Choosing a theme for your blog is much like choosing a name for your child.  The good news is that once you choose one, it’s typically very easy to install it.  Notice I said “install”… not “configure”… but we’ll get to that.

There are a tremendous number of themes available for you to install for free, and probably an equal number of themes for sale.  Don’t assume that just because a theme costs money, that it’s the better theme.  Depending on the needs of your blog, a free theme may fit just right.

I typically start out looking for a free theme over at the WordPress Theme Directory.  There are a number of themes available for free and you can search by many criteria. I’d recommend first browsing through a number of blogs to get a feel for what you like and don’t like. This will help you narrow down your search criteria.

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In our last post we talked about choosing a web host for your new website.  I recommended HostGator.com as a low cost but good quality host. I have an account with them now, and I’ve owned a web hosting company in the past, so my recommendation is not uninformed. That being said, there are a number of other great hosts out there as well, so if you have a company who has been fantastic for you, please share your experience so that we have options available.

This article will focus on actually installing Wordpress on your website. We’ll assume that you have your site up and running on your hosting account, and that you know all the appropriate usernames/passwords, etc. In the future, we may evaluate options other than wordpress, but for now, let’s keep it simple.  Ok… let’s get started.

There are three primary ways to install wordpress on your hosting account:

1. Use Fantastico in cPanel
2. Use the Install4Free service
3. Roll up the sleeves and do it yourself

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