When there are so many free Wordpress themes available, does it make sense at all to purchase a premium theme? Many people would say no, and designers themselves are seeing the end of the premium Wordpress theme. I’m not so sure. Recently I updated my theme from a fairly generic Andreas 09 theme to the theme that you see here, put out by Daily Blog Tips. I’m happy enough with it, but it’s not perfect by any means.
I had a lot of requirements for the template. I wanted a three column template with a template on either side of the post, but those are few and far between, and because there are so few the free themes are used a lot. If I couldn’t have that, I wanted two columns in the right sidebar. I also wanted a comment link at the bottom, not the top, and I wanted page links that would be highlighted when scrolled over (see above). Finally, I wanted the text to wrap around a picture at the top of a post (not seen here).
In short, I had a fair number of requirements and not all of them were met. I’d prefer if the page links were beneath the title and this template does some screwy things, like it can’t fit a long title on the same line as the date. Basically, this is a long way of saying that if I could have afforded a premium theme, I would have done it. But I set this blog up on the cheap, choosing to put money into some other promotional areas. Eventually, I’d love to have a theme that’s entirely unique to this blog – because I have to admit it’s kind of deflating to see another blog with this theme. Like they’ve stolen something from me, even if it’s their’s for the taking.
All in all, there is a lot of value in working with an independent designer – a person that can help you fix problems with the template if they arise (should be a prerequisite for choosing a premium theme). The tech support for this free theme is next to nil. It amounts to: I let them know about a problem and never hear back. They’ve still not updated the theme for Wordpress 2.7. If you’re really serious about branding a business or a blog, you have got to have a unique theme. Also, if you’re really serious about moving your site beyond the confines of standard blogging into something more media-rich, a premium theme is the only way to go. If you don’t, it’s going to be hard for your blog to be taken as seriously, and in a competitive blogosphere, any competitive edge helps.
So here are the best premium theme designers available. They’ve got samples so you can take a look at how themes have been incorporated into working websites. Themes from these designers are customizable. I’ll start with the two most popular.
There’s a free Revolution theme floating around, but that has nothing on the customizable Revolution themes that let you set up magazine-style sites, video themes, business quality themes - basically stepping away from standard blogging into a much more professional and feature-rich theme. Revolution themes are best suited for online magazines and newspapers. And given the slow and not-so-slow demise of print media, you’re going to be seeing a lot more magazine-style sites, as well as increased demand for online magazines. With pro-grade Revolution themes you also get consultation on both implementing the theme, as well as help with promotion, so it will help you have a pro site right out of the gate.
Thesis is one of the most versatile and user-friendly customizable themes available. Emphasis on the user-friendly. Consider it a sort of Blogger for customizable Wordpress themes. You don’t have to know anything about coding to make a theme using their basic template that looks entirely different from all the other sites that are currently using the theme. Their slogan: Code less is apt, as you can change the theme via drop-down menus, rather than tinkering with CSS, possibly ruining the theme in the process. Cool thing about this theme is the ability to mix up ads according to page - so ads can correlate to the theme of the page, increasing the potential for monetization. All in all, a friendly theme, the pro Wordpress theme equivalent of Wordpress plugins. Thesis’ showcase shows the varied ways that you can use this versatile theme.
Theme Forest may be the best of the lot because they don’t only have cheap Wordpress themes available (from $10!), but flash animation, custom video, and custom audio to add to your site. Enhancing a site with video and audio - a step beyond just embedding a Youtube video - is going to be an important component of the next generation of blogging and content creation. Really, it’s just fun to poke around in al the different animation they have available. A theme from here will make you highly professional and cutting edge right out of the gate. That sounds like salespeak, but really, check it out.
Wordpress Theme Market’s themes aren’t customizable like Thesis or Revolution, but they’re also a lot cheaper. Certainly, you can customize any theme, but you’re going to have to dig into CSS with WTM. But WTM themes have a number of built-in features you’re not going to get with free Wordpress themes: free updates and install support, meaning your widgets and plugins will be good forever. Count on it, if you have a free theme, your theme’s going to go out of date and not be able to keep up with advances in plugins and Wordpress itself. Additionally, all WTM themes are set up to be fully monetized, with placeholders for ads, from Adsense to 125×125 ads. Take a look: the templates are slick and will look like a pro site.
Omni’s a good choice for budget-minded bloggers because at Omni you can get four themes for the price of one - pink, black, brown, and tan. Say if you’re a band manager you could use each one of these themes to help promote bands with different styles. Omni says it’s best suited for Myspace or Facebook profiles, and more and more people are looking for custom themes to stand out from other artists on crowded networks. Myspace may allow for more customization of Myspace pages, but it’s still pretty homogenous, IMO. Anyway, Omni’s more versatile as than just for those social networks - good for anyone looking for a well-organized, plugin-ready Wordpress theme, with lifetime support.
Like Thesis, Solostream is a good designer if you can’t navigate your way around CSS (and if you ever try to, you tend to break things). Solostream templates let you change color settings, the number of columns, sidebars, etc. using drop down menus. There’s no reason to code anything. It’s less customizable than Thesis, but also less expensive, and you can have a pro-quality site up in an hour or less. Easily monetized with drop-down menus, post thumbnails, and built-in search engine optimization, among other features. Check out the screencast the designer’s got up on the site before buying: it shows just how easy it is to use one of these templates and make it your own.
Unique Blog Design has got one of the more unique set-ups for a premium template company. If you’re already thinking about setting up a blog with a domain and a web host (which you should if you’re serious about ranking), then you can sign up for domain registration and hosting through UBD and get a free customized blog template. Wish I had done this initially because their plan is through my web host BlueHost, as well as Hostgator. Aside from that, Unique Blog Design has some pro-level pre-made themes - their Citrus series - as well as a total design service to design a Wordpress site around your brand.
For affiliate marketers: Apart from Thesis and Theme Forest, these other template providers are managed through:
December 21st, 2008 at 11:47 am
Hi, a really insightful read I enjoyed it a lot, I will click through and check out some of the offerings, I definitely need a premium theme, I use the modmat theme at the moment which is pretty good, but as always there are niggles and bugs that inevitably surface. My site deals with home business and affiliate programs so perhaps i should go for Thesis or Theme Forrest. What would you aim at yourself for a more marketing orientated blog?
December 21st, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Bill, thanks for checking in on this side of the Wordsmith. If it were me - and our sites are in a similar niche - I would go with Thesis b/c it’s easily customizable. The theme’s used for marketing sites (sugarrae.com). I’d go for Wordpress Theme Market if you want something that works right out of the box, or Theme Forest if you want to save money . But if I had one choice, I’d get a theme with Thesis to make something truly unique. I hope to do that one day - you know, after people buy themes through this post and I have some extra money ;).