It is often said that in matters of design less is more. The same can be said about WordPress blogging themes. Clean, practical, and minimal blogging themes are often the best platforms for those looking to direct their readers’ focus on content and imagery without the showy sidebars, countless widget areas, and crazy design aspects.
Though everyone’s definition of minimal will vary, it is safe to say that minimalist theme design encompasses a design style that is simple and void of excessive graphic design elements. It is lightweight and performs flawlessly, is easily indexed by Google and other search engines, and provides an exceptional user experience for those who are interested in what you have to share.
If you are on the hunt for the perfect minimal WordPress blogging theme keep reading. Today I bring to you some of the best looking and most functional minimal blogging themes that will suit your desire for a website full of nothing but whitespace and your brilliant ideas.
Solopreneur
Solopreneur was designed for bloggers looking to build a following of loyal readers. Available with two custom landing pages, at no extra cost, you can showcase your content and gain subscribers in the process. You can also establish yourself as an authority by uploading a simple logo and favicon and customize your color scheme to match the look and feel of your brand. In addition to being the perfect landing page theme for those who wish to remain minimal, Soloprenur is also compatible with several popular plugins such as Optin Forms, JetPack, Yoast SEO, and W3 Total Cache, all of which are great for your website’s functionality and list building efforts.
PRICE: $59
Empire
This uniquely designed full screen portfolio theme is perfect for focusing your reader’s attention on your content in a way unlike any of the other themes do. Clean lines, sharp typography, and an automation feature make this theme beautiful to look at and easy to use. Simply create your posts and upload your images; Empire does the rest by automatically arranging your projects into perfectly laid out grids and sliders. This theme’s lightweight and clean code will have your user experience ranked an A+ by anyone that clicks on your website. And though the theme is labeled as ‘simple’ make no mistake, there are plenty of extensive options for creating a one of a kind website for your visitors to enjoy.
PRICE: $49
Lightly
Lightly is a retina ready and responsive theme offering bloggers a chance to focus on content and imagery, without any excess distraction. Using the Live Theme Customizer, all aspects of the theme can be easily changed. You can add some extra appeal using the header slider with links to your best work. If you are feeling a bit adventurous and want to take a small step up from the ultra-minimalist feel, you can drag & drop any number of built-in widgets right onto your homepage. In tune with its simple nature, Lightly keeps navigation front and center so readers will not struggle to search for additional content.
PRICE: Free
Vinyl
Vinyl is a simple and elegant theme perfect for minimal lifestyle and fashion bloggers. Ready with three custom made widgets (just in case), powerful shortcodes, and cross browser compatibility so all of your readers can access your content as you intended them to, Vinyl does not disappoint as a minimal theme. With plenty of whitespace and customizing control over your layout, typography, and header image, you can keep the overall look of your website plain and simple or spice it up a bit for added pop. Built child theme ready and using only the best coding standards, rest assured your site’s performance will never lack.
PRICE: $39
Mallow
Mallow is a beautifully designed minimalist theme for writers of all types that offers the option to display a large image slider for grabbing the attention of your readers without overwhelming them. Powerful theme options let you showcase your writing in a single column or in an organized portfolio layout and change the color scheme of every element including the background, links, text, header, and footer colors. Fully optimized using SEO best practices, Mallow will perform at its maximum and since it is mobile-friendly none of your loyal followers will miss a new post, even while on the go.
PRICE: Free
Tonal
Tonal is a content focused theme that is ultra-minimal for bloggers who just want to write. With large featured images, and the option to display full width videos, you readers won’t miss a thing when viewing this simple theme. The menu and any included widgets are conveniently hidden from sight in pull down panels adding to the plain vibe felt by readers when clicking on your site. One neat aspect this theme presents is the background adaptation. After selecting a different background color all elements adapt to maintain readability. Talk about providing a great user experience.
PRICE: Free
So Simple
So Simple was built to remain loyal to its name…so simple. Built in response to the “…flood of overly complex WordPress themes…”, So Simple offers bloggers a way to focus on beautiful content and nothing more. A small logo and site title, a basic navigation menu, and a single column of images linking to your content complete with post excerpts make this theme minimalist by default. By eliminating unnecessary elements this theme remains lightweight and fast for those visiting your site. It keeps a distraction free area for you to write and readers to read, all while staying so simple.
PRICE: Free
Palmas
Palmas is another great minimal theme that focuses on those who love blogging and photography. Eliminating excess design and making imagery the main appeal of your website, Palmas allows you to display a large featured image slider that takes up the majority of your homepage. Showcase your blog posts in a masonry grid design that organizes post information such as title, description, date, and link buttons. In addition to being a minimal blogger’s dream, unique to this theme is the navigation menu in the footer section paired with a simple image and a call to action button.
PRICE: Free
Louis
This boxed width, grid style blogging theme brings a clean and simple feel to your website while still managing to showcase your best work. With 3 unique homepage layouts you can make your website ultra-minimal or just keep things partially marginal. Choose to display a sidebar, built with as much or as little information as you would like, and customize all color elements including the header, background, sidebar, and more. This translation ready, fully responsive, minimal blogging theme has a great setup that focuses your reader’s attention on what’s important – your content.
PRICE: $49
Final Thoughts
Minimal themes are here to stay as more and more website owners, especially bloggers, become attracted to the simple and plain feel they offer. Providing a content focused platform that has a modern and clean feel, is easy for readers to navigate, and caters to exceptional website performance on the front end, you cannot go wrong using a minimal blogging theme.
What do you say, will you try one of the above mentioned minimal blogging themes? If you have already I would love to hear all about it in the comments below!
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