Blog theme: does it still matter?

DoorNicole Orriens

blog theme

Oh, to go back to the days when decorating your blog theme with all kinds of cute stuff like counters, moving giphies and floral wallpapers!

Those were the days!

I loved those days.

I sometimes long for those days.

Blog theme nowadays less is more

Because these days when it comes to your blog theme, less is definitely more. It's all about speed! The most important thing is that your blog loads fast. And unfortunately that means you better not decorate it to an inch of its life. Because that kind of stuff makes your blog load slower.

And nobody likes a slow loading blog.

No matter how lovely it looks. In fact, most people will have it the back button before they even get to see how lovely your blog looks.

All mobile themes kind of look the same

Apart from that, most people will probably use their mobile phone to visit your blog. And I don't know about you, but to me most blogs kind of look the same on mobile. All the cutesy stuff is gone on mobile.

So that leads me to the question: does a blog theme still matter? 

Why bother, if you can't see how cute it is on mobile?

Why blog themes still matter!

Yes, a blog theme still matters! But mostly because of how fast it is, and how well it provides a good user experience. It's less about the looks of a theme and more about the user experience.

How to choose your blog theme wisely

So when you want a new blog theme, it's still important to choose the right one. These are the criteria I use when choosing a blog theme:

  1. Is it fast loading?
  2. Is it responsive?
  3. Does it look good on both desktop ánd mobile?
  4. What's the support like?

How to add a personal touch to your blog theme

Once you make sure you've got the technical aspects of your blog theme right, you can still try to add some personality to your blog so it stands out on mobile. But always make sure these personal touches don't negatively affect the loading time of your blog.

Make a splash with your header

A good way to make your blog stand out on mobile is with the header of your blog. But make sure you minimize the header image with TinyPng before uploading.
And you might try adding dividers between blog posts or choose a gridlike style for the homepage.

Reading tips for bloggers

Have a look at the list of blog themes I made in 2013! and read my post about moving from WordPress to Blogger. Yes you read that right! I moved some of my blogs back from WordPress to Blogger.
What do you think about blog themes nowadays? Are they indeed boring looking? How do you make sure your blog has 'personality'?

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3 reacties

  1. Yes I think blog theme's still matter. I think it's a reflection of us. And you are so right about the technical details. I'm commenting today from my main blog on WordPress but my other blog is over on Blogger. Great information here. I appreciated reading this.
    Visiting today from Unlimited Linky #99 #121&122

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  3. I miss those days of the cute wallpaper and gadgets, too! It was so fun. I just moved from Blogger to WordPress last year, so I'm curious to read your back to Blogger post!

    Beantwoorden

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