How Frequently Should I Change My WordPress Theme?

Chester asks:

How frequently should we change the WordPress theme that we use for our blog?

As seldom as possible!

In fact, a better question would have been: “How frequently CAN I change my WordPress theme.”

Why?

Because whenever you change your WordPress theme, or your design for that matter, you will inevitably weaken your brand. The design of a website or blog is one of the factors that contribute to the brand around it, so the stronger that design is stuck in people’s heads, the stronger your brand.

Want to do a simple exercise to see how this works? Close your eyes and try to visualize the Daily Blog Tips theme in your mind. I am sure you were able to do that easily. That is because I have been using this theme for over one year and a half. I am sure that if I had been changing the theme every other month people would not be able to associate the design with the site so easily.

Another factor to take into consideration is the overall layout and navigation structure. Whenever you change those, it will take some time before your readers and loyal visitors get used again, which might be annoying.

The minimum time frame that I think you should wait before changing your theme or design is six months. Anything shorter than that will send a message to your readers that you have no idea about what you want from the blog.

Better yet it is to wait one year or more before you do a major redesign.

Obviously I am not saying that one should stick with his design forever. Sometimes a new design can be used to add freshness to a website, and to attract buzz from the people and bloggers that are interested in web design.

So redesigning or changing theme is fine, just do it as seldom as possible.

By the way, if you are considering to pick a new theme for your blog, check our our WordPress themes collection.