The best WordPress themes for blogs
Do you want to go straight to the answer? I think Newspaper and CheerUp are the best WordPress themes for blogs.
With over 30 million blogs in the United States alone, you need the best WordPress theme for your blog to stand out.
You could be a great writer. But if your blog doesn't look good, people will stop reading it. In fact, 38% of people lose interest in websites with unattractive layouts.
And if you manage to find the right theme, it even boosts your SEO and organic reach.
My 10 favorite blog themes for WordPress
I have done my research and narrowed down the top ten WordPress themes for blogs in 2020.
Journal
CheerUp
Kale
Stockholm
Jevelin
Editorial
GoBlog
Apartment
WPVoyager
Vixen's Blog
This guide can serve as a reference to help you choose the best theme for your blog.
1. Journal
Newspaper is a premium WordPress theme. It costs 59 dollars.
And yes, it's worth every penny.
The design is professional and modern. I admit that the name of this theme is a bit misleading, as it is extremely versatile. While it is a popular choice for magazine and newspaper sites, this theme can also be customized to fit a review website or blog. No matter what category or niche you are in, this theme can meet your needs.
The versatility and ease of customization make the journal one of my favorite options. It features a drag-and-drop editor that allows you to easily edit over 100 different elements on the page.
I recommend starting with one of the elegant pre-designed templates and then making the modifications you deem necessary. It is not necessary to have technical knowledge or coding skills to do this, making this theme a solid choice for literally anyone.
You will also have tons of options to customize the header and footer of your blog. The theme allows you to set up a grid to highlight specific pages, categories, and tags. It is easy to stay organized in the background, while visitors to your website can seamlessly navigate in the foreground.
The newspaper has a fast page loading speed and is AMP ready. In addition to being extremely responsive, it is compatible with Woocommerce and Google AdSense. The WordPress theme for newspapers is mobile-friendly and also applies the best SEO practices.
This is one of the most versatile WordPress themes you will find, and I recommend it for any blog.
2. CheerUp
CheerUp is a very versatile WordPress theme.
Although it can be used for almost any blog, it is designed for bloggers who are a little more tech-savvy, as opposed to the average WordPress user.
This theme is designed to work with custom tool sets, widgets, and plugins that webmasters use to enhance their WordPress site. So if your blog uses many add-ons, this is definitely a top choice for you.
CheerUp is available with 12 different designs. Although this may seem limited at first glance, these 12 designs are offered with over 1,000 layout variations. This ensures that your blog is unique among other websites using the same theme.
Prefabricated models are designed to appeal to specific audiences. Here are some popular categories:
Fitness
Parenting
Fashion
Journey
Beauty
Fashion de vie
Once you have selected and customized a design, you can also choose unique styles for your messages. For example, you can have full-width text or magazine-style text. Add a cover image at the top of your blog, or omit this option. The choice is entirely yours.
CheerUp can be integrated with social media networks. This will encourage social sharing for your blog posts.
This theme is also supported by AMP, optimized for search engines, has fast loading times, and is highly responsive. You can purchase CheerUp for $59.
3. Kale
As its name suggests, the Kale WordPress theme is designed for food bloggers. Unlike other options we have looked at so far, this is a free template.
If you are a blogger in this niche category, you know how difficult it can be to stand out from the competition. This theme can give you an advantage as it eliminates clutter from your blog, while highlighting your images.
If this theme is intended for everything related to food, cooking, and recipes, it is versatile enough to be applied to fashion industry blogs - especially because these two niches are so photo-centric.
There are tons of layouts, sidebar options, multi-level menus, and color overlay options for banners and sliders. And all YouTube videos are automatically responsive with Kale. This is an extremely important feature if you are a food blogger who includes video demonstrations in your posts.
It's very easy to install the theme and get started in just a few minutes. Kale also integrates WooCommerce, for those of you who sell in addition to their blog.
4. Stockholm
Modern. Clean. Trendy. All these words come to mind when I think of the Stockholm WordPress theme.
As a blogger, you must ensure that visitors to your website can easily access your content, navigate the page, and engage with your writings. The Stockholm theme can help you achieve all of these things.
It is so versatile that it is the top choice for blogs in all categories. Start with one of the simple yet elegant designs and customize it to meet your specific needs. You will be able to do this without any coding or design knowledge.
This theme will enhance your entire website, going far beyond just your blog. It includes specific layouts designed for e-commerce shops, restaurants, and architecture. So if your blog falls into any of these three categories, I highly recommend looking into this option.
Stockholm can be purchased for $59.
5. Jevelin
I love this option because it is versatile enough for blogs in so many different sectors. Here are some popular categories offered on the Jevelin WordPress theme:
Education
Food & Drink
Portfolio
Fitness
Photography
Events
Medical
Finance
Beauty
The theme can be installed on your blog with just one click. It is also easy to customize. Once you have chosen a predefined layout, you can adjust every element on the page. Jevelin allows you to do this without having to do any coding. It is fast, easy, responsive, and shows you real-time previews of your changes.
