Who doesn't love a free beer or a free soda? You can't complain about the brand when someone hands it to you. You just drink it and smile because it was free.

I am not here to bash free WordPress themes. They are wonderful and we are all grateful for them. They serve a very

important purpose. Often free themes are how a blogger gets started. It is a way to put your toe in the water and see

if this blogging thing is really going to work out.

The good news is that a premium theme doesn't generally cost much. The theme that I am running on

my blog only cost 67 bucks. That is not bad. http://bit.ly/206bDah

We are fortunate that junior coders and experienced coders alike create these free themes for us. However, since it was a free project, they don't

always get updated. Hackers are always looking for a venerability in a WordPress theme. Over time, they generally find one. If the theme is no

longer being kept up to date, things can go wrong.

1. SECURITY

This is the primary reason that a blogger often updates a WordPress theme. For example, just today someone hired me to install and setup a premium theme on her blog. She wanted to simply change the way that the header looked on her blog. Sadly, that is not a simple change on her free theme. She also wanted a few other tweaks done. By the time that

she reached out, she realized it was time for an upgrade.

2. FEATURES

Suppose that you have found that perfect theme and you are in love. You install it and then you preview your site and it just isn't right. Not always but often, free themes don't have all that lovely of a support system. However,

premium themes generally have a nice forum and contact system.

3. SUPPORT

If you plan to setup your theme yourself, set aside between 4 and 10 hours to work on the new design. Try and do this during an off peak time for your blog. If you get most of your traffic in the middle of the

day, do this in the evening.

1. PLAN

Make sure that you have a recent backup of your blog before you install the new theme. Things could and often do go wrong during the

setup process.

2. BACKUP YOUR SITE

If you are still running a free theme that is awesome. Do not feel pressured to upgrade

before you are ready.