First Things First

I may not be a money-making expert, but I’ve been blogging for a couple of years, and I do know that the default Wordpress theme just isn’t going to cut it.

Aside from the fact that it’s so completely dull that people switch off as soon as they see it, there isn’t really the room to place ads effectively in the default template.

So for the time being, I’ve switched to a modified version of the theme I use on my personal blog. You’ll notice this has plenty of room for ads, and which I’m currently filling with Google ads. I’ll talk more about the pros and cons of AdSense later, but for now it’s a good starting point that requires very little work.

As well as the template change, I’ve made a few other tweaks to the site:

• The RSS feed is now served through FeedBurner, so I can keep track of how many people are reading Money Blogger, and allow people to subscribe by email.
• I’ve added Google Analytics so I can keep an eye on traffic.
• I’ve added a couple of affiliate links to the sidebar for services that have worked for me in the past (Text Link Ads and Auction Ads).

You’ll also notice the links above are affiliate links too. One of golden rules I’ve learned from pro bloggers is that “if there’s an affiliate link you can use instead, do it”. I know some people might frown on that, but my personal opinion is that as long as you’re not linking to or recommending products that simply don’t work, then it shouldn’t be an issue.

Be honest and up front with your readers. Don’t go recommending something with an affiliate link just because they have a program that pays well, because they’ll simply stop reading.