A blog is a great way to be creative, grow your brand and flex your writing skills. Of all the possible blogging platforms WordPress is the best (or at least we think so – it’s what we use to run our blog that you’re reading right now). WordPress makes blogging easy and with the help of one of the best blog WordPress themes you can get started writing asap.
When looking at themes for your blog there are a few key factors to consider:
- Layout: Choose a theme with a layout you like. If you want a masonry grid layout, it’s easier to pick a theme that has a masonry demo instead of installing a plugin and trying to make it work. Along the same lines – your theme should be responsive to ensure your blog looks great on any device.
- Post Formats: Find a theme that can handle the media you want to upload. Whether you just want standard posts, videos, image galleries or quote double check that the theme you pick supports those formats.
- Social Media: Any good blogging theme will include support for social media. Social media marketing is a huge part of growing your blog and online presence, which is why it’s so important that your blog posts are easy to share. A good WordPress blog theme will usually have social sharing options on posts, links in your header/footer and a social “follow” widget.
Those are just a few features we think an awesome WordPress blogging theme should have. Depending on your own needs you may also want a theme with WooCommerce compatibility, built-in ad spots to monetize your blog, an autoplay feature (in you’re thinking of starting a vlog), etc.
If you search for the best WordPress blog themes you’ll likely find thousands upon thousands of results. To save you some time, here’s our list of the best blog WordPress themes to get started blogging. We hope you enjoy!
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1. Total
The Total drag & drop WordPress theme is a flexible, multipurpose theme perfect for any website design. It’s a top selling theme with over 32,000+ happy customers – which is why we keep recommending it! With built-in responsiveness, RTL support, A11y features, custom post types (portfolio, staff, testimonials), an easy to use page builder, premium animated sliders and more Total is an obvious choice for your blog or web design project.
Total also includes 40+ quick install sample demos, including the Mason and Charlotte blog demos seen above. This way you can simply install a sample demo to have your website started in minutes. The theme includes tons of blog-specific features including columns, lists, news layout, masonry grids and customizable dynamic page templates. Plus social is already integrate – so you can add sharing your posts right from the live Customizer.
2. Newspaper
Newspaper is a great WordPress theme for any blog, magazine, news outlet or any other publishing site. As one of the top 10 best selling themes of all time (on Envato), you won’t be disappointed by this theme’s seemingly never ending list of powerful features. Choose from more than 80 demo designs, 810+ ready to use page elements and design templates for blog posts, pages, categories and archives. use the intuitive drag & drop builder (with custom grid and news elements not found in other themes) to easily create one of a kind layout designs. Plus built-in support for AMP, YouTube, Adsense, reviews, bbPress, WooCommerce and GDPR requirements put Newspaper over the top.
3. Activello (Free)
The Activello theme from Colorlib is a lovely blogging theme perfect for your to start your own website. This multipurpose theme is built on Bootstrap with features for slider, custom copyright, infinite scroll, vector icons, responsive layouts, unlimited colors and more. The theme is also compatible with popular plugins like WooCommerce, Contact Form 7, Yoast SEO, JetPack and W3 Total Cache for added features. Plus it’s completely FREE- what’s not to love?
4. Glamor
Start your own glam blog with Glamor by QDNOW. This lovely theme offers tons of easy features, like multiple quick start demos (including lifestyle, entrepreneur, mommy, and food blog) so you can have a great looking website in minutes. Then you can customize your site with 800+ Google fonts, custom widgets, featured image sizing, layouts, color options and more. Plus with Glamor you can also monetize your site – via a WooCommerce store and predefined ad banner areas (header, sidebar, footer and below content sections. And if you need help at any point QDNOW offers free installation, detailed online documentation and direct email support!
5. Rosemary
Rosemary is lovely WordPress theme for any style blog. The clean and bright layout is the perfect blank slate for your content. The theme includes 5 different blog layouts, a featured slider, built-in color options and a responsive over all design. Rosemary also comes with custom blog widgets for your latest posts, promo box, about me, social media and more.
