Prior to the domain 5NorthMarketing.com changing ownership in 2017, a wonderfully informative marketing blog lived at this address. Below is one of the archived articles from back then. Please note that the content below is not property of the current owners of 5NorthMarketing.com but, we believe, contains wonderfully written and insightful information worth sharing.
Posted on March 10, 2012
Everyone wants a beautiful blog design.
A design that stands out from the crowd.
But custom designs are super expensive.
They cost at least a few thousand dollars.
That's great for the guys (and gals) who can afford it, but for everyone else, what's the easiest and cheapest way to get a beautiful blog design?
Let's find out.
Buying a premium theme is the easiest and cheapest way to get a beautiful blog design.
Instead of paying a designer for a custom theme, you pay a theme company for a beautifully designed premium theme.
It's that easy.
You buy a theme for between $40 and $100, you install the theme, and then instantly, you have a beautiful blog design.
A design that stands out.
A design that would cost thousands of dollars if you paid to have it custom made.
What's not to like about that?
The problem with free themes is that they never look good enough.
They look cheap (unless customized), and it's impossible to get every feature you want on a single theme.
I've been there, scouring the free themes for hours trying to find the perfect one, installing it, and then scouring for hours more one week later because the first one doesn't look right.
Forget about wasting valuable time looking for the perfect free theme. It doesn't exist! I'm convinced!
Instead, drop a little cash for a premium design you like and that looks great.
You'll save time which is money, and you'll have a beautifully designed site that looks awesome.
So which premium themes should you consider?
I'm convinced that Studiopress themes are the best of the best.
They're built on the Genesis framework that has built in SEO controls (awesome!) and the code is super easy to work with (in case you ever need a developer to customize the theme).
Other premium themes can have code that's difficult to work with. I'm not going to name which one, but I've had problems with customizing certain premium themes.
That's a hassle.
With a Studiopress theme on the Genesis framework, you get a beautifully designed theme on a premium framework that makes it easy to optimize for search engines and has clean code for customizing.
Awesome.
Just in case you'd like more options (let's face it, their designs won't fit everyone's need), here are some other great premium themes:
So what do you think? Are you ready to get a beautifully designed professional blog?
Great. Get out there and buy your theme today!