I’m not very technical when it comes to the designing aspects of blogging. Yeah, I can make minor changes to the code when necessary and can follow really good step-by-step instructions, but when it comes to CSS and creating something from scratch, I’m very design-impaired.
I’ve been very fortunate, I haven’t had to deal with that since this blog used to be owned by a very capable designer – Brandon Cox. I realize everyone is not that fortunate, so I wanted to share this information with you. By now most bloggers know that poor design can greatly impact how well your blog performs.
It doesn’t matter how great and original your content is, people are turned off by bad design. That’s because sight is the strongest sense we have. When someone stumbles on your blog, if it doesn’t appeal to their sense of sight, they aren’t going to read a single word.
Even if you reveal the secret to immortality – no one is going to read it if your blog is unappealing. There are some nice free themes out there, but you must be careful, because you want your blog to stand out as original as possible.
But that doesn’t mean you need to add learning CSS and how to design to your to-do list. There are many beautiful premium themes out there and I’m discovering that many are very affordable.
I’ve decided to share a few screen-shots from Obox with you since they are currently running a special during the next few weeks. They are currently offering a new subscription discount price of $15 per month for access to premium themes.
Check out these themes for design-impaired bloggers
Where are some other cool and affordable places to find great themes?
About Kiesha Easley
I think that the first thing that attract (or not) visitors is the design and that’s how I like a lot designing.
PS: Those themes in the article are totally great.
I missed this post. These are awesome themes. I really like Press It!
Tia Peterson recently posted..How to Get More Local Business Using Blogging and Social Media
Well, most themes are very customizable, I think it is very important to use a good colour scheme and atractive images.
Jamelia recently posted..Making Money from WordPress
Well said blog theme along-with good content is a killer combination for increasing the traffic to you website
Vinish Parikh recently posted..Why Fundamental Analysis is Done
I agree with you and also when I see blogs or websites using themes/templates that are very popular and frequently used that also is a pretty big turnoff. It doesn’t take much to customize a blog theme slightly so I think from the start it makes the blogger look lazy or not caring.
Bill recently posted..Puerto Vallarta Vacation Packages
Good points on blog design! It is definitely important to have a theme that is attractive and doesn’t turn people away. I’ve seen so many “bad” website designs and wondered how the owner could not see how bad it was. lol.
I also think it’s super important to let the design reflect yourself and your personality – ESPECIALLY if you are your brand. This is the big thing that I focus on with my clients and one of my favorite topics to talk about as well. Too many people hold themselves out of their blog and the design and think it needs to be all professional, instead of letting their uniqueness and quirkiness shine through. ;)
Jess Webb recently posted..What LUSH Taught Me About Business
Well you are right Kiesha, a bad theme can really kick your visitors away from your blog. I have tried a lot of themes in my site but I have always felt something missing even in the premium themes. Maybe I will have to leave it like that only until I learn theme designing myself and add all the features I want in my theme
Nice Post
Shiva | Web Magazine recently posted..Rockable Press Rockstar WordPress Designer Revised Discount Coupon Code
Obviously, a friendly WordPress theme can make our blog more attractive.
Thanks for your sharing, all the themes in this post are attractive indeed.
Calking recently posted..Drawbacks of 529 College Savings Plan
I use Thesis now. It’s a bit pricier but worth it. I don’t think the theme matters as much as the unique interpretation from a clever graphic designer – that’s what makes a blog stand out from the crowd and creates the vital winning first impression:)
Annabel Candy, Get In the Hot Spot recently posted..Me- You and Alexa Ranking Alexa Who
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Annabel,
I agree making good first impressions – there are many blogs that I’ve followed solely because their design drew me in so quickly, I felt compelled to do so.
BTW – you’ve got a beautiful design, very appealing to the eyes. :)
Twitter: davelucas
says:
Annabel – Hello! I just visited your blog, and it too spills out off the screen so I must scroll should I want to see items in your right hand sidebar. Perhaps this is the way WordPress templates are now being designed (I assume to accomodate wider flat-screens)???
Of course the blog design matters. A good design shows that you’re an authority and generates trus.t. However I don’t believe it’s so important you put it here. Thebestpageoftheuniverse for example – that guy has HUGE traffic and and a design with just black background and yellow text, haha.
Andi recently posted..MALIE 7 Zonen Kaltschaummatratze im Test
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Andi,
I’ve heard of that sight – but I’d bet that if he just put some time and effort into his design, he’d see even greater results. If content is King, design is Queen. :)
Hey Kiesha,
There are so many themes to select from today. That it can confuse people what to go with. Before, I select my theme. I did a research for what people like when visiting blogs or sites. The number one thing that popped out was a lot of white to make it easy on the eye. Some of the new themes coming out are some what of dark colors.
