Blogging is as intrinsic to my life as taking a shower, eating, and drinking coffee. Of course, I have to come clean and admit that it is part of my job, so I can’t really avoid blogging on a daily basis, but I also have to say that there is something differently enjoyable when I have time to play with my personal blog. It does not get updated as often as I would like, but I do make it a point to change things up once a year if possible.
And when it comes to “changing things up”, the blog theme is always a factor that I consider. Any blogger would agree, I think, although the frequency of changing themes (and/or blog design) will definitely vary from one blogger to another.
How do you go about choosing a blog theme if you do not have something particular in mind?
One, you can browse sites such as WPThemes.org, which offer a host of blog themes. Two, you can look at blogs that you already admire and find out which themes they use.
If you are looking to redesign your blog, here are four simple things to help you choose the right theme. After all, there are more themes than you can count out there. These will help narrow down the field.
First impressions last!
No matter what we say about first impressions, there is something true about the first look having a lasting effect. How many times have you left a website, never to return again, because it looked spammy – or plain ugly? If you want to increase the chances of retaining your visitors, then make sure that the blog theme you choose makes a good first impression overall.
How do the colors blend?
Now on to the details…colors play a huge role in how a blog looks. It’s not about what color you prefer, but more about how the colors used by the theme play together. If they look good, then you can tick off this item.
More than the colors, though, you also have to look at the fonts the theme uses. As with the colors, they should come together in such a way that the overall result is pleasing to the eyes and makes the blog content easy to read.
Does it have integrated features?
Integrated features depend on what you need. Basically, though, you will want social sharing buttons to be present. If there’s an SEO feature (or two), that’s even better. You can always add plugins, sure, but if you want things to be easy, especially if you’re a beginning blogger, then these integrated features will make your life so much better.
Load times matter.
Last, but not the least, make sure that your blog will load fast. You may have the most mind blowing theme, but what good will it do you if the load times are slower than a turtle who has just woken up? Looks make a difference, but if the pages don’t load quickly enough, your readers will vanish even quicker.