6. Divi
The Divi theme is a popular and flexible option to build your website or blog. Built on the popular Divi page builder, there are tons of easy page elements to add images, text, skills, headings, email optins, search, shop, testimonials, pricing tables, sliders, portfolio, call to action, blurbs and more. But most importantly – Divi’s default blog is a great base for you to get started blogging. Create a stunning homepage with the builder, then use the post formats support to add your content (complete with images, videos, links or galleries).
7. Wanderlust
The Wanderlust blogging WordPress theme was designed to make sharing your adventures easy. Geared towards travel focused blogs or magazines, the Wanderlust theme includes full-width images, 10 post format styles to best display your media (images, video, audio), and a useful Instagram section above the footer to showcase you latest pics. Get started quickly using one of three pre-formatted homepage designs, the get to work adding your posts. Want to add a store? No problem. The theme is also fully compatible with WooCommerce for easy e-commerce options.
8. Mesa (Free)
Mesa is a completely free, 100% GPL blog theme for WordPress created right here at WPExplorer. This simple masonry blog style theme is perfect for your new blogging endeavor. The theme features simple styling options via the live Customizer (for responsiveness, header, social links, entry style/columns, ad spots, etc), plenty of post formats (standard, image, gallery, video, audio and quote), custom logo upload, built-in footer & sidebar ads and social link options (header and widget). Mesa is a quick and simple way to have your blog up and running!
9. Olsen
Olsen Light is a lovely free blog WordPress theme you can use to start your own blog. While there is a premium version (which we highly recommend upgrading to), Olsen light has helpful features for integrating your social media, displaying an Instagram photo slider, uploading a logo, configuring your menu, and more options in the live Customizer. The theme also comes with blog-specific widgets for an “About Me” section, latest posts and social media. The Olsen theme is also compatible with the Elementor, Divi and/or SiteOrigin builders for even more powerful page building options.
10. Hemlock
Hemlock is a stunning theme for aspiring bloggers. The theme has a unique featured posts homepage slider design to help you better showcase your best content. The theme includes all the features we mentioned that the best WordPress blogging themes should have – like built-in social sharing, plenty of post formats and solid layouts (choose from full-width, sidebar or grid blog). Plus the simple design makes it adaptable for any industry such as fashion, tech, business, gardening, etc.
11. Amadeus Pro
The Amadeus blog WordPress theme is a great choice whether you want to blog as a hobby or to help promote your business. With Amadeus it’s easy to customize the look and feel of your website using the options for unlimited colors, logo, social and layout (all in the handy Theme Options Panel). Add a homepage slider, take advantage of the customizable sidebar widgets and choose your homepage layout (grid or columns) to create your own one of a kind blog.
12. New York (Blog & Shop)
For those looking to build a blog as a business, New York is one of the best shop & blog WordPress themes you can choose. It’s the perfect theme to build an elegant blog to share your thoughts and tips, or to start your own online store with WooCommerce. The theme includes a unique homepage posts carousel, styled widgets (social, about, Instagram, recent posts, etc), two menu areas, a built-in footer Instagram feed grid and customizable copyright text. On top of the amazing blog features, the theme also comes with the powerful Yellow Pencil CSS editor plugin so you can tweak any part of the design with just a few clicks!
13. Essence Pro
Essence Pro is a beautiful blogging child theme for the popular Genesis framework. Because it’s built on Genesis, the theme already includes important options for accessibility, custom header, responsiveness, translations, layout options, eCommerce and core page layouts. But what makes Essence Pro unique is the stylish homepage layout with featured image, newsletter optin and layered post grid design.
14. Ink Story
The Ink WordPress blog theme makes it easy to share your content. Design options for the theme are all neatly tucked into the live Customizer, where you can make changes to colors and fonts then see them live before you save. The theme’s stunning image grid homepage helps new posts standout, and since the theme is retina ready you can upload bigger, bolder photos.
