Rajesh Namase
@namaserajesh
Latest posts by Rajesh Namase (see all)
- Choosing a Blog Theme: Custom or Pre-made? - January 25, 2013
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As a blogger, it is important to know the utility of custom and pre-made blog themes so that it becomes easy for you to choose the “appropriate one” according to your preference and liking. Needless to say, that the blog design stands out to be the first and the foremost thing which has the potential of creating a long lasting impression. Hence, you can work towards enhancing the personality and outlook of your blog like never before.
Image Credit: Rojish.com
Following are the factors which assists you towards making the decision in an easy and effective way.
Brand Image
It is important to create an image of your blog so that it becomes a brand in itself.
First impression matters a lot
It is your aim of creating an enhanced impression the first time as you plan your blog design. You equally need to generate long lasting impression. Needless to say, you want your blog to be attractive, simple as well as helpful for your visitors. Hence, formatting the design template is very important. Colors, fonts as well as placement of headers, footers and widgets need to be dealt with extreme care. A customized design template is synonymous with unique placements and it does not resemble with other blogs. Pre-made templates also facilitate you with the features and you have the luxury of changing the background along with tab colors and fonts. However, the alterations are limited unlike in the customized design templates.
Price
Market is flooded with various pre-made templates as they are available free of cost. Bloggers experiment with their premade templates initially and only upgrade after meeting with relative success for their blogs. On the other hand, custom theme templates come at a price. Hence, it works to its disadvantage for sure.
Availability of wide options
You have the luxury of wide options to choose from pre-made templates. Studious designers are in the regular process of adding to the range since it is absolutely FREE and users can use any template as well. Custom design templates are devoid of any collection. It is important for you to get in touch with a designer who will provide a customized blog designed according to your needs.
Essential Semantic Markup
It stands out to be a technical boost which pre-made templates are devoid of. These days’ blog designs have special codes and markup texts. Although, they are not important and relevant to your esteemed readers, yet when it comes to search engines, they hold a lot of relevance. After all, it has the potential of increasing page rank. Your designers can get the codes which is included in your customized design template. Hence, it is worth to spend for it and experience the pleasant change like never before.
Finally, your own choice matters a lot too. Although premade blog templates facilitate you with adding free design to your esteemed blog that can also be changed according to your preference and liking. However, it is enough in attracting traffic to your blog, yet does not regarded as unique. Custom design themes are comparably effective and unique and they open enough room for creativity as well. However, the price factor is the only demoralizing factor for custom theme.
Twitter: googlai
Hi Rajesh ! Thank you for sharing your best SEO ideas. it is certainly focus blog theme. i always prefer attractive and simple themes.
Googma Sansar recently posted..Start a Home Based Business
Twitter: It_Freelancing
Agreed, I too prefer clean and simple theme. After all first impression is the last impression.
Pankaj recently posted..Mobile Recharge Software
Twitter: tricky_techno
Strongly agree with you bro,i also prefer the simplicity
Mohit recently posted..Temple Run 2 Hits Android Market
Twitter: namaserajesh
I’m too prefer simple design, content is king so use theme that focuses more on Content.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..How to Install WordPress on a Local Server (XAMPP)
Twitter: tricky_techno
Yes,you are right Rajesh,content is the real king of any blog, design cares too but that not that much.
Mohit recently posted..Temple Run 2 Hits Android Market
Twitter: tricky_techno
I love custom themes as we can add what we love and make it awesome.
Mohit Rajwani recently posted..TricksTreat Launching Post
Twitter: namaserajesh
Main thing is using custom things your views are not limited, everything as per own choice
Rajesh Namase recently posted..How to Install WordPress on a Local Server (XAMPP)
Twitter: tricky_techno
Strongly agree with you bro,we can do what we want
Mohit recently posted..Temple Run 2 Hits Android Market
Twitter: prabhatrayal
hello rajesh,
choosing a theme is one of the most difficult and important thing after creating a blog and most of the newbies make a mistake here. they keep changing their themes, and thus affecting their site.
and i love both themes but custom themes are flexible as you can code it in your own way
prabhat recently posted..Speaktoit: The Best Verbal Assistant for Android Download
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah changing themes so frequently is not a good thing, and I agree custom themes are flexible so we can change anything easily.