Now, you have selected themes that are cool on the eyes.
Chat with you later…
Josh
Josh Garcia recently posted..How Simple it is to Start Writing An Ebook
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Josh,
Yes, I definitely suggest doing some research. It’s also good to have a list of features you want – nothing’s worth than choosing a theme and then realizing it’s too difficult to customize. I know designers don’t have a problem with that, but I do.
Thanks Keisha. I am not a designer myself, and find myself lacking severely in the creative department. I’ll use the themes you show above as inspiration for myself.
Aaron recently posted..Free Blogs
Actually it is very possible if the theme is not good enough to make visitors go away. It has something to do with trust and respect. What ever we say, we know that how things look does matter a lot. The eyes are the primary way of getting information from the world around us.
I hope my theme isn’t turning off my readers. I worked very hard at coming up with a clean, bright and inviting design. I wanted to give a feeling of hopefulness and room to spread your wings.
I use a good theme framework from ThemeShaper called Thematic. It was very easy to learn how to customize and has lots of great features.
Thanks for sharing some of the other great themes out there!
Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella recently posted..iPad Giveaway Contest Win An iPad
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Joella,
You have a gorgeous theme. I think it accomplishes exactly what you set out to do. It’s very inviting and does invoke a sense of well-being/happiness.
Twitter: davelucas
says:
One thing I just discovered: there’s just “grey space” in your right hand sidebar! Some of the other blogs I’ve visited pack their widgets and things in that area!
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
I’ve got a few widgets over there, but they just don’t reach all the way down to the bottom of the screen.
Twitter: davelucas
says:
OK – NOW I do see the widgets. When your page first loaded (when I left the earlier comments) the right sidebar was greyed out.)
You mentioned my “settings” – be advised they are just like they’ve ALWAYS been, and I like them that way! I don’t believe readers should need to change settings to accomodate one or two blogs.
***I also boycott websites that display the annoying message “you must upgrade your browser” – and then they don’t let you access the website! By the way, you CAN if you go through Google’s cache! But I’m sure as word spreads of taht technique, the coders will find a way to stop it!***
HAVING SAID THAT I do recall bumping into a few blogs where they give you the option right up top to “pick a font” but I don’t know if such an option would be available for your unique design/template/platform.
Luv ya, Kiesha!
Twitter: davelucas
says:
Hi Kiesha! Not trying to be a “meanie,” but your blog LAYOUT (as opposed to theme) turns ME off! The fonts are too big (reminds me of my First and Second Grade reader books, makes me feel like you’re ‘talking down’ to me) and the page doesn’t fit in my browser: the scroll bar with arrows appears on the bottom so that if I want to see what’s in your blog’s right sidebar, I have to scroll over. I’ve encountered this very recently in just a handful of blogs I’ve visited, and I’m wondering if this is part of new templates geared toward the wider “flat screen” computers?
I love your blog and enjoy your articles, and I know you’re cool so it doesn’t bug me THAT much, but I wonder if other visitors come in and bounce right out after encountering the layout????
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Dave,
I appreciate your honestly. I’ll have to poll my readers to see what they think.
It sounds like a resolution conflict – while the the theme is geared toward wider screens, I’ve had no problems viewing it on different computers. You may need to adjust your screen settings – that might improve your viewing on other sites as well.
Most of the big name premium theme markets are affordable in my opinion.
I also tell people to just go hunting in those “best free premium wordpress themes” lists that pop up frequently on Smashing Mag and other sites. They contain some real gems.
Paul Cunningham recently posted..Podcast- Deliberate Blogging
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Paul,
Yes, I’ve found quite a few nice free themes for clients via Smashing Mag. The only issue is that sometimes they have minor coding issues that make it difficult to deal with when you want to customize them.
Hey Kiesha,
The Platform theme looks pretty cool. What I’ve found with some premium themes I’ve looked at in the past is the lack of color choices for the headers and stuff. Some of them are really “dark” and can’t be modified….that’s always been a turnoff for me.
Just another thing to consider in the vast world of blog themes. Ahhhh.. ;)
Take care,
Brandon
TheInfoPreneur recently posted..What’s on TAP at TIP
Twitter: weblogbetter
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Hi Brandon,
I’m with you on sticking to the lighter themes. The background can be dark, but the text area, needs to be white/light in my opinion.