15. Veggie
The Veggie Food Blog theme is a beautiful choice to start your own site with blog posts, recipes, video guides or anything else. This responsive blogging theme was created for food bloggers but would work great for any number of blog focuses. Easy customization options for colors, various layouts, page builder support (works great with Elementor, Beaver Builder or SiteOrigin), translation options, RTL compatibility and more all make Veggie a solid theme.
16. Authentic.
The Authentic Lifestyle Blog theme includes 9 different demo designs to choose from to start your blog fast and easy. Pick your favorite with options for blog grid, sliders, styled overlays and more. The theme also has easy optins built-in to customize colors for over 67 theme aspects, header design options (with different menu, logo and social positions), customizable footer modules (add your logo, insert your Instagram, or use widgets), add video backgrounds, create a featured posts carousel and more.
17. Pineapple (Free)
Pineapple is a clean and simple tumblog style WordPress blogging theme. If you want to start a blog with just your social links and your content it really is the perfect theme. Pineapple features a clean centered layout, easy post formats (image, video, audio, quote), colorful category tags and built-in social media integration. The theme is also compatible with Yoast SEO (for breadcrumbs), Contact Form 7 and most other popular free WordPress plugins.
18. Peak
The Peak theme is a grid based theme perfect for any online blog or magazine. The theme comes with 2 different homepage options for auto (masonry) or custom (you define image sizes) tiles, post drop cap (on first letter), multiple single post layouts and post formats, a built-in portfolio, mega menu option and even custom page title banners. The Peak theme is also compatible with the WooCommerce plugin – so you can add your own store or share affiliate goods with your readers.
19. TheBlogger
When considering the best blog WordPress themes we had to include TheBlogger of course. This blogging theme was designed to make (you guessed it) blogging easy. With intuitive Customizer options, built-in portfolio options, parallax backgrounds, intro background video, WooCommerce compatibility, color option, and unique layouts there’s lots to love about this WordPress blog theme.
20. Brittany
Brittany Light is a traditional blog style layout with left side, single column content and a right hand side bar. But that is exactly what makes this theme great! It has options for custom widgets to add your social media links, newsletter signup, about me section and Instagram feed. The light version of the theme is a perfectly good theme to get your blog started. But if you want more features (like author box, color options, layouts, etc) we recommend upgrading to pro.
21. Let’s Blog
The Let’s Blog WordPress makes blogging a breeze. With one click demo import, 300+ theme Customizer settings and options, multiple blog layouts (with sliders, header images, carousels, grids, etc), galleries, custom sidebar widgets and an instant search there are a ton of great features within Let’s Blog so you can create a design worthy of your content.
22. Underwood
If you’re looking for a good theme to create a personal blog, you can’t go wrong with the Underwood theme. This modern theme features bold typography, tons of post formats (9 in total for images, audio clips, video, galleries, etc), 3 unique homepage layout styles, WooCommerce support, styled Contact Form 7 fields and integrated social media.
23. Modern Studio Pro
Modern Studio Pro is another Genesis child theme. This means you have all of the same great features you’ve come to love about Genesis, with the added bonuses of some classy styling. This includes custom headers, backgrounds, color styles, page layouts, cusomtizer options, etc. Plus the theme adds 2 homepage widget areas and a lovely centered logo header style.
Next Step: Choose One of the Best Blog WordPress Themes & Get Started!
With all of these awesome themes there are only two things left for you to do – pick one and start your blog!
We know there are a LOT of WordPress themes for blogging, but it’s important to choose a theme that’s right for you. Find a WordPress blog theme with solid code, good features and a layout you like. We’ve listed what (in our opinion) are some of the best blog WordPress themes. Hopefully there were a couple solid options for your blog in our roundup.
Then, get to work creating your content. If you’re not sure where to begin, try our easy 5-step guide to start a blog. We layout all the key parts to start your own blog with WordPress (trust us – it’s easy).
Have any questions about the themes listed above? Or do you have a theme we missed that you think should be on our list of the best blog WordPress themes? Leave a comment below!
Keep reading the article at WPExplorer. The article was originally written by Kyla on 2019-12-22 14:43:01.
The article was hand-picked and curated for you by the Editorial Team of WP Archives.