Invest in a PREMIUM WordPress Theme – Money well-spent.

I like cheap.

Actually, I much prefer free!

But I’ve also come to realize…if I want my site to really stand out from every other resource online, showcasing a quality layout can truly make a difference.

For me, "quality" translates into  the following 3 components (and you can see an example at my former site, Virtual Coach):

• Tasteful visual goodies (ie, jquery sliders that showcase a moving gallery of articles/pictures)
• Intuitive layout (ie, categories/pages are already structured in such a way that makes it simple to navigate)
• Useful content (that’s where you come in!)

Now, if you can hack your WordPress code yourself, you can easily achieve the above.  Alas, however…not everyone can.   And in cases like that, investing in a Premium WordPress theme can make quite a lot of sense.

I used the WPZoom Yamidoo theme over at Virtual Coach; it was definitely worth the investment.

Another great place for WordPress Themes is Studio Press – over a dozen niche themes are available like

and many more.

Thesis is also a very popular theme – you can check out the showcase of sites that use it here (including Copyblogger!).

And don’t forget WooThemes – you’ll find goodies like

Now, what about free wordpress sites?  This site, BarbaraLing.com, uses the Branford theme – I customized it to my liking and for my own purposes here, it works very spiffy indeed.

I even found a book that walks you thru HOW to customize it as well (with plenty of other excellent tips) over at

Sites That Soar

So…if you don’t want to pay for a custom theme, but DO want to know how to make one sing…you should definitely consider that.

Enjoy,

Barbara Ling