Continuing my trend from doing previous Tecky Tuesdays, I thought I would take a deeper look at what you should look out for in blog themes for your site as well as looking at what I use on my site, and why I use it. While I will be talking more about WordPress based websites, everything can relate to Blogger themes.
The main thing that you want out of your theme is a look that sets you apart from other blogs and allows you to show off your content without making it too tricky to read. The second most important aspect of your theme is to make sure your theme is setup to work with search engines correctly. Some themes drastically affect how search engines can read your site. It’s worth doing a bit of checking prior to buying any to make sure they are SEO optimised (most will tell you if they are).
One of the most common things I get asked is “what theme do you have”. I get emails constantly so decided to do this post. I thought I would answer it in a blog post to let others know about what we have and why we have it. As I’m on WordPress it gives me a little more option that blogger.
I use the Genesis framework and then a theme on top of that. So what is Genesis framework and how does it differ from a theme? Genesis is basically a super simple theme that is there to make sure that the site itself is search engine optimized, secure & always updated and speedy. The themes on genesis should be seen as the shiny paint job, it takes the very simple theme and makes it look pretty.
Genesis makes sure that as many people see my posts as possible! This is done by making sure that Google can understand the content as well as making sure that the page is as small a size as possible. This can have an effect on rankings.
Due to the fact it is a framework that sits between the WordPress and the top-level theme it means I can update WordPress as soon as an update comes out. With some themes you have to wait until the developer has done all the updates to it. Genesis handles all that behind the scenes to make sure you can update as soon as it is released. On top of that it works really well with lots of plugins like W3 Cache, to make sure the page loads the right away. Due to the fact it is built with plugin developers you get some great results from the web page speeds.
On top of Genesis we have our theme, this is what you people are reading my post on right now. When I chose a theme I want a few things out of it. I want the site to look great; I love the minimal look. Over the past 8 months my site has slowly become more and more minimal with each release until what we have now and I’m very happy with the appearance. As well as that I want something that allows me to show off my old content in a pretty way. I feel I have found both of these with my current theme.
Themeforest use to be a go to site for new themes, some very cheap ones for both blogger and WordPress.
I would love to read about what you guys use on your blogs and why you use what you do. If you found this post at all helpful remember to share.
great post! i was actually thinking of updating my blog theme since I felt like it was TOO simple, but simple definitely is best since you don’t want your posts to be overwhelmed by everything around it. I will keep your tips in mind when updating my blog!
http://melissatruong.blogspot.ca
I’ve been looking into updating my blog too, so thanks for the advice!
The theme is so important!! I love your layout!! Its just so easy to read!!
http://littlebeautybloge.blogspot.co.uk/
Elizabeth x
I think Tecky Tuesday might be the best tech section I’ve ever read. I got to the end of the post, and surprisingly, I had understood everything!
As a Blogger user, I have to say I’m quite limited when it comes to customizing my site. I might have to check out some themes, though.
<3 M.
I love Techy Tuesday! All your posts are so in depth and really capture the essence of the point you are trying to convey. Choosing a theme for your blog is one of the hardest parts of making one so thank you for all the recommendations and knowledge. I am sure that it will be helpful for many people!
♥
Krystal | http://www.moorekrystal.wordpress.com
Techy Tuesdays rock!
I just recently updated my theme on blogger and I really do feel like its more readable and friendly. I hope other people think so too. I love it when blogs show their popular posts in the side bar that way I can dig right in and see their best stuff :)
I am using Thesis for wordpress, I will be honest, I am still learning and need more knowledge with wordpress and my theme, I have a friend that helped me set up my blog/website. I love your techy Tuesdays.
Your theme and layout look great! I just had my site designed and had a lot of fun working with the designer.
Tonie
http://www.toniegirl.com
Super useful post, as I was just researching different themes that I could use… Thanks! ^^
http://nagareboshi9.blogspot.ch/
i’m in the process of changing to wordpress and I am suuuper lost. loving these series. I’d never heard of genesis or anything like it. very useful!! :) x
Very nice themes :) Lovely photos. Nice post :)
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Great post!
I love using Genesis and the Foodie theme in particular – it’s all so customisable but easy to use.