I don’t know about you, but I spend way too much time searching for just the right theme for my blogs, and I end up changing them more often than I should.

On my expeditions to find the right theme, I have found 4 that look great, can be edited to suite most niches.  The themes are listed in no particular order.

Cutline

Out of the box, this theme is very plain, with header images.  It is very easy to change the header image to whatever suites your niche.

You can set it to have 2 or 3 columns, with the sidebars on both sides or on one side.

I am  currently using this theme on my GlendaleCrafts blog.

iNoereN

This is another theme that you can change the look of quite easily.  You can change the header image and the background graphic by overwritting the image.  Simply create an image the same size as the one used in the theme, save it with the same name, and upload.

I am currently using this theme on my MMEzine blog.

Flexibility 2

I really like this theme, and I would probably use it on more than one site, but I had some problems when trying to install it on some of my blogs.

This one comes with an Options page that you can access through your Blog Dashboard.  From the Options page, you can change all sorts of things, like the colour, layout, header and background images, and a great deal more.

This is the theme that is currently on this blog.

Arthemia

This is a great looking theme.  It is a magazine style theme and takes a bit of getting used to.  I am still in the process of getting my blog looking just right with it.

It may have more features than you want or need, but the website gives you a lot of information on how to set it up and get it running the way you want.

I am currently using this theme on my ShirleyAGrant blog.

All of these themes are free to use, although there is a couple of them that offer a premium version.  All work with Wordpress 2.7.1

Popularity: 100% [?]

Welcome back!

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Free Wordpress Themes, wordpress 2.7.1

Building links with other bloggers is all about networking and being social. One of the easiest ways to do this is by utilizing trackbacks. Trackbacks are essentially remote comments on another’s blog, and are incredibly easy to set up. These comments are quick and easy to put into action, and allow you to build a network of relevant links in very little time.

To start putting trackbacks to work for you, search for “your keyword + trackbacks” (without quotes) in Google.
This will allow you to find all the blogs in your niche that are using your target keywords and have trackbacks turned on. The blogger must have trackbacks enabled to appear in this list.

Next, set up your trackback post. Write a short post in your Wordpress blog with a direct link to the post you’ve chosen to comment on. Link directly to the post you’re writing about, and make sure you’re making a relevant and insightful comment. The blogger you’re linking to must  approve the trackback before it goes live, so be sure that you’re providing high quality content that they’ll want to see on their blog.

Then use the permalink trackback field in Wordpress to add the URL of the post you’re commenting on. By filling in this field, you’re telling Wordpress to ping the owner of the other blog when your post is published. This is their cue to accept the trackback, publishing the content you’ve written on both of your sites.

Trackbacks are a win-win proposition for both parties involved. You gain a relevant backlink for your target keywords, and the blogger you’ve linked to gets a review of their post and a backlink, as well. This method can be extremely useful in your link building campaign. The key is to provide high quality, on topic content that both your readers and the other blogger’s readers can benefit from. Over time, the process
becomes easier and easier, and you’ll soon be able to turn out a high quality trackback post in no time at all.

Congratulations – you’ve added a new skill to your link building arsenal. Now you can begin putting the power of trackbacks to work for you! This quick and easy method will supercharge your link building efforts.

Popularity: 63% [?]

Technorati Tags: backlinks, Link Building, Traffic Generation

Here is a short video on how to set up your Twitter account.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter once you have set up your account.:)

Popularity: 57% [?]

Technorati Tags: Twitter, twitter set up video