Would you listen to the authority of someone who had a site that was hosted on free hosting? I remember visiting a “build your wealth” site that was hosted on free hosting and I immediately left the site! First impressions count and as someone working towards becoming an authority in my field I really want to make sure I portray a professional look to everything I do and that includes the way my blog looks to first time visitors.
I have long been a fan of premium Wordpress themes and have invested in a developer license in the past to ensure I can use them across multiple sites so I haven’t bothered looking at a new template for quite a while until yesterday! I was sent a link to a new premium wordpress theme called Stardust, created by the young designer Ben Cope (also known as InternetGenius) who specializes in Wordpress themes for professionals (not your $20 themes but more top of the range) looking to brand themselves.
The new Stardust premium Wordpress theme has some great features including the ability to make your site look less like a blog and more like a website if you prefer that look. It is totally optimized for the search engines and has a wonderful back office that is easy to adjust and can be changed to reflect your own style.
What makes this professional Wordpress theme stand out is the ability to brand yourself on the front page. You can add an image, include a video or a sign up box to build your list and you can include a link to four of your most important sections of your blog.
Totally integrated with social media it makes getting followers a breeze!
There are a couple of sites as showcase on the main Stardust site and I noticed that all the sidebars are on the left hand side but it mentions flexibility in terms of layout so hopefully the sidebar isn’t fixed to be on the left only because then customization becomes a little more difficult but despite that I am still really impressed with the way the theme looks and works.
I have a weakness for professional Wordpress themes and never use free themes on my self hosted blogs because I want to stand out and look different. The premium Stardust Wordpress Theme screams authority, if someone landed on a blog dressed up in that theme it would be hard to believe the person wasn’t an expert of some kind because only experts would see the need to invest in a such a professional looking theme.
If you have a comment, suggestion, opinion or question about this blog post or you just want to say how it helped you please leave me a comment below.You may also love reading these:
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I am putting my blog up and am looking for professional wordpress theme so I will take a look – thank you for this great blog
Hi Diane,
Thanks so much for taking the time to check out my new STARDUST WordPress theme! I think it is absolutely one of the fastest and easiest ways for any speaker, author, or online entrepreneur to brand themselves online. Looking forward to seeing how others are able to customize the theme to suit their preferences!
Ben Cope´s last blog ..How to Add Your Photo to the Home Page
There is so much to learn about blogging. It’s easy to forget that appearance counts. I have a free theme on my personal blog but a professional one for my second. Since I haven’t done any customizing to either, it doesn’t make much difference. For now, my current priority is filling the blogs with interesting and valuable content and building a following. Then maybe I can think about adjusting the appearance. Or am I missing something?
Ralph´s last blog ..50’s Dream Cars- A future so bright they had to wear shades.
Ralph it really is a case of what works for you and your business. If a theme isn’t important to you then it doesn’t matter. This blog reaches out to consultants, life coaches, speakers, people who need to make an instant impact so for them it can be a little more important. After all would you trust a beauty consultant with a face full of spots and black heads!
Quality content is prince, queen and king and wins over everything else – putting up a new theme shouldn’t detract from that.
I have added this theme to a new blog and it took less than 10 minutes to sort out so it really is quick to use too – might make a video about it. You can check it out a List Building For Bloggers
It is a great theme for affiliate marketers too because of the four home page “stickies” that you can use to direct someone to a page/post on your blog or to an affiliate product like I have on that blog.
So many are worried about the content – which is important – but forget that the people, the humans, coming to our sites are visually drawn. We have about 3 seconds while the site loads to make our first impression. I don’t know how many sites I have left within seconds of arriving just because the way the site looked. Off to dig into the links of premium themes a little more – thanks!
Alaina Frederick´s last blog ..Healthy Foods You Can Eat To Lose Weight
It is definitely a combination of things that make this work – I have seen some ugly sites that make money and some gorgeous ones that don’t. With everything its about balance. A great looking site with great content is our ultimate goal!
I added the theme to Start Online Business blog and I like it. It is definitely going to be my theme for affiliate sites.