• Professional appearance
• Bug-free
• Flexible, easy to modify
• SEO friendly
• Support available, meaning an active user forum and a responsive support staff to email.

To understand why you want a customizable theme, view the entire Thesis demo.

Thesis is not only the most popular theme among professional bloggers, it also has one of the best andclearest demos.

Click here to view demo.

Trends in Wordpress Themes

For years, thousands of free themes have been available at http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/.

Many are absolutly gorgeous. Why not use them?

• Many look great, but prove buggy.  They may display properly in one browser and not another.
• Most serious bloggers will want to modify the layout.  Many may want to make modifications after the blog has many posts on it.  Some themes are difficult and time-consuming to modify.

The favorites of serious bloggers today are the flexible, highly configurable themes listed below because:

• They are completely customizable, enabling your blog to have a unique look.
• Customizing is a matter of clicking options - no programming needed.
• Much customizing can be done with the blog fully built out.

 Which Wordpress Theme is Right for You?
Note: I recommend using a theme that is actually a theme framework so that the theme can be easily altered. Few bloggers remain happy with a static theme.

Headway 3.0  - view tutorial here.

Headway is a Wordpress Theme Framework with a Visual Editor.
Personally, I use Headway for most of my client sites. Headway is the only Wordpress theme with a visual editor that allows full freedom in design; you can actually draw the layout you want on a blank (grid-based) canvas. Headway 3.0 will be released on Nov 4, 2011. To lock in the lower price that includes lifetime support at no cost, order by Nov 3.
Headway is best for:

• Bloggers and web designers with a sense of good design.
•  
  Those who will design multiple sites needing a variety of looks

Those with little design experience may do better with a theme where they select a premade design.

Woo Themes - view detail here.
Woo themes is a Wordpress Theme Framework + over 100 Wordpress themes built using that framework.
This means the blogger can select a complete design, yet has the full flexibility of the framework to customize the design later.

Woo Themes is best for:

• Bloggers who need to see the design first rather than creating it from scratch
• Bloggers who will seriously develop their blog, meaning they will likely need to alter and expand the design later
• Those who need to try before buying. Woo Themes offers a "playground" where you can try out any of their themes for 2 weeks before buying - very unusual.
  

Thesis - view Thesis tutorials here.

Thesis is a Wordpress Theme Framework favored by many web designers. It is highly flexible and efficient, yet requires more technical skill than Headway or Woo Themes.

Thesis is best for:

• Wordpress developers who appreciate the structured, highly customizable options.
• Those who do not mind getting into the code at times.

Atahualpa - view Atahualpa tutorials here.
Atahualpa is a free Wordpress Theme Framework used by many web designers. Unlike the paid theme frameworks, there is no support though there is an active user forum.

Atahualpa is best for:

• Wordpress bloggers and designers who particularly like the built-in design and features of Atahualpa
• Bloggers who do not mind having to extensively research the forum when they run into problems.

Weaver

Weaver is a Wordpress Theme Framework built on the Twenty Eleven theme.
The basic design is that of Twenty Eleven (the default Wordpress theme), but Weaver expands the options available in the framework such that it is highly customizable.