Getting Started In Blogging: Free Themes

Posted by Sharon Hurley Hall on May 5th, 2009

This post has been submitted by Sharon Hurley Hall from Get Paid To Write Online.com.

Once you have decided on the type of hosting you want and the platform you will use, then it’s time to think about how your blog will look.

How To Search

There are a number of good ways to search for themes. I mostly use WordPress and will be using this in my examples.

I use Google Blog Search to search for ‘new wordpress theme’, then sort the results by date so that I can find themes that are recently updated. You can grab an RSS feed for any search, so add this to your feed reader to get a regularly updated list.

Another resource I have used recently is Twitter Search, with the keywords ‘wordpress theme’. This is a great way to track theme discussion and many developers publish news of their new themes on Twitter.

I have found some great themes using those sources, and you can also broaden the search by looking for ‘tema wordpress’ (which brings up themes by Turkish developers (as far as I can tell, ‘plantilla wordpress’ (Spanish) and ‘theme wordpress’ (which leads you to French sites). From there, you can usually find a link to an English translation of a theme that you like.

WordPress Theme Sources

Weblogs Tools Collection regularly publishes updates on theme releases. If you’re already running WordPress then you will see the links in your dashboard. And don’t forget to check out hundreds of themes on Wordpress.org. There are some great free themes at Theme Hybrid and Pearsonified.

It’s also worth looking at some of the premium theme developers as many of them also make free themes available. Some of these include:

Themes For Blogger And MT

There are also plenty of beautiful themes for Blogger and Movable Type. Movable Type lists themes here, with many more available from within the program itself through the Style Catcher. Ithemes also has some free MT themes.

For Blogger, as well as using the search methods listed above, you can choose from a number of great resources, including:

Blogger templates on AllBlogTools
The best places to find Blogger templates, published on ThemeLib
Mashable’s list of Blogger template resources

With all these resources, you are sure to find a theme you like. In future posts, we will look at customization options and promoting your blog.

Sharon Hurley Hall
Get Paid To Write Online.com

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3 Responses to “Getting Started In Blogging: Free Themes”

Dan Harrison Says:
May 7th, 2009 at 3:24 am
I must say, I do like the tip on finding themes via twitter.

I’ve become a fan of premium themes for any large site, but free themes are perfect for mini sites where the budget is smaller.

There are probably thousands of themes these days. But regardless of what theme I use, I find I end up spending a few hours tweaking it to get what I need.
Sharon Hurley Hall Says:
May 7th, 2009 at 5:25 am
I also like the additional options you get with premium themes, Dan, though there are some ‘freemium’ themes that are excellent if you don’t mind doing a bit of coding.
Keyword Research Services Says:
May 8th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Free blog themes are a great idea for new bloggers. There are so many great free themes available that is does not make sense for beginners to invest in a paid theme. Of course if you have long term ambitions for a blog, it is likely best to invest in something unique.