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Is A WordPress Theme Framework Right For Your Blog?

December 20, 2010 By 13 Comments

Over the past couple of years, WordPress theme frameworks have been growing in popularity. With features like SEO integration and clean coding, frameworks like Thesis, Headway, Genesis and Platform Pro are continuing to take their bite out of the premium WordPress theme market. As you look at your blog and try to decide what look is going to go over well with your readers, it is natural to look towards these options due to their popularity in the market and marketing push, but are they the right option for your blog?

Over the past couple of weeks, I have redesigned my two biggest blogs incorporating frameworks. This blog, Blogging Labs, got the Pagelines Platform Pro treatment and Bike198 made the switch to Studiopress’s Genesis framework. Before we jump straight into if you should be looking to frameworks for your blog, let’s take a quick look at the before and after on each of my blogs.

Pagelines Platform Pro - Blogging Labs

Studiopress Genesis - Bike198

You can see the layouts and themes live by clicking here: Bike198.com | Blogginglabs.com | StudioPress Genesis | Pagelines Platform Pro

The Positives: Theme Frameworks

WordPress theme frameworks provide a lot of positive features for the blogger and these features are what make frameworks popular today. Let’s take a look at some of the most significant.

Easy Upgrades Over Time

In a typical setup, a WordPress theme framework acts as the underbelly to your theme. When installed, you do not edit or make changes to the theme itself, but you instead make a “child theme” that lays over top the framework. All of your coding, design and other changes are made within this child theme separate of the framework. When it comes time to upgrade Thesis, Genesis or any other framework you chose to run, you can completely upgrade the theme without having to change the core files again to reflect your changes. This is HUGE for bloggers who have really created their own look.

Provides A Solid Foundation For Custom Themes

Before theme frameworks, when you wanted a full custom WordPress theme, your designer had to go through the long task of converting their pages into the WordPress format. This procedure had a large cost to it as they are trying to get a specific look to integrate with WordPress. With theme frameworks, designers can take that look and lay it over a solid WordPress foundation seamlessly drastically reducing the amount of time it takes to develop a custom look. This also reduces to the cost to the blogger and allows for more “custom” options to lower budgets.

On the bloggers end, it also does not keep you tied to one designer as most of the community can work directly over these frameworks, so if your designer decides to hang up his designing hat…you can still find someone else that can work on your site without having to dig through custom code. The framework’s code is also very clean, so the blogger does not have to worry about the designers coding ability as that can have an adverse affect on page load speed and SEO if done incorrectly.

Hooks Provide Placement Advantage

Do you want to add a advertisement at the bottom of every article? How about a new global nav? This used to be a hard and tedious procedure as you had to dig through pages of code and test what would work to edit your core files and add that feature. Now…with theme frameworks and their implementation of hooks, you can easily add elements to your blog without having to edit core files. Some frameworks like Headway and Platform Pro allow drag and drop functionality and other frameworks like Thesis and Genesis have plugins that make things easier on the blogger. Either way…you are guaranteed to be able to add elements quickly and easily without affecting your core files.

Negatives: Theme Frameworks

However, like most things in life…nothing is perfect so you need to take a look at these drawbacks to theme frameworks before you make the decision to use one on your blog.

Do You Know How To Design?

When you activate your theme framework for the first time, you are going to notice that your site looks incredibly bland. Have you ever seen those plain white Thesis based sites popping up all over the web? That is because they bought the theme, activated it and started writing without any real knowledge of what it takes to make a blog look unique. Your blog design is one of your most important converting elements behind content. Your blog needs to stand out amongst the competition…not look exactly like it. If you do not have the funds or ability to make your WordPress theme framework unique, you are going to get frustrated as your blog looks exactly like everyone else that just hit activate and got to work writing.

While there are some premium child themes on the market and companies like Studiopress offer different child themes to go over their frameworks, be prepared to spend extra cash on top of the framework itself if you do not have CSS and php knowledge. Theme frameworks are not just plug and play like some other options from WooThemes, Elegant Themes and WPZoom which offer more out of the box options.

