It has been awhile since I’ve created one of our popular WordPress theme galleries, so I decided it was time to build a new one. In the past I’ve always taken the approach of trying to remove any personal bias and just display the WordPress themes and demo/download information in a manageable way so that the reader can choose their favorite themes that they’d like to use.

This time I decided to comb through the internet and pick out my personal favorite 50 free WordPress themes. Right now, they are broken down into the following categories: 2-Column Themes, 3-Column Themes, 4-Column Themes, and Magazine Themes. I’m pretty sure not everyone will agree with my choices, so if I missed one of your favorites, feel free to add a link to the theme in the comments below.

Best 2-Column Free WordPress Themes

PassionDuo Theme (3 Colors)

Green: Demo | Download, Red: Demo | Download, Blue: Demo | Download

Lemon Twist Theme

Source/Demo | Download

WP Freemium Theme

Source | Download

SimpleWP Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Evolution Theme

Source | Download | Demos: Blue, Green, Red

GlossyBlue Theme

Source | Download | Demo

StudioPress Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Several3 Theme

Source | Download | Demo [Continue Reading...]

I’ve finally gotten around to releasing Slick Blue, which is my first free WordPress theme.  Here is a screenshot:

Slick Blue is a 2-column widget-ready theme that features the following:

• 125×125 Banner Slots - Just replace the pictures and links with the appropriate code in the 125×125 banners file.
• SEO Friendly - I have gone through the code to make it as optimized for search engines as possible, using the appropriate headers, etc.
• Advertising Friendly - In addition to the banner slots mentioned above, you can easily plugin in PPC code (Google AdSense, BidVertiser or Yahoo Publishers Network) in the appropriate php file (named AdSenseLinks, AdSenseBanner, AdSenseBlocks).
• Widget-Ready - Theme is widget-ready.
• Comments/Trackbacks - I have separated the comments and trackbacks to help your readers follow comment conversations.
• Gravatars - Features built-in Gravatar support (no plugin required).
• Social Networking - Built-in social networking buttons below each post.
• Improved Footer - I’ve moved most of the archives to the footer. This is also a great place to put a MyBlogLog widget if you prefer to have one on your blog.
• Plugin Support - Is already setup to work with several WordPress plugins.

You should be able to find everything you need here, including a demo and a link to download.  All feedback is welcome!

When it comes to WordPress 2-column themes, people seem to fall into one of two categories: left sidebar or right sidebar.   Which do you prefer?

I’m not sure which is better, but in browsing through my 2-column WordPress theme gallery, one of the first things you’ll notice is that theme designers seem to prefer releasing themes with a right sidebar.   Is this a coincidence or do theme authors find that they get more downloads with a right sidebar?

I couldn’t tell you for sure, but I know that most “A-list” bloggers use 2-column themes with the sidebar on the right, so I suspect that this has something to do with the trend.  I know from my personal experiences that I prefer a right sidebar because I feel it looks better and creates a much more friendly experience for readers.

David of CyberCoder argues that people that have advertising on their websites should use a left sidebar for their 2-column theme.   His argument is that heat maps show that people read from left to right and your advertisements are more likely to get noticed on the left side.  While this is probably true, most advertising these days seems to be moving away from PPC advertising and more towards direct advertisements.   This is why the few theme designers that offer 125×125 banner slots on their themes are getting a ton of downloads.

So, what do you think?  Why do you prefer to use a 2-column theme?

In case it has been awhile since you’ve visited my WordPress Themes page, I just wanted to write a quick post and let you know that they have received a very significant update in the past two weeks. I’ve been scouring the blogosphere looking for the best free WordPress themes and found a lot of incredible ones that I didn’t know existed!  As always, I have managed to get a screen shot of them added, along with the the download and demo links whenever possible.

The posts that have seen the most significant upgrades are the following:

• Best 2-Column WordPress Themes
• Best 3-Column WordPress Themes
• Best Google AdSense Optimized WordPress Themes

If you think you may be in need of a WordPress theme in the next few months, you may want to bookmark these pages for future reference.  They will continue to be updated as I run across themes that I feel are worthy of a spot on the list.

If you have any questions or want to recommend something, please leave a comment below or let me know!

When picking out a new WordPress theme, there are a lot of factors to consider. Do you want a 2-column theme or a 3-column theme? What about AJAX comments? Maybe you want specific colors? No matter what your preference is, one of the main factors you should probably consider is how search engine friendly your theme is going to be.

There are a lot of techniques that theme designers can use when creating their theme to help optimize it for search engines, and several authors have taken the time to do so. Here are what I feel are the best search engine optimized WordPress themes:

2-Column Search Engine Optimized WordPress Themes

Slick Blue Theme (Advertising Ready, SEO Friendly)

Source | Download | Demo

Sodelicious Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Modern Blue Green Theme

Source | Download | Demo

YourBlog 2.0 Theme

Source | Download | Demo

PassionDuo Theme (3 Colors)

Green: Demo | Download, Red: Demo | Download, Blue: Demo | Download

Yakuter Tema 2.0 Theme

Source | Download | Demo

3-Column Search Engine Optimized WordPress Themes

Big Blue Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Redie 3.0 Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Ambient Glo Theme

Source | Download | Demo

ProSense Theme

Source | Download (Orange, Blue, and Gray) | Demo

Cutline Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Courtney Tuttle has posted a great collection of SEO Friendly WordPress themes. It looks like these are existing WordPress themes that were modified to be more search engine friendly.

Have a search engine optimized WordPress theme you’d like to see included in this list? Feel free to comment below with a link and I’ll see about it getting added!

I have always been of the opinion that WordPress 2-column themes give your site a much better look than 3-column themes, and I think if you look around the blogosphere at what most full time bloggers use, you will see that these people tend to find the most success with 2-column themes.

There are definitely a lot of brilliant and useful 2-column themes available for WordPress users, so I figured that I would throw together a post compiling screen shots and links to some of the best 2-column themes available:

Left Sidebar 2-Column Themes

DarkT Theme

Source/Download | Demo

Green Bug Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Integral Design

Source | Download | Demo

Riaz Theme (Widget Ready)

Source | Download | Demo

Right Sidebar 2-Column Themes

Slick Blue Theme (Advertising Ready, SEO Friendly)

Source | Download | Demo

PassionDuo Theme (3 Colors)

Green: Demo | Download, Red: Demo | Download, Blue: Demo | Download

Green Tech Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Lemon Twist Theme

Source/Demo | Download

WP Freemium Theme

Source | Download

GlossyBlue Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Salmon Theme

Source | Download | Demo

iTheme Theme

Source | Download | Demo

StudioPress Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Crystal 1.0 Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Several3 Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Mag on Wood Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Blue Sensation Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Boxy Mint Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Daily32 Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Silicon Theme

Source | Download | Demo

WoodPress Theme

Source | Download | Demo

SimpleWP Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Green Love Theme

Source | Download | Demo

YGo Just Simple Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Curved Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Clean and Mean Theme

Source | Download | Download “Extras”

Twilight Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Insense Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Evolution Theme

Source | Download | Demos: Blue, Green, Red

Cool Water Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Accord Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Blue Block Theme

Source | Download | Demo

Red Clover Theme

Source/Download | Demo

Webby Green Theme | Webby Blue Theme

Source | Download (Green) | Download (Blue) | Demo (Green) | Demo (Blue)

Feel your 2-column theme belongs on this list? Feel free to comment below with a link and I’ll check it out!