“One can never know for sure what a deserted area looks like.” – George Carlin

When I first started blogging, I was tempted to spend money on premium templates that all came with guarantees that I’d be drowning in readers. For whatever reason, I actually don’t remember why, I decided to start off with a free theme. What I chose is what you see here today, I actually like it’s look.

While I like my theme and it’s good for blogging, I don’t use it with my niche sites. Not enough people will click through the back catalog and a lot of posts that were popular while on the front page only get one or two clicks a day. Once a post gets past page one very few people will take a look at it.

In there prime, most of these posts got thousands of views. “The Morals of Chess” even got picked up by Reddit and was once my most popular post. Now it gets a view a day. Since I write here for fun, it doesn’t really bother me if no one goes through the back pages. With business it’s a little different.

Instead of using a blogging theme I use the Amazon Niche WordPress Theme. While I actually don’t like the look as much, it does get people to buy things. Additionally the theme is pretty simple and I only use it to sell a very small range of products. It’s great for what I need.

Earlier this week I launched a new site, that might actually be one of a kind. It relied heavily on imagery and I didn’t feel like either of the themes that I had previously used were up to the task. After a little experimentation, I settled with a free WordPress theme. My choice was still simple to operate, but has a much sleeker and professional look. While it wouldn’t be appropriate to use on this blog or my other niche site, it fits the new project perfectly.

There’s no universal theme that works. I’ve seen plenty of great site and styles that were simply incongruent with one another. Rather than worrying about what will look cool, try and focus on what fits. A website about toothpaste or tube socks, probably won’t need flashy transitions and a lot of interactive features. Likewise a commerce site relies more on imagery and values style over substance.

if you’re looking for a theme that fits your site, be sure to check out all the free options that are availible on both WordPress and Blogger. If you don’t see anything that you like, I recommend either scouring a site like ThemeForest! or checking out the Amazon Niche WordPress Theme. I’ve had great experiences with both.

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