SEO Integration vs. Long Term Options

One of the marketing tricks of WordPress theme frameworks has been SEO integration. While I agree that their clean code does greatly help with SEO over time (Google hates messy code), theme frameworks also advertise their SEO integration with titles, descriptions and other elements that were previously handled by plugins like All-In-One SEO. In my opinion, by integrating all of those elements into your theme, you are marrying yourself to that theme over time and insuring your repeat custom basis with that WordPress framework by making it harder to switch in the future if you look to integrate a different look or framework. While it is true that less plugins equal a faster site, I still keep my SEO duties to a plugin so if I want to change my theme sometime in the future…I do not have to worry about porting that integration.

My Recommendation To Bloggers

As you are probably wondering by now…what is my recommendation to bloggers as you look to WordPress themes as a way to make your blog unique? Both of my main blogs are now running theme frameworks for the benefits they provide my sites. However, I have enough CSS and php knowledge to create that custom look that I was after without having to spend any extra money for a custom design. If you do not have the ability or funds to create a more custom look than the standard white on black that theme frameworks provide, I would start looking at places like WooThemes, Elegant Themes, WPZoom and Theme Forest to find a layout and look that fits your blog. There are enough great looking premium themes out there that you should not have to worry about looking exactly like your competition.

If you can afford to pony up for the custom look or premium child theme, WordPress theme frameworks are a great way to get clean code and a custom look without paying the high cost of a full blown custom WordPress option. The cost difference is in the thousands and there are plenty of quality designers that will work straight over any of the theme framework options. That also provides you with a solid platform to create edits as you see fit without having to contact your designer with every change.

As with most things in life, there is not one solution for everyone. You need to look into your needs and abilities to see what is the right choice for you. Just because everyone else is doing it…that does not mean it is the right option for your blog. If you plan on throwing up a stock install of a Worpress theme framework and making a lasting impression on your readers…you are going to be disappointed in the end.

Theme References Mentioned In Article:

WordPress Theme Frameworks

Premium WordPress Themes

Filed Under: Blogging, Wordpress Theme Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What Is Your Blog Design Doing For You?

May 19, 2010 By 13 Comments

Blog and website design can be a tricky animal for bloggers that do not come from the design or marketing world. Your blog design is your digital business card that creates a snap judgment, first impression on new and existing readers, but…more importantly (and the most overlooked)…your blog design is your medium to convert readers into affiliate income, newsletter subscribers, rss subscribers and viral content spreaders. Is your blog design doing everything it can to insure that the function of your site is performing the necessary tasks? Or is it just what you like to look at on a daily basis?

What Is Your Blog Design Doing For You?

As you look into your own design to make tweaks or redesign it completely, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

  1. What is my blog design doing for me well now?
  2. What isn’t working in my design now?
  3. What do I want my design to do?

While these are simplistic questions with more complicated answers, they get you to the meat and potatoes of any design tweak or rework. There are plenty more questions you need to be asking, but this will get you started on the right track.

1. What Is My Blog Design Doing For Me Well Now?

What aspects of your blog seem to be performing well now? Are you getting a lot of comments? Are you seeing people retweet your articles? Maybe your newsletter and rss numbers are climbing. You need to take an objective look at your existing metrics to see what your readers are interacting well with now and what can be tweaked to increase those conversions.

Many times, simple changes in placement, wording or color can make drastic increases in conversions, so testing out different methods can prove to build upon already positive results. This essential testing through the use of monitoring your statistics and metrics can mean the difference between a successful blog design and one that is leaving things on the table.

2. What Isn’t Working In My Design Now

Do you have elements that are not converting well? Are there items within your design that are not doing anything at all?! If your design is not performing in certain areas, they either need to be reworked to trashed completely. Your screen real-estate is extremely valuable and limited. The last thing you want is a low converting element distracting your readers from more important high converting, business building elements in your design.

One of the biggest mistakes I see bloggers make is adding in too many low converting, non-business building functions into their blog designs.

If that new, super cool widget does not build your business, it needs to go. Do not clutter up your blog design by adding in the latest and greatest of everything. Your design needs to be based off a foundation of function…not what you think is cool that week.

3. What Do I Want My Design To Do?

This is the #1 most important question you need to ask yourself when you are looking at adding design elements or redesigning your blog. It is also the #1 question that 99.9% of bloggers fail to look at as they go through designing processes.

What are the major functions in your blog that need to convert for you to be successful?

