WordPress themes are generally free. The creators of themes usually ask that their link remain intact at the footer of the screen on every page so that anybody who likes it can click through, and possibly buy premium themes from the theme developers. More often than not, free themes will have exactly the same features as premium themes, so there’s no real need to pay out silly money on something that works just as good for free. The WordPress site itself has many free themes by enthusiastic developers, and every day new themes are added. The main thing to consider is what type of content you are going to be publishing, so it fits in well with the design.
Magazine type sites, like this one, provide an area for featured content, as well as normal content. Also, you will see video categories, linked from the home
page. Featured content is ideal for any posts you create that are monetized. You want to channel as much home page traffic to the featured area of your site as possible, so an attention grabbing image with text is required. Magazine style sites work well for media rich content, but if you just have text based information on your site, with the occasional image, then you may want to look into Journal type themes. These provide you with basic post layouts, that have a large header, and good sized post pages. If you want a graphically rich website, then you need to look more into premium themes, because these will have an animated home page, usually, and large linked areas to featured content.
For the most part, magazine type themes are the ideal solution for most bloggers, as you can add and remove functionality depending on your needs. You do not have to have the video section linked from the home page, and you only need to display the content you want.
Written by Andrew Fitzgerald - Make Money Blogging