Twitter: pathaderavi
Well choosing Theme is Obviously Important But it depends upon Blogger what he wants from his Theme? If he/she wants Appearance and Graphics then the Pageload time issues will be observed. But if simple theme is chosen then the Pageload time will eventually decrease but he/she has to be satisfied with Graphics and Appearance options available.
Ravi recently posted..How you can Record Video Chats on the computer?
Twitter: jksingh99
Hi Ravi,
Quite true what you have stated here. However, one must keep in mind that in the end, it is the content which is going to matter. If a blogger adds too many distractions, flash or content, then the important message which needs to stand out will be subdued and lose the sheen it requires or deserves.
I feel that a good trade-off between graphics and content must exist. More emphasis must be laid on content as search engines and crawlers recognize only text. So, it makes the use of content foremost and top of priority list. People would in fact love the refreshing minimalist nature of one’s blog/site.
Regards.
Jay
Twitter: namaserajesh
Strongly agree with you, if you content is awesome, resourceful then there is no need to have very excellent graphics, and don’t distract readers too much, give high priority to content then design.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Mistakes That You Should Avoid While Starting a New Blog
Twitter: namaserajesh
Using some techniques you can decrease the Page Load time (Yeah I’ve seen such sites using well graphics but load quickly) Theme code must be clear. Thanks Ravi for adding your views here.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..8 Great Android Apps for Music Lovers
Twitter: WinAppleWorld
If your blog is doing good, one should definately go for a custom made theme to make their brand more valuable.
Anchit Shethia recently posted..Apple Nears Historic $1 Trillion Value
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah, if you want to make your blog or website as a brand (Like Mashable) then you should go with custom made theme, uniqueness is most important thing.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shoryabist
Hi Rajesh,
Nice article bro,Themes in a blog holds a great important not only from the point of view “attractive” but also it counts in search engine also,your cpc “adsense” , Your ranking alot.
A blog with everything messed up is not liked by the audience as well as by the search engine.Bidding for cpc is also goes down for the blog HOws messed up alot with slow loading time.
Thank You
Shorya Bist
From Youthofest
Twitter: jksingh99
Hi Shorya,
Indeed, point well made. One must take into consideration the average page load time of one’s blog/site.
A website with a good and refined theme would allow for crisp viewing, faster page loads and precious time saved.
In this manner, everything becomes interlinked to one another.
Regards.
Jay
Jay recently posted..The Bridge Between You And I
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah Google also considering PageLoad time, so you should go with fast loading speed, or optimize your themes to load fastly.
Twitter: namaserajesh
@Shorya, I’m glad, you liked the article, thanks for adding your views here.
agreed with u bro…..nyc post
rahul recently posted..Blogging Goals of 2013 to Make More Money
Twitter: fred_henning
Hi Rajesh,
You are correct. The blog theme you choose should reflect your personality and leave the reader with an impression of your style. Fortunately, there are hundreds of attractive themes available, both free and to purchase.
I have found the free ones to lack the flexibility to develop further than what is included in the box.
On the other hand, flexible templates with unlimited built in design enhancing tools are available at a reasonable cost and yield a much better deal. If you are going to invest literally thousands of hours developing a blog, spending a few dollars for such versatility makes a lot of sense.
Thanks for the great post!
Fred
Fred Henning recently posted..Four Best Principles that Secure Success
Twitter: jksingh99
Hi Fred,
I echo your thoughts from this comment. I too believe that in order to get a desired outcome, one needs to put considerable amount of efforts and money into something worthwhile.
If one wants a top-of-the-line website which has significant fan following, then one must be ready and willing to invest into it. That should reap the maximum benefits.
Regards.
Jay
Jay recently posted..Where To Go & What To Do In California In 2013
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah, if you’re serious about your blog and business then choose a paid theme or custom made theme instead of using free themes
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Advantages of MLM / Affiliate Marketing Software
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah I agree, investment in paid theme is worth, you get good quality themes for your blog, which are updated as per latest version of WordPress also most important thing is Support, paid theme support is very well.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Improve Hotel Management using Hotel Management Software
Twitter: infotech20
Hmm .. i am going for a custom theme soon and your post made me more clear about it..thnkss
Gautam recently posted..How To Root Samsung Galaxy Ace S5830
Twitter: namaserajesh
Nice decision Gautam, use custom theme so your blog/website design will be unique.
Twitter: infotech20
thnxx but due to lack of budget i will choose pre made..
