Does appearance really matter?

Well, I am getting heavily into blogging.
Been writing articles daily for a few months, and been getting decent hits. I know what I am doing wrong, and I'm fixing it at the moment.

But, does Wordpress appearance really matter?
I used to base my site off quality, and the articles seems really solid to me. It is still my top concern, but I am noticing something.

All these newer blogs I see, are looking nice and sleek. My theme, is just
CyberChimps responsive theme.
now, as a starter, it was quick and easy for me to set up. But it just seems very blah and crappy now.

I was looking into the Aerios of theme forest. I need Wordpress since its nice and easy to use, and I'm not the only one using it. My business partner is writing %99 of the articles, and I'm doing the technical side of things.
So, since we have solid articles, and the site is so plain and generic, do you think we should upgrade?
the thing is, I don't know if these themes are to flashy, or if they are to fancy for our blog, since it not what it's about.

If anyone would let me know any thoughts, or your experience, please let me know.
thanks!

The site contains things on
relationships
raising your kids
sex
and things like that.
So, it's always getting hits, but I don't know if a new theme, will destroy our meaning behind this?
any thoughts?
THANKS!

p.s. if anyone wants to see it, please let me know. I'm new so it won't let me post it

I think it depends on the niche.. if its fashion (or maybe your niche..), then I would say yes, appearance is important. If its programming or something.. ahem.. a bit dull (sorry to all my programmer friends), then probably the content will be more important than whether the website is pretty. Just my opinion..

Bill Gates said, "Don't worry. Be crappy."

You can't improve what you don't have.

Just trying to say, it's never too late to wear a new/professional look.

If you have a call to action or are branding yes appearances matter otherwise it sounds like you are just bored with the theme.

A nice and clean/easy navigated theme is a returningVisitor-factor, in my experiance. Do you mind to PM me your url?

A well laid out theme is always a plus on any website!

Hm... I guess I am bored with the theme like it guys said.
so, should I spice it up, or should I leave it just kinda sleek.
i can't post my URL since I'm new

Let me answer this in a different manner.
I tend to get attracted to good looking girls, cars. I would rather talk to a beautiful girl than an ugly one. But for getting my work completed, I might be needing the help of that ugly intelligent girl rather than the beautiful dumb, and had she been beautiful and intelligent, I would go for her.

So the point is, beauty matters, but upto some extent and depends on the context.

goodfellas12 said:

Let me answer this in a different manner.
I tend to get attracted to good looking girls, cars. I would rather talk to a beautiful girl than an ugly one. But for getting my work completed, I might be needing the help of that ugly intelligent girl rather than the beautiful dumb, and had she been beautiful and intelligent, I would go for her.

So the point is, beauty matters, but upto some extent and depends on the context.

Click to expand...

Haha good analogy
I think I'm gonna buy the Aires for 30 bucks.
any other recommendations?

goodfellas12 said:

Let me answer this in a different manner.
I tend to get attracted to good looking girls, cars. I would rather talk to a beautiful girl than an ugly one. But for getting my work completed, I might be needing the help of that ugly intelligent girl rather than the beautiful dumb, and had she been beautiful and intelligent, I would go for her.

So the point is, beauty matters, but upto some extent and depends on the context.

Click to expand...

first impression matters both online or offline and it won't be the content, but the look


my answer to OP's question is a categorical yes

Yes, I think you should upgrade.
A good template will increase the behavior factor of the website, and this is likely to add to your rankings.

Thanks guys!
you guys have any suggestions? I don't care how much I spend, this blog will be going for a LONG LONG time
thanks!

I also agree that the look does matter. It is the FIRST thing a new user will see. He will not see the content right away, he might not even read it if it looks bad...

As a developer I always have a hard time because I make crappy GUIs, the application works really well and everything but it looks bad, people don't like that. Then I get someone to change the UI a bit to make it look better and I can see a difference, the user experience is different... a beautiful site that does not work at all is not a great thing either, but they will be trying to use it until they realize there is nothing to do... In my opinion it is pretty similar with any website theme vs content situation !

Why not solicit the feed back from your visitors? Maybe a survey that pops up when they visit explaining that your looking at a re-design and would like some suggestions.

You can always change it back if it dosen't go as planned.

Also, Make sure the load times don't get outta hand on the new site.

Depends.. branding your site with solid design is key for any offline business.

But if you are just a website.. you might be fine.

It can't hurt to have great design though.

Depends on nothing.

WALK AS YOU MEAN IT, DRESS AS YOU MEAN IT, LIVE AS YOU MEAN IT.

If you mean business, then mean business.

Appearances matter A LOT, no matter what niche are you in, appearance matters A LOT.

You might say, don't judge a book by its cover. FUCK THAT. We all judge at first impressions, conscious or unconsciously.
Treat your blog like you think it should be treated. Appearance can definitely have a huge impact, specially on first time viewers.