This is a question that many multi-blog owners ask themselves. Most newbies, might want to go the free route first so that they can get their feet wet, see if this is something that they are really interested in, or if they can actually make some money out of it.
Others, who might have done this for a while have some experience with Wordpress, an understanding and feel for the backend, can make a post, ping, setup pages and respond to comments. These bloggers are more likely to own more than one blog, because blogging can be very, very addicting.
These multi-blog owners might find themselves in a bit of a pickle when it comes to their newest site. They possibly are generating a bit of revenue from their other blogs but would now like to take it to the next level. They want to own a blog that has a bigger draw, that creates even more revenue than the others. This is the time that you should seriously start considering dipping into the pocketbook and purchasing a custom wordpress theme.
What are the benefits of a custom wordpress theme you might be asking yourself? There are many.
If your niche is a decidedly targeted niche, it would favor your blog to have a design that is catered exactly to that niche. Sometimes sites that do not accurately reflect its purpose can lose a lot of the traffic that it is working for simply because it does not look like what it is supposed to. If people click on a link expecting to see a sports site, yet it looks a bit feminine in style the likelihood is that the user will be clicking on the back button pretty quickly.
If you require special features or script enhancements that would otherwise not be available to the regular blogger you will definitely need to have a custom job done. You might thing that it would be a bit expensive but it is worth the extra money as the value that you will be adding to your site will return that cost many times over.
So when is it time to invest in a custom wordpress template? If you are at the point where you are making regular revenue from your blogging efforts, you should take a look into a custom theme. If you do not cash a regular check from your blogging efforts, you can probably get by with a free wordpress theme for a little longer. Once you start generating some revenue to pay for the site then it is time to start considering customizing.
Many people like the look and feel of a customized wordpress site. Added features could easily enhance it to the point of increased traffic. Increased traffic tends to lead to an increase in your revenue. I always consider that to be a very good thing.
There are so many different Wordpress themes out there it is difficult to tell which one you should use. Should you use the 3 column fixed or the 3 column fluid, the right sidebar or the left sidebar. There are so many variables it becomes very difficult for anyone to decide and still keep a clear head.
First let’s take a look at some of the basic variables associated with the templates:
- 2 columns, 3 columns, 4 columns – This just refers to the number of columns in the template.
- Fixed width – This refers to a set size. The template will not grow or shrink; it will stay at a fixed size. Usually this is a good choice for those whose demographic include smaller monitors such as office workers on a network etc.
- Fluid Width – This refers to the fluidity of the site. The site will grow or shrink based on the size of the browser. This makes the content grow or expand when needed.
- Widget Ready – This refers to the sidebar being able to easily have widgets customized within them. It is a very good feature to have.
- Plugins Required – This usually means that there are extra installations that are required prior to the template functioning properly.
- Left Sidebar – The left sidebar places the default sidebar stuff on the left. That’s pretty self explanatory.
- Right Sidebar – The sidebar is placed on the right side of the content. This is the same as Left Sidebar only on the right side.
- Colors – There are also a selection of colors that could be available to you. This usually means that a good percentage of the site itself has that color in it. This is good for selecting themes that requires a certain look and feel to it.
When choosing your Wordpress theme you want to make sure that you take into consideration the purpose for your blog. If your blog is simply something that you want to express yourself with and be creative with, you can select any color, size, column number or shape that you want because you really just want to do it for you or to show off to your friends.
If your plans for the blog our a bit more financially based, meaning that you would like to earn money from you will have to make sure that your template chosen is user friendly. This means you want your users to stay for longer periods of time. This usually helps increase the revenue generated.
If in fact you are attempting to monetize your blog you should steer clear of darker colored backgrounds as they are very difficult to read. A few minutes of staring at a dark background light font will have you clicking away from the site very quickly. You don’t want to lose traffic like that.
Take your demographic into account. Who are you targeting? If you are targeting a newer crowd, you will want something trendy, maybe even 2.0ish. If your crowd is a bit more professional you should go with something a bit cleaner, say a white background 3 column fixed width template.
Choosing the right template is easy. The hard part is making money off of it!