Themes? Just what are we talking about here, a blog theme? Web site theme? Social network page theme? What, exactly?
If you have a page on the web and that page is owned by you, or represents you, you can present a “theme” coupled with the content. This will separate you from the masses and provide some stamp of uniqueness that represents you, or what you are trying to convey.
Now that you have decided that a theme is something that you want. You have the choice of a free theme, or a customized theme. A free theme, of course, is just that, free, and usually comes with the web page, or site you are dealing with. It will be limited in scope and will vary from single color backgrounds to multi-colored backgrounds, but it usually stops there. It may be quite sufficient for you and you need not look any further to get added impact. In fact there are some rich, and warm colors with free themes and you might want to stay with something simple. This will depend on the type of page the theme is going on.
If the page is very shallow in terms of showing the theme, then you do not need to be elaborate. If there is a dearth of space that needs to be filled up, or your entire page background is covered, then you might want to consider something with a little more pizzazz, a little more artistic flair. This you will get from a customized theme.
Now, not all customized themes are created equal. You might only get a choice from a limited package. A theme might be just a “skin”, or it might be more involved and provide buttons, motions and secondary actions when hitting links for instance. So it pays to shop around and look for the best choices based on the theme you are trying to project.
You will almost certainly have the choice of many customized themes when you make your decision.
A contributing actor when making the decision for free or customized is obviously price. A free theme is just that, no cost, and there are a lot of nice free themes available. Some are equal to, or better than premium price themes. For custom, or premium themes, you will get a multitude of choices ranging from a few dollars up to $100. You have to decide whether it is worth paying the premium, and that decision will be based on the audience you want to keep once they get to your site. Premium themes will generally give a clean and more professional look and will likely provide more functionality. The theme developer will usually be able to support the theme, especially the higher price ones. So although there is a cost involved, it may dividends to have that extra professionalism and functionality.
Make your decision based on your need. Don’t throw money away, but neither shy away from paying for a very professional look and feel. You are presenting yourself, your company, or an idea to a global audience. Make it look good and give the visitor a great experience!
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
When I was a young, inexperienced blogger I always thought that paying for something you can get for free was the peak of idiocy… Now, I’m not so sure. Once you’ve achieved some success, having a theme that many other blogs use is just wrong. How can people treat you seriously when you’re using the same template as some 14 year old writing about WoW ? Ok, I agree this is an extreme case but you know what I mean
So start out with a free one, but switch to something more professional eventually – that’s my advice
@Diety: exactly correct. themes is one of the factors that differentiate your blogs from your competitors.
A good theme helps you in establishing a brand and gives a signal that you are serious about your online business. Free themes lack professionalism and make you common between your competitors
U are right! Themes play an important part for your blog or website to look something different from others!
I agree. Choosing between free and custom themes mostly comes down to what you intend to do with the blog. If it is just a personal blog to share with friends, then by all means use your favorite free theme. If you want to make money with your blog and/or establish a large following, you need to be unique. A customized theme is your chance to wow your readers. If your readers don’t like your theme, they may be less inclined to regularly come back to your blog.
Themes really works to increase traffic on your site. A good theme helps you in online business. Free themes haven’t so much professionalism and these can’t separate you form competitors. But custom themes can do so, So choice is your what you want.
If you want to make money with your blog and/or establish a large following, you need to be unique. A customized theme is your chance to wow your readers. If your readers don’t like your theme, they may be less inclined to regularly come back to your blog.
Hi,It is really nice post with have a good info and good article.Keep it up….
You can always take a free theme and hack it a little bit, switching out the images and playing with the style sheet to make everything line up the way you want. It saves you the money of buying a theme or the time of creating one from scratch.
No need to re-invent the wheel.