Chapter 6 Which Blog Theme Should You Use?

(I Recommend GeneratePress)

Welcome to Chapter 6 of The Blog Strategist’s Master Blogging Course. In this module, we will explore the best blog themes that you should choose & how to install a theme in WordPress.

A blog theme is essentially the design of your blog. It’s what you install in WordPress to give a specific look & feel to your blog.

Choosing the right blog theme is a critical decision – because it’s your blog’s design! Moreover, in case you choose the wrong theme – switching to the right one later will pose to be a huge headache. It’s quite easy to switch web hosts, but not so much with themes. Once you change themes, even a minor design element can cause total disruption across your blog.

Be very careful about the theme you choose. Simply assume that there are no second chances & choose the best fit for your blog. Don’t worry, you can change themes when you are starting out without any hiccups. But once you have finished designing your blog & have a few blog posts, it becomes a terrifying activity.

Do not worry, let me tell you the best themes available so that you can crack it the first time itself & never have to change it again. Through this module, we will see:

Why it’s important to choose the right blog theme
What are the factors to consider while choosing a theme?
Free vs Paid themes – Which one should you choose?
Why GeneratePress is my #1 recommendation
Why you shouldn’t go for fancy themes
Other good alternative themes
How to install & activate a WordPress theme?

Before we begin, here’s the table of content for this course. I recommend starting from the first chapter if you are new to blogging & want an overview of how to set up a successful blog. This is a standard section meant for first-time TBS visitors. If you’re a returning visitor, please feel free to skip this section & move ahead to the module content below.

This is one of the chapters of “The Blog Strategist’s Master Blogging Course”. This free course includes multiple chapters covering the A-Z of everything you need to know to achieve blogging success (and mostly everything you would probably find on a $497 paid blogging course). I know it because I personally bought and went through thousands of dollars worth of blogging courses and scoured through 1000s of articles & videos on blogging over the last decade!

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Choosing the right theme is not just about your blog design, but also about your blog performance, SEO & more. It’s a critical blogging decision with a lot of say in your blogging success.

Factors to consider while choosing a blog theme...

Please try to ensure the below while choosing a theme for your blog:

Light weight – for a fast blog
SEO optimized – to rank in search engines
Mobile responsive – to give a good UI & reading experience to mobile readers
Secure – to avoid hacks & security issues
Has a premium version – so that you can upgrade in future & get all advanced features
Offers great support (post purchase mainly) – so that you get help in case of technical challenges

GeneratePress is my #1 Recommended Theme

I recommend using the GeneratePress theme.

Why GeneratePress?

Because it’s a light-weight, beginner-friendly & simple theme.

With over 6 million downloads, it’s one of the most popular themes in the world.

The Blog Strategist is built on GeneratePress & many of my other websites also are.

Free vs Paid Version - Which one should you get?

It’s a question that troubles most bloggers who’re starting out. Here’s my take on it!

Either ways, the best part about GeneratePress is that they offer a free version with basic features needed.

But, if you have the budget to purchase GeneratePress premium, you should do it (it’s only $59/year).

Upgrading themes mid-way is not easy, it’s better to start with a pro plan. I’d always recommend this strategy for themes & page builders. Going premium in beginning can help you avoid redesigns at a later stage.

But I understand that not everyone is financially comfortable to invest in themes. I couldn’t afford a premium version when I started blogging for the first time a decade back. Today’s a different situation, but not back then. Please don’t worry if you can’t get a premium version today. You can switch over to the premium version once your blog starts making money that you can reinvest.

Anyways, only a handful of people visits your site at the beginning and a free theme would suffice. But once you cross the 1000 monthly visitors mark, you should consider switching over to Generatepress premium. Because it’ll unlock a whole lot of design features & functionalities.

The main reason why I suggested premium in the beginning is to avoid having to do any redesigns later. You should be focusing heavily on content in the first 2 years, not the design part. Going pro & closing the designs at the onset will keep your focus on content through the remaining part of your blogging journey.

At the end of the day, having a good looking, clean & well-performing website is also important.

And in case you already own a blog with a decent daily viewership, I highly recommend you to switch over to a premium, light-weight theme.

Don't fall for fancy, heavy weight themes...

If you search around, you will find themes that cater to specific niches. And some that cater to everything.

For example, Newspaper is a highly popular theme used to build news and magazine blogs. Foodie Pro is another popular theme used by cooking and recipe blogs. Then there are all in one themes like Divi, Avada, etc.

I absolutely do not recommend using such niche or all-in-one themes.

The demos might look fancy, but you should realize that more the features – the slower your theme gets & the more cluttered it becomes.