  • Do you need to feature your newsletter sign up and free gift?
  • Do you need to have your articles spread through specific social media outlets?
  • Do you need your readers to dive deeper into your content?
  • Do you need to sell more eBooks?

Ask yourself the questions that need answers. Once you have those answers, you can tailor the elements of your design and blog experience around what is going to make you successful in the long run. If you need more newsletter sign-ups, then you probably need to feature that sign-up predominantly on the homepage and in an action section of your post pages (single.php). If you need to get your articles in front of the Reddit audience, you will need to have a share button for that specific social media site at the bottom of your posts.

How Can I Make The Blog Design Process Easier?

While this may seem like a lot to digest at once, you can make life much easier on yourself by following a couple of tips.

1. Use The Tools Available

With free analytics like Google Analytics and paid versions that create heat maps like Crazy Egg, you can find out what your readers are currently clicking on when they visit your blog. Crazy Egg takes it one step further to show you were their mouses are hovering as…statistically…the mouse pointer follows the eyes of most readers.

Tools like these will give you insight into what is working and what is not. They will also give you the ability to test out new placement and other ideas to see what converts better over time.

2. Start Off On The Right Foot

By starting off with a premium theme like the ones from WooThemes, you can cut out 70% of the work. There are plenty of free themes on the market, but the coding is typically subpar and it takes a TON of time to find one that fits the needs of your site. By ponying up and purchasing a premium theme, you can almost get away with doing nothing for awhile as many of the core features that are needed in blogging are built in.

3. Don’t Panic

Go into the design process with the mindset that you are there to make things better. Find excitement in the process and try to to get too overwhelmed as you dive into all that is blog design. Remember…you do not need thousands of dollars to create a quality, high converting blog design, you just need to ask the right questions…

Filed Under: Blogging, Tutorials/How To Tagged With: , , , ,

Review: WooThemes Premium WordPress Themes

January 22, 2010 By 6 Comments

In the blogging world, finding your unique look to separate your blog from the masses can be a difficult task. One of the first and most natural ways to set yourself apart from the rest is by investing in a premium WordPress theme that organizes and presents your content professionally while still holding true to your voice. In this premium WordPress theme review, we are taking a look at WooThemes and their features for bloggers and website owners. Having used several of their themes for multiple purposes (including the current theme on RobbSutton.com), I have had a lot of experience with WooThemes over the years…so let’s take a look inside.

Behind the Scenes – Woothemes

As with most premium WordPress themes, WooThemes has their own backend mangement system to let you control things like color scheme, logo insertion, javascript insertion (stat trackers, etc) and other specific tasks that relate to the function of the theme on your blog. Recently updated to 2.0, the new Woo Framework provides a lot more user friendly interface with a couple of new options.

WooThemes Framework 2.0

The previous generation, while looking good on the outside, was rather slow and clunky. With 2.0, WooThemes streamlined and made a much faster interface that is easier to use. Honestly, this is a HUGE upgrade over the previous version from a usability standpoint. The crew over at WooThemes also added a feature that I used to have to get custom coded in the past…including the post image in your RSS feed when you use the WooThemes image resizer. In previous generations, this was not possible without some custom work.

WooThemes Post Options

Within each individual post draft screen, you are given options to include an image in your post that will be used for the thumbnail in archives and on the homepage and…in this case…an option to embed a video that can also automatically display in a widget on your blog. On the post screen, WooThemes keeps things simple with only what you really need. While there are other themes on the market that want you to integrate the SEO with their theme structure, I actually recommend using a plugin like All-In-One or Platinum SEO for those duties so that you are not tied to a theme for your blog’s search engine optimization. WooThemes kept it simple, so it doesn’t clutter up your draft screen with items you are not going to use.

The CSS within the WooThemes markup is organized and easily editable. With the inclusion of a custom CSS file, you can edit your look and still make upgrading easy in the future. Each of the templates for sidebar.php, single.php, etc. are also well organized for easy editing. If you are looking to jump in and start hacking away…it is easy to do within their current file structure.

WooThemes On The Outside

With over 50 themes available and multiple color schemes for each theme, you can almost guarantee a unique look for your blog by simply adding your logo. However, WooThemes does have a unique look, so your readers will be able to tell where you got your theme from, but that is not a bad thing if done correctly.

