This post is part of the “Theming Your Blog” series. This series is part of the celebration for Zero and Up’s new theme!

Whether you’ve had the same theme for years or you’ve just done a virtual makeover to your blog, it’s important that you strive to make the most from your theme. So, now that you know it’s good to make the most with your theme, I should probably explain what you want to make the most of with your theme.

Make The Most Of Visitors
Getting a person to your website is half of the work - now you need to convince them that your site is worth their time and that they want to come back. Having an attractive theme that is nice to look at and easy to navigate is very important to make a good impression on visitors. If your blog has some sort of recognizable branding, you’ll find that more of your first-time visitors end up turning into repeat visitors. I’ll go into more detail about branding your blog tomorrow.

Make The Most Money
It’s important not to coat your blog in ads, as that could be a huge turn off to your visitors. Tastefully include ad spots that blend well with your theme. Nevertheless, you want to maximize the ad space that you have available. For example, would it be better to sell one 125×250 rectangle for $20 a month, or two 125×125 squares for $12 a month each?
With a combination of tastefulness, planning, and optimization you can please everyone - Your readers, your advertisers, and your pocketbook.

The above two work any time, but there’s also something I’d like to share about making the most from installing a new theme.

Get People Buzzing
If you are installing a new theme, plan ahead. Some things that I have done to welcome this new theme (which have been met with apparent success) include having a contest, running a special on your ad prices, and writing a special series. I was surprised how many ad sales I made within the first 24 hours of running the special pricing, and my contest (which ends tonight!) has had plenty of entries.

Your theme is there to make your blog better. Are you letting it?