme from Woo Themes. I though it looked cool and would be a great, eye catching theme with a lot of that stuff people call “ease of use”. I was wrong. It’s might look cool (at least, to me) but it’s really not that easy to use as far as adding sidebar features or widgets and my guess is that it really isn’t that “SEO friendly”.
The real deal, though, is the back end. The stuff behind the curtain, so to speak. It doesn’t allow a lot of flexibility and, worse, some parts of it are downright clunky and a pain in the butt to use. So, I am now on the search for another theme.
Premium or Free?
As I bounce around WordPress Theme-land, I can’t help but feel a sens of overwhelm. There are literally thousands and maybe tens of thousands of WordPress Themes both free and for money.
Yes. There a re a ton I can eliminate right off the bat. For instance, I’m not a big fan of the WordPress Themes that have dark backgrounds where you can hardly read the text. The leads me to the next criteria. I’m mostly a text blogger. Not a lot of video. Not a ton of photography. So, the themes that put video and graphics front and center probably won’t work for me either.
The other part of this is that I’m wondering if the Premium WordPress Themes are really worth the money. Obviously, I’m not all that thrilled with Woo Themes. Worse, I bought it or, rather, it was purchased for me, by a guy who did the original blog installation awhile back. So, I’m not even the real owner of the theme.
What Are Your Suggestions?
Now, I’m at a crossroads. Since I joined The Ultimate Blog Challenge I was hoping to really fine tune this blog on a number of levels.
- I want to be able to find a consistent blog voice and/or direction
- I want to be able to monetize (the word du jour) the blog which means being able to add elements to the sidebar and/or text in an attractive and productive way
- I want it to be SEO friendly
- I want it to look nice
Any suggestions? Just place them in the Comments. I would love to know what works for other bloggers.
I like Solostream. Just used it for my blog redesign. It’s a premium design, but I think it is worth the cost.
Thanks, Stacey. I’ll check it out. I guess Googling it will help me find it.
Ken Montville recently posted..Transferring Between Website Hosts
Hi Ken – Thanks so much for stopping by my site and leaving a comment..I too use Godaddy (for domains) and Hostgator (for web hosting). I can honestly say that I have not had any issues with my hosting (knock on wood) and when I had questions they respond quickly! Since I am on a budget with my online ventures I decided to purchase Artisteer and I make my own designs which keeps costs down. Let me know if you need anything!
Thanks, Jaime. I appreciate you stopping by “my place”, too. I took a quick look at Aristeer. Interesting…
Hi Ken,
My favorite theme is Thesis. It’s totally customizable and I find it very easy to use. You can make it look however you want it to look. You’re free to add what you like to your sidebars. And it’s SEO friendly. I use it on my blog if you want to check it out.
Leanne
Thanks, Leanne. I’ve heard lots about Thesis. I know it’s customizable but I’m not really that good at customizing. I’ve seen the demos and they look sort of easy…sort of!
Ken, I’m a big fan of Elegant Themes. They have a membership plan that allows you to use ANY of their themes and it is very affordable. And they have some beauties on there. And adding stuff and making it totally SEO’d is very easy.
That being said, I still end up using free themes quite often. I use the WordPress Themes search and search for “seo” – that brings up only good SEO themes. And many of them have some great options.
I am a theme fanatic! Don’t get me started or I could go all day long! LOL
Danielle McGaw recently posted..10 Ways to Demonstrate Value On LinkedIn
I’ll take a look at Elegant. I’ve heard of them but haven’t looked at them very closely. Free is good but ease of use combined with decent SEO is best.
Hi, Ken. Have you thought about a custom design from a graphic artist that you could then update? That might give you the best of both worlds…an easy, professional theme with new inserts /elements as you identify them!
Good luck. I’m happy to send you a referral or you could post on a couple of forums and get some “specs.”
Mary Ellen Merrigan recently posted..Five Ways to Audit Your Brand
Hey, Mary Ellen
I have absolutely thought about total customization. Doesn’t that usually run into money and a little loss of control?
Hi Ken,
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one troubled by how to create a great looking blog!
I’m currently using a free theme myself – but its hard to find something that has all the elements that you want it to. I think that I’ll explore some of the blog ideas that others left and see what I come up with.
hey, Angela. Thanks for stopping by! Keep me posted. I’d love to know what you come up with.
Honestly, it depends. Most of the time a free theme can work but sometimes premium themes do offer some extras that you end up paying for. Of course, if you really want to go the right route if you’re willing to make the investment, is to purchase an unique theme from a designer..which probably starts around $650.
Susan recently posted..Kimbo Premium WordPress Theme
I really like Gazette from WooThemes, which is what I’m using now. I also like anything from StudioPress – their themes are beautiful. I’ve heard good things about both Thesis and Headway for customization and SEO.
Michelle Shaeffer recently posted..Weekend Inspiration- What’s Possible
Thanks, Michelle. This is currently a Woo Theme and I like the look of your blog. It should be easy enough to switch, I guess.