Whether you’re starting a blog on WordPress as a way to keep your family and friends informed of what you’re doing, you want to share your opinions with the world and meet like-minded people across the globe, or you’d like to add value to your business website by providing customers with the updated content you can offer via a blog (while increasing your ability to practice SEO), you’ll find that there are plenty of options to help you kick off your blog right. And once you’ve got a basic idea in place for content, as well as a plan for archiving and updating, you might want to start thinking about the layout and the finishing touches. Although WordPress offers a slew of ready-made themes to choose from, many bloggers are interested in the prospect of customization to ensure that they’re online offerings stand out from the herd. So here are just a few easy ways to go about customizing whichever WordPress theme you choose as a springboard for you blog design.

1. Use branded content. Perhaps the best way for businesses to customize their WordPress blog is by adding branded content, including their company name and logo on the header, as well as graphics, approved text, and even colors that match their other branded materials (online and in print). This will help you to stand out from the crowd and it will make your blog recognizable to anyone that is already familiar with your brand. As for bloggers that aren’t incorporated, there’s no reason not to start developing your personal brand via your blog.
2. Change the layout. Whether your theme offers direct customization or you need to go into template files in order to edit the layout, making changes to headers, footers, sidebars, and so on can help you to create the custom blog space you have in mind. Even small changes like this can help to differentiate your WordPress blog from others with the same theme.
3. Alter fonts and colors. You may choose a theme based on certain elements, such as the layout, with the idea of changing the fonts and colors so that they’re more in keeping with your brand, your niche, or your personal taste. This is just one more way to get the aesthetic you want for your blog.
4. Add plugins. You might be surprised by how many plugins are compatible with WordPress. In fact, they have an official directory (wordpress.org/plugins/) to help you choose the ones that are right for your site. They currently offer more than 27,000.
5. Create your own graphics. Rather than using clip art provided by WordPress or other sites, consider getting crafty and creating your own buttons, bars, photos, and an entire infographic world to post on your blog. The more custom content you create, not just textual, but graphic, as well, the better chance you have to design a truly unique experience for visitors. Although you may have chosen WordPress for your blog building experience because it is easy to get started, mainly thanks to ready-made templates and themes, you will certainly pick up the knowledge and skills needed to customize your blog over time if you make an effort to learn (and there are plenty of tutorials out there to guide you). Before long you’ll be able to implement all of the customization you want.

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Written by Sean Pollock