I love wordpress. I use it for blogging, affiliate marketing landing  pages and even small business web sites.  One of the main reasons, that I like the wordpress software so much is that aside from its user friendly administrative back-end (client friendly), it is very flexible  when it comes down to themes (or templates).

Though it took a while for businesses to finally understand the power of blogs, but by now,  most are using blogs in order to enhance their online presence in a number of ways.  Blogs, and therefore wordpress have in my opinion become effective online business tools.

No wonder we now have numerous web shops that sell commercial wordpress themes in almost any shape, design or category.

Personally I like to build my themes almost from scratch, by for instance customizing the default theme that comes with wordpress.

This said,  I’m not surprised that quite a few clients whom I do web consultancy services for  (usually starting businesses or entrepreneurs doing web projects) like to consult me on if it’s worth it to buy a ready wordpress theme.

Though I could easily list a number of advantages of custom made wordpress themes and argue why it’s a good idea to have a template  designed from scratch, there certainly are some advantages to buying a ready wordpress theme …

• Time Saver
  First of all, buying a wordpress theme saves you a lot of time.  Most entrepreneurs  I know like ‘getting things done’ and saving time is  a primary reason for considering to buy wordpress theme.
• Easy installation
  Wordpress is easy to install. Just download wordpress and install it on your web host and you’re ready to start following the instructions that come with ready bought wordpress theme. To make things even more simple, most good web hosting companies offer auto install functions for wordpress such as fantastico.
• Cost
  If you think about it it’s really not that expensive to buy a ready theme. The prices, last time I looked at a gallery are around $75 dollars (prices may vary from company to company). If you’re serious about your internet project this small investment will provide a quick start without having to pay for a professional designer / developer. You can always do this later.
• Choice
  Wordpress themes or templates come in all sorts and shapes. You can browse categories for business blog wordpress themes, real estate wordpress themes and even baby themes (probably for new parents).
• Quality of design
  Obviously, many of the commercial wordpress themes look good. I designed themes and web sites for years and I don’t easily say that something looks good.
• Reusable design concept
  You can use the basic design concept, or color scheme for the rest of your visual branding carriers. For instance : if you decide that you need some business cards, you can take the existing design concept or color scheme and apply it to different carriers of your future corporate identity (cards, advertisements, etc). This again, will save you money and time.

  Note :  web designers who build from scratch  also browse commercial galleries in order to get inspired and grab ideas from (yes it’s true).

With so many free wordpress themes available on the web,  buying a wordpress may seem a strange idea to some (or many), but as you can read above, depending on your situation (starting or established business) there can still be certain advantages to getting an out of the box and ready template …