InteractiveWoo

One of the biggest struggles for new bloggers, or for anyone that is looking to freshen up a blog with a new theme, is the challenge of finding the right theme. Free or Premium? Magazine style or traditional blog style?

Especially for Wordpress users, there are so many choices with multiple types and variances in quality and design. In this post I will provide a comparison of the different types of themes to help you choose the right type for your blog. Before I do that, let me answer the question what are Wordpress themes? Wordpress themes are pre-made designs templates that are made in compliance with the Wordpress Platform. These themes can be installed seamlessly and effortlessly to any site that is utilizing the latest Wordpress script. There are thousands of themes to choose from and the best (premium) themes are download-able for a fee.

Free Themes vs. Premium Themes (varies from $20 to $90)

So how much better are premium themes than free themes? Is it enough to justify paying the price tag? Here’s a list of reasons why you would pay for a premium theme:

• Quality - premium themes are built by design professionals and ideally are of higher quality in design and function than free themes. Notwithstanding a few high quality themes, most free themes are of very poor quality. This is because anyone can develop and distribute a free theme.
• Uniqueness - because of the price tag, premium themes are for serious bloggers who want a professional blog that stands out from the crowd of bloggers using free themes. Most premium themes include code-free design customization whereas to customize free themes, you will have to tweak it in the code of the theme.
• Functionality - most premium themes offer much more in terms of features and functionality such as integrated advertising and analytics, more robust widgets, or customizable front page (magazine themes).
• Flexibility - premium themes also offer the ability to select various color schemes or the ability to choose between 2 or 3 column for your blog without touching the code of the theme.
• Scalability - hopefully your blog will grow over time and you may want to include new features to your blog. Most free themes will only allow you to showcase typical blog posts, while premium themes will have better options for adding pages, sub-pages, categories, archives, advertising.
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization) - a poorly designed theme can cost you valuable exposure in the search engines. Most free themes are very poorly optimized, and in most cases the theme designers give very little consideration to SEO.

Although I always recommend premium themes for the serious blogger, I do also recommend trying out some free themes so you can experience the difference in quality, function and flexibility. For some bloggers, a free theme may offer enough to serve their purpose as they may not hope to make money from blogging or support a business.

If you’re a blogger who wants to increase or produce income through blogging, I highly recommend going with a premium theme. It will help you save hundreds of dollars and hours of your time in the long run. Choose a Premium Theme now!

Magazine Style vs. Blog Style

You all know that in a traditional blog style layout, the most recent post sits at the top of the page with previous posts below it. As blogs grew, there was a need for a better way to organize content so posts didn’t get lost. The magazine style layout was the solution and quickly became popular among premium themes. This layout typically includes a front page that features excerpts or headlines of posts in a grid format, acting as a portal to content. However, the magazine style layout is not a good fit for all blogs. Here’s when you would choose a magazine style:

• Multiple Topics - if you have or plan on having a blog with many different topics and you would like to feature one or more posts from each on the front page to improve navigation and accessibility.
• More Professional Look - if you want to go away from the typical blog look.
• Large Site - if you have or plan on posting content daily or have multiple authors, the magazine style layout can be a great way to organize content.

To the last bullet above, the opposite is true. If you post only a couple of times a week or less, you would go with a traditional blog style. If you’re still not sure what’s best for your blog, don’t worry. Another reason why I love premium themes (to the flexibility point above) is that the best ones (ones that are included in our services) offer the flexibility to choose between both magazine and traditional styles.

Interactivewoo has hand-picked the best free and premium Wordpress themes on the web with consideration to overall look, SEO, readability, flexibility, and more. As part of our blogging package, we’ll work together to find the best theme for you and offer our premium themes with savings of up to 50% of the retail value.
Please send an email to Interactivewoo@gmail.com and if you have any questions.

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In the previous post “What is a Blog” I mentioned that the best way to learn about blogs is to start blogging yourself. So how can you get started today? You have two very good options:

Start with Wordpress.com

Blogging is no longer only for the tech savvy. Anyone can start a blog very easily and quickly on one of the free hosted Blog Platforms (Wordpress.com, Blogger.com, Typepad.com). I started blogging on Wordpress.com because of the platform’s ease of use and flexibility over Blogger.com. I quickly learned the basics of blogging and I encourage you to do the same.