Sourya recently posted..Happy New Year 2013 Balloons Widget
Twitter: namaserajesh
Be careful most of the themes demo are good, but you’ll feel bad after purchasing it.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..How to Companies Make Use of Payroll Software?
Twitter: freesimpleseo
Thanks for sharning your ideas. I always use to select but impressive themses. Simple themes attracts more the people.
Junaid Raza recently posted..23 High Page Rank Dofollow Blogs List Food of blogging
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah simple theme also works well, focus on quality and resourceful content.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Mistakes That You Should Avoid While Starting a New Blog
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoCalMobileAuto
It’s gotta be simple yet eye catching and functional.
Twitter: namaserajesh
Theme functions play an important role, good functional theme can save need of many plugins.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Create Standout Brand Image with a Distinctive Logo Design
If you know a bit about PHP code (or are willing to experiment), you can take a pre-made theme and make your own alterations as per your specifications. Also, many pre-made themes do include some degree of customisation, though it is limited. That’s where a bit of PHP coding knowledge and/or a sense of adventure can make your pre-made blog look extremely not pre-made. =)
Nice article Rajesh. The one priority I see most overlooked is people allowing their blogs to look tacky and unprofessional. I treat my blog like a business, and I believe that a bad first impression can drive an audience away permanently. On the flipside, a sleek and professional design can give you a great deal of credibility.
Thanks for posting!
Twitter: namaserajesh
If you know PHP and CSS then it’s easy to modify a theme as per your wish, you can easily add many functions into it, also using CSS you’re able to create unique design.
I agree, there are a couple of blogs that were using the same theme I was, so I switched it up and experimented with the colors and made it stand out. Great post and informative as well.
Twitter: namaserajesh
Nice decision Ryan, make your design unique
Rajesh Namase recently posted..How to Install WordPress on a Local Server (XAMPP)
If you want to choose a WordPress theme than there is nothing better than Genesis and Thesis because almost all problogger go with one of them and there are a lot of bloggers who does not know any coding and thus can’t create a new and unique design.
Anurag recently posted..Why your BLOG posts are Not going POPULAR anywhere?
Twitter: namaserajesh
Genesis is best framework I’ve ever seen, Thesis is also good. Using these framework one can easily create unique child themes.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Are You Making Use of the Powerful WYSIWYG HTML Editors?
Twitter: ArdivJauhari
I agree with your post, new blog should stick with the free ones at first and then once you get decent traffic you definitely need to upgrade to those custom theme to ensure that your site stands out from the pack!
Ardiv Jauhari recently posted..Top 5 Passive Income Ideas On The Internet
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah I agree, if your site has decent traffic use custom made theme and make your site a brand.
Twitter: timelessdetail
A template allowed myself as a young business owner to get our website up and running ASAP, since then I have been adding and removing elements and researched html in order for me to make it more distinguishable from the rest.
The template allowed me to build a basic structure which I would have struggled to do from scratch, Weebly seems to have worked great for me.
Richard Barker recently posted..5 Household Items to Help When Cleaning your Car
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah using templates it’s easy to design a website, and if you’ve HTML and CSS knowledge then it’s easy to make changes and make it more distinguishable.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Author Rank and Google Plus 1: Effects on Google Ranking
Thank you for sharing your best SEO ideas. It is certainly focus blog theme.. I also believe that in order to get a desired outcome, one needs to put considerable amount of efforts and money into something worthwhile.
Taswir Haider recently posted..How to Add Nofollow Tag to a Link in WordPress
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah, and taking efforts is worth to get desired output
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Author Rank and Google Plus 1: Effects on Google Ranking
Twitter: sorensjogren
I would also advocate a simple theme make by a person who is both able to make the graphics work well but also care for the quality of the code and hence the site’s load time.
There i no point in having a fancy design if no one wants to wait for it to load.
Soren Sjogren recently posted..Lead from the front: the single leadership trait that characterizes a great combat leader
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah load time is most important thing, your site’s page should load within 5 sec otherwise you’ll see high bounce rate.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Mistakes That You Should Avoid While Starting a New Blog
Hi Rajesh,
Let me say that the article is very good and informative. I totally agree with the points listed above. However I would like to add a comment and share my opinion. I personally prefer a custom design or at least customized. As I am not a developer and have no idea how to build a template from scratch I am downloading a template that meets the most of my criteria. The next step is to revise the source and remove all the unwanted stuff such as CSS, Java, images or other extra html elements. This way the performance can be increased and at the same time the big picture to be kept.
