Not all blog themes are created equal. No matter what type of blogging platform you use, you will find hundreds of options for preformed blog templates that include necessary coding and scripts. Some are more customisable than others, some include only the basic features, others have plugins to make adding valuable widgets a snap.
So how do go about Choosing A Blog Theme that is best for your online business? Take into account several key factors before making a decision; it is easier to start with a good template than make a bad decision and have to change it later.
Choosing A Blog Theme – SEO Considerations
Most blog templates come with the very basics of search engine optimisation such as the ability to add tags, accept trackbacks, and include various incoming and outgoing links.
But if you really want to beef up the optimisation of your site, consider going with a template that has much more than that already included. A good, SEO ready template will include an RSS feed button, give you various ways to link pages and posts, and allow for a number of plugins including things like Google Adsense, for instance.
The platform makes a difference, too. Blogger is always automatically set to “nofollow” for comment links and must be changed in the HTML code if you wish. WordPress blogs are usually “dofollow” and it is easy to install plugins such as CommentLuv. There are more options for permalink structure as well, making it easier for search engines to find the content based on the URL.
Aesthetics – Customisation
Unless you want your blog to look like a cookie-cutter replica of other sites, you should be able to customise the visual aspects of the template. When Choosing A Blog Theme, look for one that gives you colour scheme options and allows you to place a logo in the header.
There are options for templates that contain one, two, or three columns. Choose carefully as it is difficult to change this later. One column gives you the widest area to include text and graphics, but limits the amount of blog badges and widgets etc. appearing on the page’s area initially accessed. Three columns gives the visitor lots of different things to see without scrolling down, but it can make posts with both text and graphics look squished into the narrow space.
In basic terms, Blogger blogs are easier to customise, but there are less options to do so. WordPress blogs contain far greater options but unless you understand CSS code, you may have difficulty taking advantage of some features.
Monetising Your Blog
If you are planning on monetising your blog with affiliate marketing links or a shopping cart, ensure those features are easy to add, or already included, in the template you select. Once again, Blogger makes it easy to add affiliate links, but you are somewhat limited as to partners. You can add anything you want to WordPress but may find it more difficult to figure out how to do so.
When Choosing A Blog Theme, there are so many options available for free on the internet; you may have to spend some time browsing through them before you find one that is perfect for your needs. Be sure it performs well for SEO, looks professional and unique, and is easy to add monetising features.
Have a most outstanding day.
Sean RasmussenAussie Internet Marketing
www.SeanSEO.com © 2008 - 2010
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree. I can’t believe how many WordPress themes there are. Some are free, some you pay for, some are good for general use, some are specifically for one particular type of site (eg photography comes to mind), some are highly versatile and highly functional, some, well, I wonder why they even bothered, and those, thankfully, eventually end up in the scrap heap (look for warning signs like “not revised since 2007″).
You are not wrong there Wal, there are thousands of blog themes available and it can take a lot of time to sort out the good from the bad. The good thing is, that if you keep looking, you can generally find one that suits your niche, is free of errors and provides good built in SEO etc.
Regards – Sean
I recently purchased (yep that’s right, despite the million free themes out there I paid money) the thesis theme. I was looking for something “professional-like” and heard about thesis. After a lot of research and observing some of the world most successful blogs using the theme I gave in.
The first few weeks have been a little difficult in trying to modify the theme – I don’t seem to be picking up this hooks business very quick. I hope that the hype around its features pays off in the end.
Hi Cemil,
I think that once you get the hang of Thesis, you will find it to be an excellent theme. I personally use it and find the features very good.
Regards – Sean