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Once you’ve purchased your web hosting plan, started your blog and installed WordPress.org, the next step is to choose a blog theme.
According to WordPress.org
”A WordPress theme changes the design of your website, often including its layout. Changing your theme changes how your site looks on the front-end, i.e. what a visitor sees when they browse to your site on the web.”
There are two different ways to install a theme on WordPress.org
- Choose and install a free theme from the WordPress.org repository.
- Find, Purchase, download and install a premium WordPress theme.
Today, I’ll show you have to choose and install a free theme.
Tips and tricks before choosing a theme
When choosing a theme, remember these guidelines:
- Choose a theme that you love
- Choose a theme that will appeal to your ideal reader
- Choose a theme that is responsive. i.e able to be viewed on both mobile, tablet and computer
- Choose a theme that is very customizable.
Here is the process of choosing and installing a free theme from the WordPress theme repository. (This is a great option if you are low on funds or haven’t decided on a premium theme that you like as yet)
To Install A FREE WordPress Theme
Step #1: Toggle over Appearance and select Themes
Step #2: Click on Add New
Step #3: Click on the available themes in the repository. You can choose from thousands of free themes.
To make the process easier, you can use the search bar to type in a word that describes the kind of theme you want, such as, white, blue, left sidebar, craft, food, recipes, travel etc. You will be shown a list of themes with those specific properties or designed for specific topics/niches.
In order to test out the different themes that you will come across, click on preview to see what each theme looks like.
Step#4: Click on the install button when you find a free theme that you like.
The theme will take a few second to install. After it has been installed, a green check mark will appear on your screen.

Now click the Activate button and your theme is installed and activated.
Congrats! You’ve now chosen, installed and activated a free WordPress theme!
Also, if you prefer to see a video walk through to learn how to install a theme for your blog, then have a look at this one below: