RichardContents
Welcome to lesson #4 of the profitable blogging course.
Let’s be honest; the basic appearance of WordPress that we installed yesterday is less than exciting.
This is why most people change the appearance of their blog to match their unique taste and style, and in doing so present a far more “professional” image to visitors and advertisers alike.
But how do we change the appearance of your blog?
The simple answer is through the use of “themes”.
A WordPress theme is essentially a complete make-over of your blog. Even better, there are literally thousands of options to choose from. You just search through the available options, then with a few button clicks you can install it on your site and completely change it’s appearance.
We’ll get to actually installing your new theme in a minute or two (it’s so simple you won’t believe it) but for now let’s discuss where to find these themes.
Where to Find Free WordPress Themes
As with so many other areas of blogging, there’s a free way and a low cost way. In all honesty while there are a range of free themes available, they’re often not the most attractive or professional-looking. All the same, if you’re on a budget they’re certainly better than nothing.
Possibly the best way to find free WordPress themes is to actually log into your WordPress control panel itself.
In the navigation menu down the side select “Appearance” then “Themes”.
This will bring up a page which shows all the “standard” themes that come with WordPress.
Simply click on the “Add a New Theme” box. At this point you’ll find a search box that allows you to find free themes.
Simply scan through to find one that you like the look of.
However if you don’t find a suitable option, or you really want to make your blog beautiful, you might want to consider one of the many “premium themes” that are for sale.
Where to Find Premium Themes
Premium themes cost money; but perhaps not as much as you might think. For $50 or less you can land a stunning theme that really sets you apart from the competition.
There’s more. Premium themes also come with a whole host of premium features; with a good quality WordPress theme you can customize almost any element quickly and easily. Most of them come with a “configuration” page which lets you change the color-scheme, type face, homepage layout and more. They therefore offer far more opportunity to really customize your blog and make it your own.
Just as importantly, there are many, many times as many premium themes as there are free themes. What this means is that using a premium theme increases the odds of your site looking totally unique.
Personally I always use a premium theme for my blogs thanks to the professional appearance and flexibility that they offer. Remember that the better your site looks, the easier it will be to market and promote in time.
OK, so where do you find premium WordPress themes?
Well here there are a range of options. My personal choice is ThemeForest. Here you’ll find thousands of different WordPress themes, all categorized and searchable.
So you might opt to search for “feminine” themes, or “real estate” themes, or “craft” themes and so on. No matter what the topic of your blog will be, and what your sense of style, you’ll find there’s a whole host of suitable options.
Click here to take a look at ThemeForest now.
How to Install a WordPress Theme
Once you’ve chosen your theme, the installation process is surprisingly easy.
Here are the four steps to installing a new theme…
1) Download It
Start by downloading the theme that you have purchased from ThemeForest onto your home computer.
2) Upload It
Once the theme is on your computer, next you’ll want to unzip it. Within this unzipped folder you’ll find a variety of files and folders, including an “installation guide”. Have a quick scan through this guide to figure out the exact name of the folder you need to upload to your site – it’ll invariably end in “.zip”.
Once you’ve isolated the folder you need to upload, it’s time to actually get it onto your blog.
Go into WordPress, select “Appearance”, then “Themes”, then “Upload Theme”.
On the theme installation screen simply locate the theme on your computer, click the “Install Now” button and let the magic happen.
If all goes according to plan you should receive confirmation that your theme has been uploaded.
3) Activate It
At this point your shiny new WordPress theme is sat on your blog – but can’t yet be seen. To actually show the theme you’ll need to “Activate” it.
Fortunately this is the simplest step of all. Simply navigate within WordPress to “Appearance”, then “Themes”. Find the theme that you just uploaded, and click on the “Activate” link.
Now go and take another look at your blog homepage and you should find that it has changed to the new theme!
Exciting stuff!
All that is left to do is move on to the final step…
4) Customize It
All premium themes have a “control panel” or “options” area that lets you change the overall design of your new theme.
This is arguably the most fun bit of all. You can simply go through the options, changing font sizes, colors and so on until you’re happy with the final design. While it can take a little time to get things “just right” it’s a fun and very rewarding exercise.
That’s all there is today. Super easy and fun.
So your homework today is to find and install a WordPress theme that will give your blog an appearance to be proud of.
Just visit ThemeForest and get searching now! 🙂
In lesson #5 we’ll continue setting up your blog, moving from it’s appearance to how it functions. I’ll be giving you my own personal list of “modifications” that will make your blog run a lot more smoothly.
See you next time!
Add comment