If you want to experiment with different WordPress themes to start a blog with, be sure to use this criteria to guide your decisions:
Simple to use: A lot of fancy themes go over the top and compromise on usability.
Responsive: Responsiveness refers to themes that make sure your blog looks good on a laptop, smartphone and tablet. More people use their phones to read blogs and Google also favors mobile-friendly websites. If you’re not sure whether a particular blog theme is mobile friendly or not, copy and paste the URL of the theme’s demo page into Google’s Mobile Friendly Test page.
Supports plugins: The real power of your WordPress blog comes from plugins. Make sure your blog's theme supports all popular WordPress plugins (like how I create my own custom WordPress table of contents widget as used in this guide above).
SEO friendliness: SEO, or search engine optimization, refers to how well Google and other search engines can find your information when people search for it. Some blog themes use bulky code that makes it difficult for search engines to read.
Support: Problems happen, and when they do, you want to be able to ask for help. Some free theme developers won’t offer support for their products, so keep that in mind.
Ratings and reviews: Look for free blog themes with a good track record and history of positive ratings.