I also love the different layout options that are specific to blogs. Here are some of the best ones:
Masonry
Creative
Grill
Adding one of these layouts to your blog will definitely make it more visually appealing. No one will navigate through your pages and think they look boring.
This is another premium theme. It costs 59 dollars.
6. Editorial
The WordPress editorial theme has a magazine-style layout, which is ideal for bloggers who want to showcase their content with images. This format also allows you to more easily prioritize your best work.
With Editorial, you will have access to a live editing feature that allows you to easily move sections and see all your changes in real time.
For those of you who have tons of blog content but don't know how to organize it, consider this theme. It's a good idea, because your readers won't feel overwhelmed when they visit your website.
This theme also includes many widgets that allow for customization. You don't need to be a tech wizard to understand all this.
Another great advantage of the Editorial is that it is free with free support.
7. GoBlog
The GoBlog theme is perfect for bloggers who want to take a simple and minimalist approach to designing their website.
I like this theme because it supports eight different post formats.
Gallery
Standard
Reference
Video
Image
Link
Status
Sound
It is extremely easy for you to integrate audio and video content into your messages. This will ultimately help you successfully manage a video blog.
GoBlog is very responsive, both on desktop devices and on mobile devices. You can also add sliders under headers, which are perfect for text introductions. With a simple theme like GoBlog, you can prioritize your content without too many complex distractions.
You can purchase the GoBlog theme for $54.
8. Apartment
Flat is a very trendy WordPress theme. If you want your blog to be bold, modern, and colorful, consider this option. You should also look into the trendiest colors for websites.
This theme uses Javascript, HTML5, and CSS3 to ensure that all interactions and engagement are fully responsive and beautiful. You can add different effects for transitions when users scroll through your content. Here are some examples:
Fade-ins
Slide-ins
The reception centers
Fly-ins
Progress bars
Animated Circles
Flat also comes with shortcodes and additional options for custom post types. The best part of this theme is undoubtedly the drag-and-drop builder. It allows anyone, regardless of their technical or design abilities, to easily customize content blocks. The drag-and-drop builder can be used on your website's interface, so you can see exactly what your visitors will see.
Another reason why this theme is excellent for bloggers is that it is optimized for search engines. You will also have access to Google fonts for styling options on each page.
Unlike other themes that are not updated frequently, Flat guarantees that it will always work with the latest versions of WordPress. Updates are done automatically, without the need for additional installations.
The price of the apartment starts at $59 and there is an option for developers at $69. For those of you currently using another WordPress theme, Flat will offer you a 50% discount on your purchase if you switch to this theme. It's a tempting offer to consider.
9. WPVoyager
WPVoyager is another theme priced at $59, but it is specially designed for travel blogs. In fact, this theme is fully integrated with Google Maps, allowing you to display your content on a map, as shown in the screenshot above.
This is a unique approach to organizing blog articles on your website. Visitors can search for blogs simply by browsing the map of points of interest.
This is the perfect solution for travel bloggers who also take a lot of photos during their adventures. The map feature does much more than just show your visitors the location you are blogging about. Let me give you an example..
The screenshot above is quite simple. The title of the article is "5 reasons to visit Budapest", with Budapest indicated on the map. But when you click on the post, see how the map changes.
There are now five points marked in the city. If you click on each of them, a photo appears with a brief description. When you scroll down the page and move away from the map, the blog is displayed in a more traditional format.
The possibilities offered by this theme are almost endless for travel bloggers and photography bloggers. If I were in this niche, I would definitely use this theme on my WordPress site.
10. Vixen's Blog
The theme of the Vixen Blog is simple, elegant, and beautiful. This design has a deliberate feminine touch. You can create a visually appealing blog with this WordPress theme, even if you have no design experience. It is fully responsive on both the front and backend.
Vixen Blog is optimized for search engines, designed for readability, and has a compatible Instagram feed function. It is therefore easy for you to integrate your blog into your social media strategy.
This theme is available starting at $34, with an extended license option for $2,200. It is intended for developers who can then sell these licenses to their clients.
Conclusion
What is the best WordPress theme for blogs? With thousands of options to consider, it's hard to name just one. There is no single blog theme that fits everyone. Your blog is unique, so it's important that you find a theme that matches your style and needs.
Some of these themes appeal to certain niches, such as travel, photography, or food blogs. Others are bold, modern, and trendy, while some themes take a more minimalist approach. There are paid themes, free WordPress themes for blogs, and licenses made for developers as well.
Every time I write a review like this, I try to include something for everyone. So, no matter which category you belong to, you will be able to find a review in this guide that you like.