Start Blogging in 24 hours the right way
Although starting a blog on Wordpress.com is free and easy, there are many limitations for a blogger serious about blogging. I’m talking about being limited to having a standard look, generic domain names, no design customization, and less control. This is because Wordpress.com blogs are hosted by Wordpress and they set the rules. Read this important post about why host your blog on your own server.
Most serious and successful bloggers host their blog on their own server. I made the switch to my own server very soon after I started blogging. You may be thinking right now that you’re not web savy enough to get your own server, install the databases let alone do any customization - and that’s okay. You can either spend the time and learn it on your own (which I absolutely encourage you do over time - just don’t spend weeks reading and not doing) or let a design professional set up your blog in 24 hours the right way; with all the right tools; and answer all your questions over the phone. Read about our services.

3 More Excellent Resources on Blogging for Beginners

If you’re interested in learning everything from setting up a blog to building your readership to making money from blogging, but you don’t know where to start or who the experts are; I (as well as Darren Rowse and Brian Clark) highly recommend Yaro Starak’s Blog Mastermind as your step-by-step coaching program. Yaro’s program is satisfaction guaranteed and already has more than 500 students. I highly recommend that you check out these resources by Yaro Starak:

• Blog Mastermind Blog Mentoring Program - one of the best coaching and training course going around on blogging.
• Become a Blogger Videos - a free series of videos that talks new bloggers through how to set up a blog. Easy to understand and best of all, free.
• Blog Profits Blueprint - a free report on how to build profitable blogs.

There are usually two options when it comes to deciding where to host your blog (where to store your blog on the internet): hosted on your Blog platform’s server or hosted on your own server.

Hosted on the Blog Platform’s Servers

Many people interested in blogging start with this type of blog because it is free (wordpress.com or blogger.com), cheap (typepad.com) and relatively simple to use. The blog platforms also makes software upgrades automatically. However there are many more limitations that comes with this type of blog hosting:

• Less Control - Blogger.com does not allow you to create any categories while Wordpress.com does not allow for advertising. This is the main reason why people host on their own servers.
• Standard Look - limited selection of themes (look and feel) that makes your blog look like every other free hosted blog.
• No Design Customization - without knowing CSS, you cannot make changes to your design colors or structure.
• Generic Domain Names - your domain name will be “yourname.wordpress.com” or “yourname.blogspot.com.”
• At Mercy of Blog Server - although you own the content, you’re at the mercy of server down time.
• Hard to Change Your Mind Later - if your blog gets bigger and you want to start hosting on your own server, you may lose traffic, readers and search engine rankings.
• Inability to Install Plugins - plugins are tools that make blogs better.
• Inability to Install Other Tools - Google Analytics, etc.

Hosted on your Own Server (or Stand Alone Blogs)

Hosting on your own server does require a little more technical knowledge as you will have to set up a hosting plan with your host server, set up the databases, install wordpress and establish ftp to your server for the transfer of files and for software upgrades. Luckily, this is something that can be down for you (or taught to you) by a design professional. There is a cost for hosting on your own server as well but these days, you can buy a robust shared server for as little as $5 per month. Like the top bloggers in the blogosphere, I host all of my blogs on my own server and here’s why:

• Full Customization and Control - If you’re CSS savy, you can tweak any template to make it look your own. If you’re like most people and don’t know much about web design, there are many premium themes (design templates) that offer “dropdown” design customization that is easy and intuitive to use. There’s nothing that screams your own than a blog design that is customized to your liking.
• Premium Themes - you can use any theme available on the internet including premium themes which have a more professional look and are customizable without coding.
• Free Tools for your Blog - One of the reasons why I recommend Wordpress as the choice blogging platform is the availability of the best plugins (Read about the Top 10 Best Wordpress Plugins). Plugins can add functions to your blog beyond the basic install of wordpress.
• Add Google to your Blog -  you can easily add Google Analytics to track your blog stats and add Google Adsense to start making money of your content.
• Your Own Domain Name - Imagine interactivewoo.com as interactivewoo.wordpress.com. Having your own domain name is having your own brand - professional and easy to remember.

To Summarize

In the words of Darren Rowse (top blogger about blogging): “If you’re wanting to develop a serious blog and have aspirations for it to be used on a professional sort of level (whether as a business or corporate blog, as a blog to build your own profile or a blog to earn income from advertising) I’d recommend you go in the direction of a stand alone blog. Even if you are not highly skilled in this area it’s worth spending a little money to get it set up with a designer…”