It’s only been about five years, but I’m finally moving on from my old look to an elegant, powerful, and downright snazzy look for Likoma. As often happens, the website designer’s site itself is not as up to date as his or her clients! I needed to walk the talk: get a new theme and put it up and deal with the perfectionist’s details later. So it’s new, it’s fresh, and it’s live.

I’ve had a flurry of clients where I’ve worked together with Lauren Deane of Good Looking Ideas, we pick a theme from ThemeForest, customize it, and we’re done. OK, so maybe that’s a bit like saying we picked a house style (Victorian, Tudor, Cabin, etc.), found some paint, and built the house. It IS a bit like that, but along the same lines, the hard part is often picking the style, or in the case of a website, the theme. Putting up the four walls and the roof is the easy part. it’s that stunning painting in the foyer that makes the place.

Lauren and I sat side by side and went through hundreds of themes at ThemeForest for the likoma.com revamp. We looked at a few other theme sites, but I’m finding the quality and selection at ThemeForest to be very extensive. I’m also finding some favorite theme designers (e.g. Kriesi). Of course, I’m picking a theme for a change for my OWN site so it has to be perfect, has to jump through all kinds of hoops, and has to please both me and Lauren.

I had a discussion the other day with a colleague about value. Cost versus value. We were talking about just this: how easy it can be to build a beautiful site in WordPress. (1) Get a domain, (2) get some hosting, (3) pick a theme, (4) install, (5) customize, done. With so many themes out there, #3 can–and even should be–the hardest and most time consuming part. If you look hard enough, #5 should be that much easier.

I will address a question I still get–but only occasionally, “But what about a custom design? Aren’t you just making a “tract home” a little prettier?” The thing is, since WordPress popularity has exploded over the past few years, that “tract home” theme has become the penthouse suite with jacuzzi and a view. The crazy part of it all is that the penthouse and the view doesn’t need to cost top “custom designed” dollars. This theme I’m using, in my opinion, could be worth $3,000 to a potential company. It’s visually stunning, shows off some real class, and behind the scenes is extremely powerful and easy to use. Done right with solid content and well-chosen images, the site could show off a smart company very well.

So what do Lauren and I do? We take it to the next level. Sure, anyone can pick a theme, but we’re going to probably pick a different theme and for different reasons. We’re going to customize it, and fine-tune it until it sings. Then it’s ready. Then it’s powerful. That’s our added value. That’s what we do.