Of course, it’s important to have a good looking website. But it’s also important to have a fast website. And you need a light-weight theme for website speed.

Reality is that most themes just add a lot of unwanted code & complexity to your website. Always try to go for a simple, light weight theme (with minimal code).

What are the best alternative Themes?

I am personally a big fan of GeneraPress. I believe that you can build any kind of website with a combination of GeneraPress Premium & Elementor Pro (we’ll see this in next chapter)

Apart from GP, another theme that I would recommend is Astra.

Astra also offers a free theme for beginners (with option to convert to premium & avail advanced features as your blog grows) and is a simple, light-weight theme.

Moreover, the majority of Google search comes from mobile devices nowadays.

It’s important to ensure that your theme is mobile responsive.

Generatepress & Astra are both mobile responsive (in case you are wondering).

Having a light-weight theme definitely helps, but it is not a deal breaker. If you feel design is important & you work in a niche where design plays a big role in engaging readers, you can choose heavy-weight themes.

Pro Tip: Opting for managed hosting like DreamPress will help you speed up your website if you go ahead with heavy-weight themes.

When it comes to heavy-weight themes with inspiring designs, I would recommend Restored 316 themes.

I love their theme repository. Of course, these are heavy-weight themes that can impact page load & speed, but they are just stunning.

I would highly recommend these themes in case you’ve decided to go the other way.

Below is a sample of “Limoncella Theme” by Restored 316. How beautiful is it!

I use this theme in one of the visual-first blogs I run!

Restored 316 themes are costly, in the range of $149 to $249. But they are just beautiful!

Please note that even though I love Restored 316 themes visually, I would recommend you to go with GeneratePress if you are starting out. It’s beginner-friendly, light-weight & fast. It’s what I use in all my blogs, except one (where I use Restored 316).

How to Install And Activate a WordPress Theme? (The Technical Part)

Follow the below steps to install a WordPress theme. Images have also been provided to better illustrate the steps.

In the navigation panel on the left side of the WordPress dashboard, click on “Appearance“
Choose “Themes” from the drop-down options under the Appearance section.
Then click on the “Add new” button at the top.

There are two methods to install a new theme.

The first option is to upload a new third-party theme as a zip file.
The second option is to search for a theme in the WordPress theme repository.

If you have bought a premium theme from GeneratePress, Astra, Restored 316 & others, you will receive a zip file which you have to upload to WordPress (Option 1)

For free themes, you can search directly in “Search Themes” (Option 2) & obtain the themes.

Let’s see both options in more detail.

Option 1: Install Theme Using Third-Party Zip File Upload

In order to install a third-party WordPress theme:

Click on the “Upload Theme” option at the top of the WordPress dashboard.
Click on “Choose File“. And select the zip file of your theme.
Click on “Install Now“

Your new theme will now be installed. You will have to activate the theme in order for your site to reflect the changes made by the new theme.

To activate the uploaded theme,

Visit the “Appearance” section in the left-side WordPress navigation panel.
Click on “Themes“

You will now see the themes that you have installed as well the default WordPress themes which were already present.

Click on the “Activate” button to activate your theme.

Just so that I do not over-recommend GeneratePress and keep neutrality, I’ll use Astra images for showcasing examples below.

With that, the new theme will be activated on your blog. You can now visit your website to see if the new theme is getting reflected.

Option 2: Install New Themes From The WordPress Theme Repository

The second option is to install and activate themes directly from the WordPress theme directory.

In order to do that:

Type the name or keyword of your preferred theme on the “Search Themes” panel

You will find the theme in the search results.

Click on the “Install” button

This will install your theme. The next step is to activate the installed theme.

Just after clicking on the “Install” button, you will find an “Activate” button in its place. You can also see that the theme will now be shown as “Installed”.

Click on the “Activate” button.

You can now visit your blog to verify if the new theme is getting reflected or not.

If yes, you now have a blog with a new theme and design your readers would love.

I hope this guide was useful to you in choosing the blog theme. If you feel there is something I missed out, any doubts or suggestions you have – please let me know in comments section below. I promise you I’ll try to incorporate all genuine feedback to make this guide even better. Please don’t limit to just feedbacks, let me know your views & thoughts on this topic!

And if you liked the guide & found the content helpful – kindly share it with your friends, with someone you feel will benefit from it. Also, please feel free to bookmark the guide or pin it so that you can access it anytime!

So, take your time & finalize the theme you want to go ahead with. Once you have the theme installed & activated, the next step is to set up the necessary plugins.

Let’s continue!

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Chapter 6

Which Blog Theme Should You Use?