10 things to note when picking a new template for your blog

Selecting a theme/template for your bog can be a confusing process. After all, there are lot of them around in all sizes and shape. Keeping in mind a few fundamentals may help you choose the right template though.

1. Chose a template that gives focus to content.
   There are many templates out there that are a visual pleasure but if you take a closer look at them you can see  that the content is pushed to a corner or it is not properly highlighted because there is too much importance given to other elements.Any templates focus should be on the content despite the fancy elements,
2. Accessibility
   Tweaking the font to match with AdSense or any other element will bring down the accessibility part. Keep in mind that more than the ads, the content should be readable to the visitors.
3. Pick a template that is XHTML, CSS standardized.
   This is pretty important as any template should be CSS and XHTML valid. You can check this with the w3g validator tool. Search Engines gives more importance to this as they won’t validate your page unless it’s valid.
4. Is not fancy but has a clean code.
   The code (right click?view page source) should not be too long but compact and tidy. You can check this yourself by having a look at the code. If it’s oversized, you would want to optimize it. But a long and chunky code is definitely not preferable.
5. Does not run too many plugins.
   Yes, plugins are cool. They add that jazz to your theme, but running too many plugins can drastically slow down your pages. So make sure the theme you are picking does not come with too many plugins loaded.
6. Cross browser compatibility.
   Test your theme on different browsers like Opera, FF, IE older versions, Safari etc. This is to check if your theme looks the same on all the browsers. If your code is good, the theme will look just great on all the browsers.
7. Spiderability.
   Use an online spider simulation tool, to see if your theme highlights the content. If it does, then the text in your articles will be shown on the top of the simulation test. If it’s pushed to the bottom, then it isn’t a good sign.
8. No Ajax, No Javascript.
   Ajax and Javascript can add that fancy to your template, but it’s not advisable to use too much of it. They are not spiderable by the search engines and will block your content being absorbed by them. SO keep them to a minimum and not over use it.
9. No blocking headers/flash
   Headers give that look and feel to your blog, and it’s recommended that you use exclusive ones to give that special look. But keep away from using extra large ones, that will cover a good area above the fold. Keep it matching with the other elements on the page or it may look awkward.
10. Quick loading
    Finally, whatever elements you put in a theme, it should be quick loading. Slow loading pages are not liked by readers and search engines alike, so either you make it quick loading or die with it.

Written by Mani Karthik from Daily SEO Blog
Posted on November 25th, 2007 and filed under Design & Coding
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