Erik Muller recently posted..How to care your leather handbag like brand new
Twitter: namaserajesh
I agree with you, if you’re not a developer you can check for exiting themes which meets your criteria. Also editing and removing unwanted stuff is necessary to improve load time, nice step.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Create Standout Brand Image with a Distinctive Logo Design
Twitter: etechmafia
A Custom Theme Flows a different kind of expression over reader’s mind.
I prefer using a custom theme.
Salman Ahmad recently posted..5 Easy Guidelines To speed Up WordPress Blog
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah, there are many advantages of using custom themes
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Author Rank and Google Plus 1: Effects on Google Ranking
Twitter: WebTechEra
Yeah Rajesh you are right theme matter for engaging visitor in your site. If you having cool and dashing theme may be it pre made or custom then there will be a engaging chances in your blog.
Rudra Rawat recently posted..Download Temple Run 2 .APK For Android
Twitter: namaserajesh
Readers engagement is most important, it’ll help to reduce bounce rate and will increase Adsense income
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Author Rank and Google Plus 1: Effects on Google Ranking
Twitter: FlyCFG
Nice post. First impressions ARE very important. How many times have you visited a site and thought \”Wow, that is ugly!\” You move on without looking any further. I also use both types of themes for blogs, but the custom themes give me much more flexibility so that I can eventually have the look I want.
Tim Grayson recently posted..Planning to Charter a Private Jet to Super Bowl XLVII?
Twitter: namaserajesh
I agree, if you’re using ‘ugly’ theme readers/visitors will left your site very quickly results in high bounce rate, and using custom theme is best choice.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Are You Making Use of the Powerful WYSIWYG HTML Editors?
Twitter: PTgifts
Hi Rajesh, I think a nice simple theme wins out for 3 reasons; 1. It is easy on the eye and makes the content clearer and easy to read. Which is essentially what the blog is there for!
2.It will improve page load speed
and finally
3. It’s easy to make!
Michael McNeillis recently posted..Keep Calm
Twitter: namaserajesh
I fully agree with you, thanks for adding your views here.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..How to Install WordPress on a Local Server (XAMPP)
thanks to share great SEO ideas and points.
Rahul recently posted..Sanaya Irani Aur Unke Boyfriend Mohit Sehgal Ki Love Story
Twitter: shathyan
Nice Article. Customizing the theme to our need is important. But this cannot be done by all right ?
As a newbie who entered blogging, it will be very difficult for them to learn customization and those things.
I would suggest you to have one article on how to customize the themes to our wish and need. Because since you have told its good for SEO, we all working to get better search results and ranking daily. So if customazation will be a part of it, then it would be nice to learn it and fo to our blog which will rank better and SEO.
Shathyan Raja recently posted..Price of Samsung Galaxy S 4 in US, UK and India
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah it’s little bit difficult to edit the themes, Yoast has shared awesome article on theme structure and SEO, please refer that article and edit your theme accordingly. Thanks.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..How to Create Sub-Domains Using XAMPP
Twitter: delanojohnson
Thanks for sharing. The simple theme is never mind, as long as it can be an eye-catching for people.
Or from template design, an elegant theme increases much traffic, but, it can be loaded fast. That’s our need.
And, don’t forget about the content we will take for people.
The nice theme without seriously content writing is nothing for me instead of the simple theme with the best content that people may read our articles continually. A cosiness, too.
Delano recently posted..Chicken Invaders 4 Android Games
If you’re just starting out the free templates are great to build off of.
Andrew Jenkins recently posted..Pressure Washing Tips & Tricks
Twitter: seojus1
I am having a very hard time in choosing a new theme. I know my site needs one desperately, but there are just too many to choose from. I think that even if you choose a pre-made theme, there is so much work and customization that goes into it that it becomes custom at the end.
Justin Musiker recently posted..iPhone Repair In Boca Raton
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah, I agree theme selection is really tough task, choose wisely.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Author Rank and Google Plus 1: Effects on Google Ranking
Twitter: philiposasu
If you want your blog stand out from the crowd,then custom theme is the way to go
Ebima recently posted..How to Add a Comment Policy Box Before Comment Form In Genesis Theme
Twitter: namaserajesh
I agree, for branding purpose custom theme is must.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..8 Great Android Apps for Music Lovers
Hello rajesh I like your point about brand image and Price. These are the important factors that influence the blogs performance.
