If you’re thinking about starting a blog, just started a blog, or gotten sick of your current theme, you’re in the market for a new blog theme.

Here are some things to keep in mind when shopping for one:

• First Impression
  This is what reader read before the reader begins to read.
• SEO
  The SEO is about the content, but the theme can have an impact on the SEO by way of structure and coding.
• Readability
  Dark text on light background, whitespace, headers, sub headers, bold text, bulleted lists, and short paragraphs. A mix of how you write and how the theme frames your content.
• Easy Navigation
  Make it easy for both first time readers and regulars. Make it easy to navigate main categories, pages, side panels, recent post, popular posts section, related posts links, archives, blogroll, etc … Plugins play a big part in some of these aspects, but it’s important to have a theme that plays well with plugins and has good inherit navigation.
• Sidebar Use
  The second most noticed part of your blog is the sidebar. Make sure your theme uses this space well. The sidebar can make or break a blog theme.
• Colors
  Play with it. Don’t pick ugly colors. Try it on other monitors. Does it match your content? Make sure the theme you use allows for color manipulation without huge CSS changes.
• Uniqueness
  You don’t need to WOW your visitor, just make sure you do something that will stick in their mind. Not all themes are created equal. Make sure you can add your own picture and your own logo with ease.
• Load Time
  Two big factors. Your post and your theme. If you don’t implement the “read more” strategy, you may be shooting yourself in the foot. Long home pages = slow load time. Also, make sure you aren’t loading too many posts per page. A badly coded theme certainly hurts your load time, too.
• Ad Space
  If you’re not bringing in enough traffic for ads, you may not of thought of this. Either way, make sure your theme can handle ad integration for when you hit the big time!

For some really practical and eye-opening blogging tips from one of the world wide web’s finest, I suggest you check out Tent Blogger.

If you’re really serious about making big changes in your blog theme, I suggest Standard Theme. It is FTW in every area. I could rattle-off all the good words and accolades, but let me tell you from my personal experience:

I broken down, torn apart and rebuilt the WordPress Twenty Ten theme a half a dozen times. It’s an excellent starting point theme. I have since broken down Standard Theme and I can tell you from the inside out, it is a superior animal.

No joke.

[via One Extra Pixel]