If you are blogging at WordPress.com, you do not have much options in choosing the best theme for your blog. Even if you already have your own domain, you are still stuck with the 77 free themes in your dashboard, most of which are plain and boring. So if you are really serious about blogging, consider getting a web hosting account. It’s not really that expensive. JustHost (my web host) offers unlimited hosting for only $3.45 a month. You might want to check it out (disclosure: I am a JustHost affiliate, hence, the banner on top of my page).

There are so many advantages in getting your own web host that it would take another post to enumerate some of them. Suffice it to say here that if your blog is self hosted, you would have all the freedom to do whatever you want to do with your site, and that includes placing ads and getting your blog a make over, to name a few.

To improve the look of your blog, I suggest you don’t rely on search engines to find themes because most great themes don’t always come on top of search lists. Instead, browse around the blogosphere, read other people’s blogs and observe their design, arrangement of widgets and all the little details. When you see a theme that you like, look at the footer and see if it’s a WordPress blog. If it is, you will most likely see what theme it is. You can then find out if it’s free or not. Doing this not only leads you to the best themes available, you also get to learn from other successful bloggers. Plus you can also get some idea how to customize themes by just looking at their blogs.

This blog uses Roundly Theme from New WP Themes. It looks so good I can’t almost believe it’s free. Unbelievable? Go check it out. Have fun and enjoy.

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