If you have been blogging on
the default blog template, or one of the first free templates you
found, chances are good that your current template isn’t doing the job
it should to enhance your blog. And unfortunately many
blogs are using templates that actually detract from the user
experience on your blog, whether due to a mismatch of template to blog
theme or simply a theme that isn’t really presenting itself in the best
possible way to your readers.
A good blog template will truly
enhance what you present rather than detract from it, which a poorly
chosen blog template can do. If you are one of those bloggers that put
little time and effort into finding that perfect blog template for your
blog, it is definitely time to find that killer blog template that is
more suited to your style and content.
Where to find
Wordpress theme templates seem
to be much more prevalent that themes for other blogging platforms, but
no matter what type of platform you are using, do a search for “free
Wordpress templates” changing it to match the platform you are using. There are so many people releasing templates today that you are sure to find something. If you have a particular theme in mind, add a couple keywords about that and see what turns up. The same goes for color. If you have your heart set on a purple template, throw the word purple into your keyword search.
Finding one that fits
If your blog is about white
water rafting but the blog template you ended up choosing originally
has a picture of a subway station in the header, it is a complete
mismatch between design and content. So you want to make sure that what you present visually matches what the content of what people are reading.
Swap images
You might find that perfect template, but it is a mismatch like the subway station one. So instead, look to find an image that you could swap out for the subway picture. Maybe
you have a picture from one of your white water rafting trips that
would match perfectly or you can find one on Flickr under creative
commons. So don’t completely eliminate templates simply because the header image isn’t quite what you have in mind.
Find a few
Sometimes that seemingly perfect template just doesn’t seem to do your blog justice once you actually upload it and install it. So as you find various templates, save them and upload them. Then
you have a few different ones to try out and once, so you can easily
compare then, check for any odd bugs, and pick the one you think
compliments your blog the most. Don’t forget, you can
always remove the ones you don’t ultimately end up with if you want, so
download all those “maybe” templates too, it wouldn’t be the first time
that a “maybe” template actually ends up being the perfect fit after it
is tried out on the actual blog, instead of viewing a screenshot of it
in action.
Still can’t find the perfect template?
Do what I do, and that is find a template that is “almost” and then go code diving and make the tweaks yourself. Often, you can change the code to make some of the changes yourself. Perhaps you want an ad block in the sidebar or a slightly larger or smaller design width. Or perhaps you just need to add your own custom logo to make it yours. You
may discover tweaking it is easier than you realize, or you can call in
a favor from a coding friend if the changes will take someone
inexperienced just a short amount of time to do.
Many people don’t realize how
important having a suitable template for a blog is, especially when the
current one you have just seems completely inappropriate for the type
of blog entries you are writing. If you are using a blog
template, take the time to look closely at it and see if it really is a
template that suits your blog, and if not, take the time to search for
that perfect blog template that is clean, presentable and most
importantly, goes with the theme of your blog.
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