Money Well Spent

Another thing I am thankful for…
I continued to learn more about WordPress, and one of the things I learned about was premium themes. Yes, the best thing about WordPress is that it is free! But there are limitations to free. First of all, there’s absolutely free, which is launching your blog on http://www.wordpress.com. You can host your blog on the WordPress site, but your url will include wordpress in it,not a very good decision for a business. After all, if you can’t afford the hosting service, should you really be in business? That said, you are also limited in the themes as well as the options available within those themes. There are currently 60 themes available on wordpress.com.
Once you choose to host your own blog, you can upgrade to http://www.wordpress.org. And there the options become endless! You can choose from the many themes offered by WordPress, or you can venture onto other sites that offer free WordPress themes. And these sites allow you to install plugins and personalize them for your needs. But, and yes, there is always a but, most of these free themes don’t come with support. And when you are a novice like me, that can be very frustrating. Around the time I was ready to give up, I found out about premium themes. Yes, premium means you have to pay for them. The benefit is that you get a support plan when you purchase the theme.
I have purchased themes from Studio Press (Streamline) and DIYThemes (Thesis) for a minimal investment. And both are amazing! They are very different, but filled with more options than I can use. And when I have needed help, I have received it, quickly. So, while I also host WordPress free themes, I am oh so thankful for my premium themes. It was money well spent!