phpBay Pro Tips

Choosing the right theme for your phpBay site

So you used Niche Drilling to find a good niche, then you researched that niche and saw it had potential. Now you need to build a site for it. I generally like to look for good themes before I start writing any content.

Create some fake content and auctions
I start by creating one fake post with a phpBay auction in it. And then one fake post with Greek. I do this just so I can test themes and see how they will look with content and phpBay auctions.

What to look for in a wordpress theme for phpBay
Don’t just pick any theme. You need to think about what niche you are promoting and who your audience is. I wouldn’t use this theme to sell motorcycle parts. Ok, maybe that’s obvious.

But I also wouldn’t use this theme to sell golf stuff. “But it’s a golf theme!” you say. Who cares? The number one thing I look for in a theme is that I can make it look like a website and not a blog.

You need to make your phpBay site look like a store, not a blog with auctions on it. Just because there is a theme with a golf ball on it doesn’t mean it is good for selling golf balls on eBay.

When people search for products, they want to come to a legit looking store. If you look like a blog with products on it, people will leave immediately.

Look for Wordpress themes with phpBay store potential
What is phpBay store potential? First, a clean layout. Not big clunky sidebar headers and tons of crazy graphics all over the place.

Second, look for a theme that will go well with your product. How do you know if the theme will go well with what your selling? Well, you have to use your imagination a little. Try to visualize your products on that page. It may not look great with the default theme options, but what if you changed the header by adding a product image? What if you changed the colors a little? That’s what I did when I used this theme on my discount golf ball site.

Third, look for a cool area to feature auctions on the home page. I always try and show at least one auction result on my home page (more on that in a later post). My fender blues junior site has a section for that. You’re theme doesn’t have to have one, but it’s a nice feature.

Fourth, look for a theme that is SEO friendly. This is a huge one. Since we will be trying to rank organically for our niche, an SEO friendly theme is a must. You won’t know if a theme is SEO friendly by just looking at it, but if you know where to look, you can get SEO friendly wordpress themes.

The best place for an SEO wordpress themes is Court’s SEO Wordpress Themes. Court takes regular themes and beefs up their SEO.

Another good place is Blog oh Blog free wordpress themes. These themes tend to be made with SEO in mind, plus there are some great looking themes here.

Try a few themes
I tend to download 4-5 themes and then switch between them in my admin panel. I look at how the auctions show and if the site looks “store enough”. If I need to change the header image to get a better idea, I’ll do that. But the hope is that you get an idea before you spend lots of time changing your theme

Soon I’ll talk about what plugins you should install off the bat on your phpBay site. I’ll even post them here to download.

Related Posts

• Essential wordpress plugins for your phpBay site
• Finding niches with potential for phpBay sites
• How to organize posts and pages on your phpBay site.
• Get more clicks by removing bids
• Other ways to make money with your phpBay site