Three Factors Of Effective WordPress Themes

I'll wager my entire life savings that if you run a blog on the WordPress platform, the first thing you ever tried to do was install a new WordPress theme. I'll wager my future profits that you're still occasionally switching themes and wasting a lot of time making small adjustments that, taken together, only serve to keep you from blogging.

Interesting, it's simple to comprehend why themes demand so much care. You can accommodate all the neat little widgets and codes with the right theme, which might also result in better search engine rankings and a ton of daily new visitors.

So what elements do you need to take into account to simplify the theme-hunting process? Here are three crucial examples:

Columns And Theme Width

WordPress themes typically come in 2- or 3-column layouts with widths ranging from 500 to 960 pixels. A 2-column theme can look more reader-friendly and compact if you're writing for non-profit reasons.

Fewer product photos and external link displays allow you to concentrate solely on the text without driving visitors away from your website.

However, if you're blogging for a living, you might want to think about using a 3-column WordPress theme that can comfortably hold your Google Adsense, Chitika, and Text Link Ads codes without crowding the content area.

3-column themes provide you the opportunity to grow, but if you've used up all of the space with ads, it's time to get rid of the underperformers and stick with the services that are effective for that specific blog.

Using Icons And Images

While a theme with photos and icons may appear nice, it rarely grows your website's audience or subscription base. The majority of "A-list" bloggers use standard designs with a straightforward logo on top. Additionally, fewer images mean quicker loading times and less strain on your servers.

It's important to plan for the future because this crucial feature of server load won't be obvious until you have tens of thousands of visits each day.

Readers are also drawn away from the actual material by a theme with lots of images. This is the reason why sites like Engadget and Tech Crunch heavily rely on graphics in the text sections to enhance a post, even though the style is straightforward and rather minimalist.

A theme should ideally enable you to use your header picture for greater branding purposes while substituting images and icons with links and text or omitting their usage altogether unless necessary.