This question is an easy one to answer because there was one thing I did to my blog in 2007 that impacted it more than anything else I have ever tired for John Chow dot Com.
I got a custom made theme
Before the custom theme, my blog ran a free WordPress theme and while it served me well, it was very limiting from a branding and monetization stand point. Nate Whitehill of Unique Blog Design created a theme for me that was not only unique, it allow me to fully monetize the blog.
The different was dramatic. Traffic double the day the new theme went live. It dropped a few days after but overall, the new theme has been responsible for a 25% increase in traffic. Income increase was even more dramatic. The blog went from $17,828.61 in August with the old theme to $27,240.83 in November with the new theme.
Unique Blog Design charges up to $1,500 for a custom design theme. While that may seem expensive, it’s a small price to pay when you look at the big picture. If you want to a problogger, then you have to roll with your own theme.
