I wrote the other day about creating your own blog (found here).  Once you’ve done that, if you’re like most people, you’ll want to modify your blog to some degree to personalize it and make it your own.  A good layout is important, and choosing how your blog is setup is a crucial first step before unleashing it unto the world wide web.

First thing you should decide on is a blog template, otherwise known as a “theme” in Wordpress.  It takes time to design your own theme from scratch, but don’t despair, they’re are literally hundreds of predesigned blog themes out there that are waiting for you free of charge.  Some are obviously better designed then others, so you should preview them carefully before making a final decision on your new theme.  To begin looking for a new theme for your blog, click here.  One cool theme I have found that was previously available only by purchase is Unique Blog Designs Premium Money Maker theme.  It has been optimized to include a few features that other themes would require installing a plugin after your original installation.  It also has a built in feature that you can upload your own personal image header without modifying any source code, something that isn’t common in other themes available.  You can visit their download page for the Money Maker Theme here.

After you have chosen a theme, I recommend immediately installing a couple plugins that will simplify your life and improve your blog from a publishers point of view.  The first plugin I highly suggest you upload is WP Spam ree.  Even if your blog is new and doesn’t really receive any traffic to speak of yet, some spammer will find your blog and inundate you with garbage comments about male enhancement and cheap jewelry.  Even if the comments section of your blog is turned off for now, you will still be notified everytime the spammer adds a new comment to your blog, and they can add up pretty fast with a tenacious spammer.  WP SpamFree eliminates this so only real quality comments are coming thru for you to review and approve.  It will save you time and a headache later.  Visit the WP SpamFree download page here.

The other plugin I recommend you install is Wordpress.com Stats.  Stats effectively measures actual live visitors to your site and displays the info in a small application right on the “dashboard” or home page of your admin panel, when  you login into your admin account for your blog.  It offers quick important info relevant to your traffic, and if you want a more detailed version of your stats, you can click a link in your dashboard taking you to a more full detailed report, of where traffic is coming from, where your visitors are spending their time on your site, and which articles are your most popular.  It’s a great feature to help you hone your writing process by seeing what your readers are interested in.  You can download Stats from their Wordpress plugin bank here.

I’ve given you a few ideas to help you get started with your blog for now, and will continue to recommend plugins in the future that I find useful for our endeavors.