One of the building blocks of a popular website is its design.

It’s the first thing the visitor sees when they happen upon your site and first impressions are the most important to new users. There’s something about a website with a good design. You get the feeling that the author actually cares about what he/she is presenting to you, and it will probably cause you to take them a bit more serious then if they were using a default template. What I mean by default template is, when you install say Wordpress for the first time, you’ll notice that they install a basic template for you right off the bat. Although it’s very nice of them to do this for you, if you don’t change it, every one that visits your site will think to themselves… oh this guy is new, lemme see if I can find a better site that has the information I want. You don’t want that. What you want is for them to bookmark your site and visit it everyday, a bunch of times.

Getting a good design is easier then you think, and most of the time its free.

I’m actually using a free design I downloaded from WPskins, granted it’s not a fully custom theme, more on custom later, it’s a good start. I changed the header graphic around a bit, and threw in little bits here and there to show off my own style. Usually the designs creator will let you do this, as long as you keep their links in the footer of your website. Now, you could add your own graphic work in to the design or you might be able to commission a graphic designer to do it for you, usually they do headers and logos for $100-$500 dollars, depending on how intense it should be. You can find a great bunch of artists at ClanTemplates or one of my favorite forums at Sitepoint or you can head on over to Smash and get some free header templates. Now there might be other sites using the same theme as yours but with those little changes it sets it apart some or you could always go with a fully custom design.

Here’s an example of a free design.

Not too shabby.

Getting a custom design for your website is the ideal way to go.

It’s completely different then any other site out there, and will convey to your readers that your really serious about the experience you want them to have on your website. It sets you apart from other sites, and you own the design. No one else will ever be able to use it. Unless you sell it of course. The only downside to having a custom theme is cost. It can cost from $1000 and upwards to have one done. You might be able to find a guy that’s friends with your brothers sisters mother-in-law who’ll give you a deal, but thats unlikely.

My suggestion is to go get a free theme and use it, then take any of the monies you’re making with your website, which might take some time to build up, and get yourself a custom design.

I’ve opted for the free somewhat custom design, and I’m currently saving up for a custom theme. Who knows maybe I’ll learn how to do it myself.

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