WooThemes provides some of the best looking themes on the market for WordPress, but they are heavily image based. What does that mean for you? To get a really unique look out of a WooTheme, you are going to have to edit some image files and not just straight css. This also…typcially…makes your site load a little bit slower than the guys running a plain white Thesis Theme layout, but that is the price you pay for having a unique look on your blog.

WooThemes provides several different widgets, color options and other built in features to bring functionality and uniqueness to your blog.

Final Thoughts On WooThemes

I have tried A LOT of premium WordPress themes over the years and WooThemes is the one that I come back to every time. With organized code and plenty of options for a lot of different site layouts, they are a go to option for anyone looking for a custom, unforgettable look on their blog. WooThemes is well tailored for beginning bloggers looking for a unique look without a lot of technical knowledge and for advanced coders looking for a solid foundation to build a custom blog off of.

What I Like About WooThemes
  • Easy to use backend administration system with a ton of features (including ad integration)
  • Unique look due to 50+ options and multiple color schemes
  • Consistent quality across all themes
  • Easy to customize markup
  • Great pricing for premium WordPress themes
What I Don’t Like About WooThemes
  • Loads slower than some of the competition because of image based design
  • High popularity could mean similar look

Click here to check out the premium WordPress themes from WooThemes

Filed Under: Reviews, Wordpress Theme Tagged With: , , ,

Are you more worried about your blog design than content?

July 30, 2009 By 3 Comments

Blogging is all about quality content, but the way your content is presented to your readers through your blog design can have a strong impact on repeat visits. When beginner bloggers take on the task of setting up a successful blog, they take at look at other successful blogs in their niche (and sometimes the blogging/make money online niche) for ideas on blog design and layout. This normally equates to an obsession over every little design detail on your blog while you forget about content production. Much like an obsessed lawn perfectionist, we may worry about what everything looks like on the outside and forget the dense roots that make up our blog…the content. Without strong, healthy roots, the lawn can not flourish and grow, so we will be left with brown waste after hours of labor.

Falling Into the Perfectionist Mentality in Blog Design

It is a hard battle to fight. I have fallen into the obsessed blogger fretting over every pixel that graces the screen of a potential reader trap time and time again. As bloggers, we want our blogs to portray our voice, look unique and also look professional for potential new readers and advertisers. When we worry about every aspect of our blog design, we are getting away from producing quality content that will ultimately grow our blogs in the long haul. When you add the inexperience in coding that most blogger posses (minus the actual designers out there), the time wasted multiplies rapidly.

So how can we get away from the design obsession trap?

Here are a couple of tips/tricks that will keep your perfectionist mind at ease and allow you to focus on what is important as you grow you blog.

Designs come and go…but content is here to stay – Over the course of long term blogging, your design will change and adapt with the times. As new standards of html hit the streets and CMS’s like WordPress continue to evolve, you are going to change your blog design several times. Your content, however, is here to stay. Each time you change your design, you are changing how your existing content displays on the screen, so don’t you think it is more important to focus on the asset that is unchanging?

Buy a high quality premium blog theme – This site uses the Thesis Theme by DIYThemes…I have used various themes from the crew at WooThemes…there are dozens, if not hundreds, of high quality premium themes on the market that will give your blog a high quality, professional look by simply hitting activate and swapping out a logo. High quality, premium themes are also easily modified in the future for less than building up a custom theme from scratch. Typically, premium WordPress themes run in the 60 – 100 dollar range for a single use license and for that price…they are well worth the money.

Have Cash? Outsource and go custom with your blog design – Have the cash to throw down on a blog design? Outsource your design to a design firm that specializes in blog design. For Mountain Biking by 198, I hit up the crew at JusttheWeb.com for a great custom theme that really sets my blog away from the competition. I was able to work hand in hand with Just the Web as we tailored MTB198′s design to exactly what I needed and how the site was performing. The result was fantastic and the weight was off my shoulders as I continued to pump out content during the process.

As you can see by these tips, the goal is to take away the stress of blog design to allow you to focus on the vastly more important content production task. By focusing on blog content, you are able to solidify solid roots on your blog that will end up being the foundation for your future.

Obsessed Lawn image by Jez Page

Filed Under: Blogging Tagged With: , ,