Why You Need a Custom WordPress Theme

These days, millions of people use WordPress to run their websites, and why not? It's easy to install, easy to use, and looks pretty good.  When you want to change the look of your site, there are a ton of free templates available that you can install with the press of a button.  

So why would you ever want to pay good money to hire a professional wordpress designer? Generally the main reason would be that you're using WordPress to run a blog, and you want it to be integrated into the rest of your website. No prebuilt theme, whether it's one of the many free themes or a multi-hundred-dollar premium theme, is going to perfectly match a custom site, which means it's going to take some coding to make it look great.

Another reason is if you want features that aren't available in most themes. For example, free (and even premium) themes generally offer a limited amount of customization options without digging into the code; a deluxe theme can let you set all kinds of options from inside the WordPress administration panel. If you're looking for new functionality, you might be able to get it from a plug-in, but not all plug-ins work with all themes, and the plug-in you need (if it exists) could also be incompatible with other plug-ins you're using. Much better to simply have that functionality build into the WordPress theme itself!

So, once you've determined that you need a custom theme, what's the next step? Unless you're comfortable coding the theme yourself (WordPress themes are essentially a collection of PHP and CSS files), you'll need to hire someone to do it for you. It's best to find someone with experience in both graphic design (to make your theme look like the rest of your side), coding (to make your theme work correctly), and SEO (so people can find your blog). Once you find a designer you're interested in, ask to see samples of work they've already done; if they really do have experience with theme design, they'll probably be happy to show you what they can do.

Now it's time for the shameless plug: we'd love to design and build your theme (and the rest of your website, if needed) for you! Check us out at http://oneearproductions.com! We'll be happy to share some of our designs with you!

Want to see some of the sites we've been working on lately? Check out our facebook page,  which also shows some of our video and print work, and hosts some great money-saving coupons.