One of the starting steps to starting a blog is picking a blog design. There are three options that are available. Free Designs, Premium Designs, or Custom Designs. Now as you all know that I am a strong supporter of Wordpress, so examples on this post will be wordpress related only.
There are pros and cons for each option. So lets review them.
Free Blog Design
Free themes are the ones that are available for download for free. Alot of designers are releasing free themes in order to gain backlinks therefore you will see that in most free themes there is a designer link and sometimes sponsor link also. You are required to keep those links as the terms of service. Check out available free WP Themes by Balkhis.
Pros
- It’s FREE - Well they are free and cost effective. Duh.
- Good collection - There are too many free ones available. So you get to pick from a wide collection.
- Change for Free - You can switch your themes around alot. Because too many new ones coming out.
- If its free like Pimp My Blog than you are good to go.
Cons
- Not Unique unless it is from Pimp My Blog.
- You get Designer and Sponsor links on majority of them. But there are alot out there that only have designer link.
- Your blog will never catch the eyes of a reader because there is another one that looks just like it. Unless you use a very crappy theme. Good themes get used by alot of bloggers.
- Usually you get no support on free themes.
Premium Themes
Premium themes are the one that are a step above free themes. They are paid themes that will never be released for free. Most Premium Themes are better than free ones, but there are some which are not. Check out Balkhis list of Excellent Free and Premium Wordpress Themes.
Pros
- Less people use it, so you will have a semi-noticable design.
- Most Premium Themes come with support from the designer.
- They are more advanced than the free themes. (Not all but most)
- Cost effective because you get a theme for only $40 - $90 which works like a custom theme.
- Some don’t even require a designer link.
Cons
- They are still not unique! So you will see blogs that use those.
- Popular themes like Revolution are used by alot of bloggers.
- Some are not similar but RIP OFFs of a popular site..
Custom Theme
Custom themes are the ones that are created just for your blog. Providing your blog a unique touch and more. Get your Custom Themes from Uzzz Productions.
Pros
- Your site looks UNIQUE. No other site will look exactly like yours unless they rip your design off. Most Designers are honorable and they don’t create the same theme more than once.
- You get Support - Depends on each designer and the contract.
- You attract alot of readers. Excellent way of Branding.
- Usually custom themes look better than the rest, and they are customized DUh.
Cons
- They are usually more expensive. A custom blog theme can range from $250 to $4000. It depends on what style of theme. It depends on who is the designer, and more factors determine the price of a theme.
- Can’t really think of another Con for a custom theme. Can you?
Above are my thoughts on the options that you have when selecting a Blog Design. Personally, I believe that when a blogger starting a new blog they should try to invest about $300 in getting a custom theme because that will give your blog a cool look, and it will attract readers. But each blogger have their own opinion.
Which option do you think is the best? and WHY?