We create our blogs to share information and we want that information to look good AND to be read.

For those of you who have had to choose a WordPress Theme, you know how difficult it can be.  The choices are endless.  How can you decide?

The Endless Search for a WordPress Theme

In the beginning, I recommend this endless search for a WordPress  Theme.  I am going to make some recommendations below, but I find it important, at least initially, to see all the options available.

You may need to spend 2,3, 4 hours (or even a whole day!) going through all the websites that have WordPress Templates.  Here are just a few of the hundreds available:  WordPress Themes, Free WordPress templates and themes, WordPress Templates, NattyWP, Top WordPress Themes.  For more choices, simply search wordpress themes on Google.

I view these wasted hours as time well spent.  You may not even find a WordPress theme that you like but it gives you an idea of what is out there.

Is Your WordPress Theme Designed for SEO?

As I wrote in Heading Tags and SEO: What You Don’t Know DOES Hurt You, many WordPress themes come with very poorly designed SEO.  The goal of the designer is for your web site to look good.  However, presumably, your goal is also to have your website be read…and frequently.  There is no way to accomplish this without a WordPress Theme that has properly implemented SEO.  Thus,  you may want to search for SEO WordPress Themes if tinkering with text files is going to scare you.

Here is what you need to know:  You will be spending a LONG time with your theme, getting to know it inside and out,  and you had better like it.

WordPress Themes: My Recommendations

It is important for you to decide personally what you like.  As I said, you will be dealing with your theme A LOT.  And, if someone tells you that it is easy to change your WordPress theme, think again.  It’s only easy if you have not done major modifications to your theme, which you will have.  So, choose wisely and do it right the first time.   Here are my recommendations for the best WordPress Themes.

After setting up over 100 websites, I have chosen two WordPress Theme companies that I use all the time.  The first is free and the second costs money.  If you set up a lot of websites, it is imperative to go with one or two companies as it will make modifications much easier since they design all of their themes similarly.

The first set of free WordPress themes that I enjoy comes from DailyBlogTips WordPress Themes.  I find their sites very clean looking, fairly SEO friendly, adsense ready, and, perhaps most importantly, not to difficult to modify.

The second company that I cannot say enough good things about is WooThemes.  Their WordPress Theme Designs exceed all of  the others.  The WooThemes WordPress Templates cost about $70 but they are always running promotions and provide world-class support for their themes.  Currently my two favorite themes are Fresh News and The Gazette Edition.

For the site that you are reading, Richard Cummings, I have chosen the Fresh News theme.  I like the simple clean layout and the readability of the articles.  My goal with this site is to provide high-quality, professional articles that can be easily digested without the interruption of ads and fancy designs.  I think the Fresh News Theme accomplishes that.