Julidarma recently posted..The Effective Way To Lose Weight With Green Coffee
Twitter: turtlers_com
brand images and price do matter but still !a very simple blog layout is easy to load and also very user friendly.rather than complex and heavy themes !
harshi recently posted..Delete Personal Information From Internet Using DeleteMobile App
Twitter: namaserajesh
Load time is most important thing, and off course price of theme matters
Rajesh Namase recently posted..Redesign, Rebranding and More …
Twitter: internetdreamof
This is where I encourage the blogger to learn some parts of html and css.
This little knowledge can make a big difference if you are not liking a certain of your theme’s design.
Samuel Pustea recently posted..3 Twitter Tools For You To Succeed On Twitter!
Twitter: techupdatesorg
Well I use Pre Made one. However we can easily edit Pre Made Themes too.
Narender Chopra recently posted..SEOPressor : Best WordPress SEO Plugin Review
Twitter: namaserajesh
If you know CSS, HTML and PHP very well then it’s easy to edit pre-made theme
Rajesh Namase recently posted..On-Page SEO Tips
Twitter: apkpedia
custom themes are always difficult to implement as compared to pre made.
Muhammad Usman Butt recently posted..Android PAID KEYBOARD Application Pack [30 apps][updated to latest]
Twitter: namaserajesh
You can hire an experienced person to do that
I think that customized themes definitely have some advantages over pre-made samples. However, choosing a pre-made sample that is right for you is possible.
Jack Milgram recently posted..10 Funniest Quotes about Students
Twitter: Freebeewall
This is something i do know a bit about, not that im using a custom template at this time, but i think it depends alot on the niche you are in, if there is alot of competition on your niche it will be important to have a unique template/theme to your site, and as mentioned a brand. But saying that it does makes sense to use pre-made templates when you are first starting, and can make subtle improvments along the way.
Steve recently posted..Japanese Village In The Rain
Twitter: namaserajesh
Yeah, if many people are using same theme then there is no uniqueness, that’s why you can try custom made theme for unique designs.
Rajesh Namase recently posted..How to Install WordPress on a Local Server (XAMPP)
Twitter: Praveen_Bhrdwaj
First thing a reader will check about your blog is your design. Try to keep it simple yet eye catchy at the same time.
Thanks for your sharing. I am having a very hard time in choosing a new theme. I know my site needs one desperately, but there are just too many to choose from. I think that even if you choose a pre-made theme, there is so much work and customization that goes into it that it becomes custom at the end.
TeresaR recently posted..a-pathetic
Twitter: namaserajesh
There are many themes you’ve to choose such theme which fulfill your needs somehow. Plus you’ve to customize it so final design will be as per your views.
Yeah its hard to choose a blog theme, but thanks for your ideas! Cheers.
Justas recently posted..Jersey shore season 6 episode 14
Twitter: AlisonMSmith
One of the biggest problems I see among those who are NOT technical but want to make money blogging is that they get bogged down in design.
Instead of choosing a solid theme and getting busy with creating content, they send me endless emails about blog design minutia.
Alison Moore Smith recently posted..You’ve Just Got to Write!
The best way is to find the right niche to keep your reader comeing back. Design of a blog is important but I think superb content will defend itself.
Twitter: @rommysunnyblog
i believe in custom template at least i could learn more about new web development ideas where i can make post on what i learnt.
Rohan Mod recently posted..High CPC Keywords
Twitter: keralpatel
Personally I always prefer to get some basic theme and then build upon it. This way I do have good flexibility on what I want and what I will get out of it in end. Off the shelf things are also cool but it just feels bad when I see similar theme on some other blog out there.
Twitter: TechTipsWorld
Hi Rajesh – I like your post but I am little Against your final conclusion as you said premium themes are doesn’t regarded as unique but in my opinion today’s premium themes are coming with lots of customization features by which you can completely change the each & everything of theme from header to footer without using any coding and you can even change the name of theme and add little more tweaks so, that no one can know the name of the Installed theme and best thing is that it will save lots of precious time & money too
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Hey Rajesh,
Nice post and Thanks for sharing this post with us. Most of time, I prefer simple theme because for first time reader it become very simple for him to search any thing.
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